Lāhainā

by Theo Morrison

Sugar is a “canoe crop”, first carried to Hawaii in the canoes of the early Polynesian settlers. Today’s Native Hawaiians are descendants of these Polynesians who were the first people to arrive on what is now the Hawaiian Islands, nearly 2,000 years ago. They grew sugarcane along the edges of their lo’i – the irrigated ponds where they raised the staple crop kalo, or taro.

By the mid-1800s, huge plantations were growing sugar in Hawaii as a commodity for export. Cane fires were the preferred harvest method in the islands. The huge fires dotted the landscape during harvest season and became the inspiration for popular songs. Fire helped sanitize the fields and controlled pests. Additionally, it eliminated from one-half to two-thirds of the plants’ leaves but did not damage the stalk from which the juice is extracted and made into sugar. The black ash, which often

Established in 1860, Pioneer Mill Co. was the first plantation to grow sugar commercially in Lahaina. The Native Hawaiian population had shrunk as a result of foreign disease, so the plantations went looking for more workers, recruiting labor from other countries to grow and process the cane. The sugar and later the pineapple industry imported thousands of workers, primarily from China, Japan, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Korea and the Philippines. The laborers lived in villages built by the plantations called “camps”. Unable to understand each other’s languages at first, the workers developed Pidgin English, allowing them to communicate and become good friends.

Today’s popular “Mixed Plate” menu item originated in the sugar cane fields when the workers sat down to lunch and shared their food with each other. Arriving with a bento box of Japanese food for example, a worker might end up with a delicious “mixed plate” – a little Japanese sushi, some Chinese won ton, maybe some Korean BBQ and some Puerto Rican pastele.

At its peak in the 1960s, the mill processed 60,000 tons of sugar annually. For 139 years, Pioneer Mill was a mainstay of West Maui’s economy. Today, the towering smokestack, 225 feet high, is all that remains of the once vibrant mill. Saved and restored by the Lahaina Restoration Foundation, the Pioneer Mill Co. Smokestack Historic Site is located at 277 Lahainaluna Rd. and is open daily until dusk. The brick walkway at its base is engraved with hundreds of plantation workers’ names showcasing the vast diversity in the ethnic makeup of the plantation workforce. Visitors and community members have also memorialized their vacation, engagement, children and pets on the bricks which leads to some very interesting reading!

The Plantation Museum is located on the upper level of The Wharf Cinema Center at 658 Front Street across from the Banyan Tree in historic Lahaina town. The small museum tells the story of plantation workers on Maui from arrival, to life in the camps, at work in the fields and the mill, through World War II and until the mill’s closure.

A vast and diverse collection of artifacts and photographs donated by community members fills the small space. Listen carefully and you will hear the ship whistle blow amid the sounds of a busy dock while gazing at the steamer trunks and rattan suitcases that the immigrants brought from their homeland. Over by the camp map section, a screen door slams, a bicycle bell pings and a rooster crows……another day in the “camps”.

An 8-minute, poignant video titled “The Last Harvest” plays on a continuous loop. With heart-felt interviews of the local community and breathtaking footage of lush, green fields and wildly burning cane fires. the video expresses the despair and shared sadness of the community when the Pioneer Mill shut down completely on Labor Day, 1999.

For more information, please visit www.lahainarestoration.org