Pua Līlia

Cattle ranching in Hawaiʻi began in 1793 when Capt. George Vancouver brought cattle on his ship from California to Hawaiʻi as a gift to King Kamehameha I. He advised the King to place a kapu (taboo) on their slaughter for 10 years so they could multiply. (The animals were allowed to roam about freely, multiplying quickly and devouring precious plant life; their numbers grew so dramatically that they became a dangerous nuisance.) Then in 1803, horses were introduced to the Hawaiian Kingdom when Richard Clevedon offered them as a gift to the King. By 1820, the cattle were being hunted for their hides as well as for tallow and meat, which became very important to the Kingdom’s trade activities (the supply of koa and sandalwood trees was already dwindling by this time). As the importance of the cattle trade flourished, there became a great need for handling the animals, so King Kamehameha III brought highly skilled, horse-riding, Mexican vaqueros from Vera Cruz to the Big Island of Hawaiʻi in the 1830s. The term paniolo (cowboy) evolved from the word español (Spanish). Mele Paniolo (cowboy songs) are often accompanied by the guitar (said to have been introduced by Mexican vaqueros), and most commonly extol a cherished place on ranch land. Alfred Alohikea was quite prolific, both compositionally and romantically. While this song refers to “my Lily” (singular), it is said that Alohikea had a “lily” on each of the Hawaiian Islands.