IAO VALLEY – A monument dedicated to African-Americans in Hawaii was unveiled Tuesday morning after a decadelong effort by the African Americans on Maui Association to have the historical tribute join other ethnic displays in Kepaniwai Heritage Gardens.

About 100 people gathered to witness the unveiling, including local dignitaries, the local chapter for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and guests from across the country. About 30 people in the crowd were recognized for their contributions to African-Americans in Hawaii and on Maui.

“This is where we stand today,” said African Americans on Maui Association member Ayin Adams. “It is a historic day, in light of the fact of what we are doing here. The inclusiveness of all heritages, all cultures and all races. It’s just fantastic.”

The monument provides historical information on the earliest African settlers in Hawaii, noting that Africans were in the territory well before the missionaries arrived in 1820.

Some notable Africans and African-Americans in the history of Hawaii, aside from President Barack Obama, are:

Black Jack, or Mr. Keaka’ele’ele, who lived on Oahu before Kamehameha I conquered the island in 1796. He helped build a storehouse for Queen Ka’ahumanu in Lahaina and was a sail master for King Kamehameha II. He also served as an adviser and interpreter for Kamehameha II.

T. McCants Stewart, a black attorney who served in the Cabinet of King Kalakaua. He helped draft the Organic Act, which made Hawaii a territory of the U.S., and aided Native Hawaiians in regaining lost properties.

William F. Crockett, who came to Hawaii in 1901 from Alabama and later became a Maui judge. His son, Wendell, followed in his footsteps and spent 30 years as a prosecutor and a couple years as a 2nd Circuit judge on the island.

Betsey Stockton, a former slave who arrived in Hawaii on the second ship of missionaries in 1823. She is credited with teaching Princess Nahi’ena-‘ena to read and write. Stockton also established a school in Lahaina, in the area of Lahainaluna High School, for common people.

William Lineas Maples, a physician and musician who opened Maples Drug Store in 1905. He was the manager of the Navarro Orchestra in Wailuku.

Nolle Smith, who established his own engineering and construction firm in the state in 1919. Elected to the Territorial Legislature in 1928, he later served as Hawaii’s Director of the Bureau of Research and Statistics and the head of the Hawaii Civil Service panel.

The monument joins other memorials, statues and cultural displays dedicated to immigrants from Portugal, China, New England, the Philippines, Japan and China. Organizers celebrated the new monument as an “inclusion in diversity” at the garden built over 60 years ago.

“With the help of so many it’s now completed,” Gwyn Gorg, Maui association president, said to the crowd at the garden. “I just want to thank all of you who have given us support.”

Adams was recognized as one of the key contributors to the monument. She and Gorg would spend days watching bus loads of tourists visiting the garden with each ethnicity making their way to their respective areas.

“The black folks got off the bus and they said ‘Where do we go?’ ” Adams said. “They had nowhere to go to take pictures. Thus came the monument.”

Adams spent 10 years lobbying for support from Mayor Alan Arakawa, the county and the community to build a tribute in the garden. She said her efforts stalled when Arakawa lost his bid for re-election in 2006 but were rejuvenated in recent years.

The mayor said the county and the association “worked so hard” to reach Tuesday’s unveiling and that he appreciated the contributions and efforts of the association.

“The African-American society here has done tremendous work to try and bring recognition to the African-Americans living in our community,” Arakawa said. “Indeed, Maui is a melting pot where people of all nationalities are treated as equals.”

Adams said the monument’s unveiling comes at a pivotal moment in the national discussion about race and violence playing out on the Mainland. She called the recent shooting at a South Carolina church and other racial incidents of violence a portrayal of the “shameful history of America’s past” and “the slaying of unarmed black men.”

“What we’re doing here in Maui County is a positive coming together of all cultures and all races,” she said.

* Chris Sugidono can be reached at csugidono@mauinews.com.

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