Islanders’ long journey towards acceptance
THREE men arrived in Glasgow in 1882 after a journey of 7,000 miles from the Hawaiian Islands. The surroundings were dramatically different from their tropical home.
While anxious upon arriving in Glasgow, Hugo Kawelo, Henry Kapena, and John Lovell were galvanized by what they saw. Adrenaline, sparked by the foreign surroundings, was fuel to propel them forward on their exploration to learn new skills in Scotland.
Kawelo, Kapena, and Lovell were in Glasgow as part of a bold global education programme that King David Kal kaua had developed to expand international understanding, knowledge, and skills for what was then the Hawaiian Kingdom.
From 1880 to 1887, 18 young Hawaiians attended schools and became apprentices in six countries where they studied a variety of subjects including engineering, law, and music. King Kal kaua spoke with the three young men about Scotland prior to their departure when he explained the great esteem he had for the Scottish nation and people.
The three students were apprenticed at Scotland Street Iron Works in Glasgow. Kawelo returned to Hawaii due to an illness. Kapena and Lovell completed their apprenticeships, and from there found positions in California. Kapena eventually returned to Hawaii to apply his expertise that had grown in Glasgow.
King Kal kaua travelled to Scotland in 1881 and was welcomed warmly in Glasgow. He toured the Clyde. He was a lover of nature and witnessed the beauty of Loch Lomond, and eventually came to Edinburgh where he visited the Royal Botanic Gardens and helped plant maple trees.
He came to know Robert Louis Stevenson very well. Stevenson came to live and write in Hawaii and Samoa during his years of ill health.
The King and the family were introduced to Stevenson by a Scot, Archibald Cleghorn, who
It has been a long journey of acceptance for Asians and South Asians in the UK and Scotland, and there is still work to be done
married King Kal kaua’s sister, Princess Likelike.
This month, Asian American and Pacific Islander heritage is celebrated in the United States. The contributions in the past and in the present are significant across communities in the United States. I saw those influences growing up in the San Francisco Bay Area. I witnessed up close the positive and historic impression Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders made ranging from the arts, charity, sport, business, and education.
Some of my greatest personal influences and examples were people and families who, like my family, immigrated to the Bay Area or had Asian American or Pacific Islander heritage. These individuals shaped me, and so this month I respectfully honour them.
As I ponder King Kal kaua’s story, and the Hawaiian students who came to Scotland roughly 140 years ago, I widen the lens to so many courageous individuals from across Asia and the Pacific Islands who have come and are still coming to Scotland and the UK to build new lives, forge opportunities for growth, or to escape violence and political unrest.
In July and August, Scotland and the UK will observe South Asian Heritage Month. It has been a long journey of acceptance for Asians and South Asians in the UK and Scotland, and there is still work to be done. However, we have witnessed rapid progress. We have now seen those with Asian and South Asian heritage as elected officials, business and enterprise leaders, academic figures, athletes, journalists, scientists, and artists.
Of the many words I would associate with those of Asian and Pacific Islander heritage wherever they may be, one at the top of the list is courage. Many evenings they have gone to sleep with fear or doubt, but with the morning light again rises courage – courage to stand with pride for their heritage – courage to make lives and the world better. We are all enriched by that courage.