The Last of the Hawaiian Cowboys
60 images Created 8 Apr 2013
Most people don’t know this but there are actually cowboys in Hawaii. Yes, there are also palm trees, Mai Tais, surfers and hula dancers but the cowboys or “paniolos” as they are called locally, have been around longer than cowboys in the west. The Hawaiian cowboy culture emerged back in the 1800s and to this day remains insular and completely unique to Hawaii with its own music, rituals, language etc.
The first cattle came to the Hawaiian Islands in 1793 when four cows and a bull were given as a gift to King Kamehameha I by Captain George Vancouver. The king invoked a Kapu--a law that carried the death penalty for anyone killing the cattle—and so the cattle, which were feral long-horned cattle, multiplied beyond anyone's wildest expectations. Soon they were so numerous that they became a menace, threatening villages, destroying crops and native forests.
In 1812 a sailor named John Parker jumped ship and settled on the Big Island of Hawaii. He received permission from King Kamehameha to capture the cattle and initiated the beginnings of a cattle industry on the island. In the 1830's, King Kamehameha III recognized the potential of the cattle industry Parker had started that now supplied beef and tallow to whaling and sandalwood trading ships. After a visit to California, then still part of Mexico, he imported three Mexican vaqueros to teach the native Hawaiian men the cowboy skills they so badly needed. Nicknamed "paniolos" (from "Espanol") by the Hawaiians, these vaqueros brought with them boots, saddles, lariats, guitars, giving birth of the Hawaiian cowboy culture that continues to this day.
Sadly, in recent years, high land taxes, increases in energy costs and a changing climate have all negatively impacted the viability of ranching in Hawaii. As a result, large areas of ranch land have been sold for development and many of the ranches struggle to survive. ATVs have begun to replace mounted horses for herding cattle in open ranges and many cowboys have been laid off. Today, the number of cowboys are small and they hold tightly to the community they live in. Nobody knows how long they’ll be around for.
Determined to document and preserve this culture before it disappears completely, I spent many months over a two year period photographing this community and recording interviews, music and ambient audio. I focused primarily on two large multi-generational paniolo families–the Ho’opais and the Keakealanis– to create a photo story and multi media project that would reflect the cultural richness and examine the paniolos’ future outlook. I photographed on horseback during a few cattle drives, shot aerials from a tiny 1955 Piper Cub, woke up at 4am on too many mornings and got to experience the closeness of these multi-generational families. I feel honored to have had the extraordinary privilege of documenting a piece of living history and creating a visual and auditory record of a culture that may not be around for much longer.
The first cattle came to the Hawaiian Islands in 1793 when four cows and a bull were given as a gift to King Kamehameha I by Captain George Vancouver. The king invoked a Kapu--a law that carried the death penalty for anyone killing the cattle—and so the cattle, which were feral long-horned cattle, multiplied beyond anyone's wildest expectations. Soon they were so numerous that they became a menace, threatening villages, destroying crops and native forests.
In 1812 a sailor named John Parker jumped ship and settled on the Big Island of Hawaii. He received permission from King Kamehameha to capture the cattle and initiated the beginnings of a cattle industry on the island. In the 1830's, King Kamehameha III recognized the potential of the cattle industry Parker had started that now supplied beef and tallow to whaling and sandalwood trading ships. After a visit to California, then still part of Mexico, he imported three Mexican vaqueros to teach the native Hawaiian men the cowboy skills they so badly needed. Nicknamed "paniolos" (from "Espanol") by the Hawaiians, these vaqueros brought with them boots, saddles, lariats, guitars, giving birth of the Hawaiian cowboy culture that continues to this day.
Sadly, in recent years, high land taxes, increases in energy costs and a changing climate have all negatively impacted the viability of ranching in Hawaii. As a result, large areas of ranch land have been sold for development and many of the ranches struggle to survive. ATVs have begun to replace mounted horses for herding cattle in open ranges and many cowboys have been laid off. Today, the number of cowboys are small and they hold tightly to the community they live in. Nobody knows how long they’ll be around for.
Determined to document and preserve this culture before it disappears completely, I spent many months over a two year period photographing this community and recording interviews, music and ambient audio. I focused primarily on two large multi-generational paniolo families–the Ho’opais and the Keakealanis– to create a photo story and multi media project that would reflect the cultural richness and examine the paniolos’ future outlook. I photographed on horseback during a few cattle drives, shot aerials from a tiny 1955 Piper Cub, woke up at 4am on too many mornings and got to experience the closeness of these multi-generational families. I feel honored to have had the extraordinary privilege of documenting a piece of living history and creating a visual and auditory record of a culture that may not be around for much longer.
