I teach four topics in the Mission Settlement at the Polynesian Cultural Center: The History of Migration, The Story of Early Christian Missionaries in Hawaiʻi, The Hawaiian Alphabet, and The Importance of the Printing Press in Hawaiʻi. Before coming to the Mission Settlement, I knew little of these topics. The more I study and read, the more I understand the interconnectedness of all four, and the impact they had on the people here.

In the ancient culture, words had power, they had spirit. In the absence of a written language, all knowledge was conveyed through spoken word. Those words, and the knowledge they represented determined class and rank in society. If you had knowledge, you were likely a kahuna, a teacher or healer. One would protect rank and status by preserving that knowledge, it wasn’t freely shared. The kahuna would draw power from the spirit (or mana) of those words. After Cook’s arrival in 1778, life of the native islanders would be forever changed. In the forty years following first contact, the Hawaiians became aware that outsiders had greater mana than them. Once the coordinates to the islands were published, explorers, whalers, and traders began frequenting Hawaiʻi. The islanders were smart and observant. They learned that these outsiders had bigger and better ships, better clothing, weapons that fired, and they had metal.

Kahunas, chiefs, and others of noble class observed that the mana of these foreigners was strong. If they could capture the spirit of the foreigners’ words and access their knowledge, they too would have that power. It didn’t take long to see and understand that Europeans, and later the Americans, didn’t hold their words forever in their heads. The mana of the foreigners could be placed in written language and stored in books. They also observed that the sailors were not stingy with knowledge. Anyone who could read could tap into that mana. The key to knowledge and power was the ability to read.

In 1820, the first Christian missionaries arrived from the Congregational Church in Connecticut. Of those seven missionaries, two were teachers, two were preachers, one a farmer, a doctor, and a printer. It wouldn’t be hard to guess which professions would be most valuable on the islands. Of course, a doctor or a farmer would be invaluable. Upon arrival, the missionaries petitioned the king for permission to stay. The king, Liholiho (Kamehameha II) was tentative about their request. He wasn’t sure he wanted missionaries in his islands. He wasn’t sure he wanted Christianity. When he learned however that one of the missionaries was a printer, he quickly changed his mind. Of the many talents these missionaries brought, the printer alone had power to manage language and craft books.

The king agreed to let the missionaries stay if they would create an alphabet for the Hawaiian language and use their printing press to print materials that would develop literacy. The reason the missionaries brought a printing press and a printer was a desire to translate the Bible into Hawaiian and print it there. They now had two directives; to promote literacy and to promote Christianity. It took several years for these missionaries to master the language enough to create the alphabet and begin printing a primer. The Hawaiians quickly grasped the concept of reading, and literacy rapidly spread among the people.

Another group of missionaries, this time from the Catholic Church, arrived in the 1830’s. Their work included the building of churches and schools. Notable among the Catholics was Father Damien who performed a great work among the people who suffered from Hansen’s disease (leprosy). He cared for those infected and isolated on the island of Molokaiʻi. He built a church, a school, and a hospital, and used his words to heal those who suffered.

In the 1850’s, the first missionaries arrived from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They too began building congregations in cities and villages across the islands. But this church was looking for a place to gather the members, and that is where the story of Lāʻie comes into the picture. The church purchased 6000 acres on the windward side of Oʻahu. This is where members would build a temple, the first one outside the United States, and later establish a college that would one day grow into a fully accredited liberal arts university, BYU-Hawaii. Words are indeed powerful. Words convey knowledge, and they have spirit, or mana. There is a belief among the Native Americans on the mainland that education is the ladder to success. Nowhere was that more clearly expressed than among an ancient culture in Hawaiʻi that radically changed within the course of two generations.

In a recent address at General Conference held by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints titled “Words Matter”, Elder Ronald A. Rasband of the Council of the Twelve Apostles, said: The “word of God” surpasses all other expressions. It has been so since the Creation of the earth. We “hear [God]” in personal revelation and promptings from the Holy Ghost, in answers to prayer, and in those moments when only Jesus Christ, through the power of His Atonement, can lift our burdens, grant us forgiveness and peace, and embrace us “in the arms of his love.”

He quoted the following scripture from the Book of Mormon during a time of conflict: “And now, as the preaching of the word had a great tendency to lead the people to do that which was just—yea, it had had more powerful effect upon the minds of the people than the sword, or anything else, which had happened unto them—therefore Alma thought it was expedient that they should try the virtue of the word of God.” Alma 31:5

And also, these passages from the New Testament and again from the Book of Mormon:
“If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.” John 14:23
“The words of Christ will tell you all things what ye should do.” 2 Nephi 32:3

In my time working and teaching in the Mission Settlement, I have learned what the ancient Hawaiians already knew; that words have power, and perhaps even more importantly, that words have spirit. Choose your words carefully and use your words wisely, and with Aloha.