Jean Barman (J) Interviewed by Leonard Chan (L)

A conference attendee from the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation asked me if I had any information about Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs) that were a part of early American history.

I emailed her various links to articles that primarily covered Asians in early American history and stated that almost as soon as ocean going exploration and trade with Asia began, people from Asia and the Pacific Islands began traveling with those vessels.

Jean Barman and Bruce Watson’s book vitally helps to fill in the picture of Pacific Islanders (more specifically, Indigenous Hawaiians) that were a part of early American and Canadian history.

L: Jean, can you please give our readers some background information about yourselves, including your areas of study, your interests, and how you came to write “Leaving Paradise.”

J: We came together in our research now almost three decades ago out of our common interest and curiosity as historians of British Columbia in adventurous and ambitious Indigenous Hawaiians arriving in the Pacific Northwest early on, from the late 18th century onwards, with our principal joint outcome being a book generously published by University of Hawaii Press in 2006 entitled Leaving Paradise: Indigenous Hawaiians in the Pacific Northwest, 1787-1898.

As with our research, the book is very much a collaboration, combining decades of meticulous research by Bruce Watson tracking individual Hawaiian men making their way to North America extending from California to British Columbia with complementary research by Jean Barman including attention to Indigenous women partnering with and raising families with male arrivals.

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L: When I first flipped through “Leaving Paradise,” I was surprised to find that half of the book is filled with approximately 850 short paragraph sized biographies of Hawaiians and other Polynesians that came to the Pacific Northwest between 1787-1898. I imagine the list also includes some of their children and grandchildren that were born in the Pacific Northwest, and had some paper trail in the logs and journals of the authors’ sources.

The amount of work that it took to create this list must have been a massive undertaking. Having done some research of old documents before, I have a slight idea about how hard of a task this was, especially with some documents that were over 200 years old. I am also impressed with the sheer number of names and information that was found. In my imagination, I would have thought that most of these individuals would have been completely lost to history. It is truly impressive.

There are so many interesting stories in this book – such as many of the individuals mentioned in Chapter 2 and 3. Winee and Tianna for example – I had no idea of their travels to China before their pioneering journey to the Pacific Northwest; Kelehua, Teheeopea, and Tahomeeraoo’s travels with the Vancouver Expedition that even took them to California; John Cox’s journey from the Pacific Northwest to Montreal, London, Rio, and back (this was just five years after Lewis and Clark’s returned home from Oregon); all of their journeys really stirred my imagination.

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L: Jean, you wrote a whole book on Maria Mahoi (Maria Mahoi of the Islands). Could you tell us more about her and why you found Maria’s biography so interesting?

J: Who we write about is sometimes a matter of chance and good fortune. Maria Mahoi of the Islands, to quote the title of the book published in 2004 which became very popular, found me, quite literally found me. Or rather a distinguished British Columbia politician led me to Maria in his request to me as an academic that I check out the possibility that there might be Indian blood, to use his term, in his family. All he had to share was an obituary notice respecting his suspect ancestor, being his independent minded and delicious great grandmother Maria Mahoi.

And since then, as with Maria Mahoi and with so many of these families, descendants are finding each other, finding fellow descendants they never knew until recently that they might have, including on the Hawaiian Islands. It is no longer the suspect activity it once was to do so, but now an adventure to be shared, in some cases with Bruce or me as the intermediaries by virtue of our writing and publishing making it possible for them to do so.

There is in consequence no end to the stories waiting to be told with diverse means to do so, most recently quite imaginatively so in a marvelous book published very recently by University of Nebraska entitled "Sophie Morigeau: Free Trader, Free Woman, Nineteenth Century Indian Entrepreneur," on which copy sent me, I only then found myself as author based on my earlier writing on the topic. And I should add here that Sophie Morigeau as detailed in the new book is a fascinating read indicative of the diversity of stories waiting to be told and means for us to do so.

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L: I found it heartbreaking that most of the Hawaiians that toiled in the Pacific Northwest of the United States didn’t get to put down roots there. They helped pave the way to the West, even had families with Native Americans (continental Indigenous peoples), but were eventually forced out by the newcomer “Americans,” mostly out of racism. The fur trading companies that hired them also had contractual policy that made it harder for the Hawaiians to put down roots (by contract they were supposed to be returned to Hawaii at the end of their work terms).

Without descendants in the area, it isn’t surprising that the stories of their lives were lost. It is especially heartbreaking that the Hawaiians, who helped build the town of Astoria, celebrated the 4th of July (Independence Day) and, years later, were not allowed to become naturalized citizens.

One of the questions I had upon reading “Leaving Paradise” was whether the people of the states of Washington and Oregon are aware of the important role played by Pacific Islanders to the development of their states. At least in California, there is some curriculum taught about the Spanish Missions period.

“Leaving Paradise” mentions how many of the Hawaiians that stay in the Pacific Northwest ended up in Canada where they were generally better accepted. I wonder if the people in British Columbia are more aware of the contributions of Hawaiians.

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L: At the time when you wrote “Leaving Paradise,” people were not doing genealogical genetic testing to find relatives and places of origin. You mentioned in the Preface that people you interviewed were curious about their family’s histories. Would you know if any of the families were finally able to find their distant relatives in Hawaii? Have you kept up with them and learned anything new about their family’s stories?

J: I can only make a couple of general observations at the moment. One is the broadening interest in the stories following my Maria Mahoi book. I was invited a couple of years ago to Washington State to share stories from descendants which are in the process of being unearthed and relearned. I get email requests every few months that I can sometimes answer, other times not so. A real difficulty from an American perspective, perhaps more so than the Canadian one, is the underlying assumption that our ancestors have not also had adventures that may have taken them away from what they assume should be their history and their homeland.

This is precisely why this article and your efforts, Leonard, are so valuable in opening up possibilities. I wonder if there is, or could be, a means for descendants to share their stories in a venue where others also looking to complete their stories may find encouragement or even answers.

L: Anyone that reads this article and is interested in learning more about their Pacific Islander roots is welcome to contact us and share their journey of family discoveries. We’d be happy to help you in your effort.

Thank you very much Jean for doing this interview with us.