Draft:Henry Benjamin Nālimu
Henry Benjamin Nālimu | |
|---|---|
 Paradise of the Pacific, 1926 | |
| Born | November 16, 1835 |
| Died | October 24, 1934 (aged 98) |
| Education | Hilo Boarding School Lahainaluna School |
| Occupations |
|
| Years active | Tabiteuea (1871–1882) |
| Organization(s) | Gilbert Islands Mission Hawaiian Evangelical Association |
| Known for | Tabiteuean religious wars (1879–1880) |
Henry Benjamin Nālimu (November 16, 1835 – October 24, 1934) was a Hawaiian Congregationalist minister and missionary. From 1871 to 1882, Nālimu served as an unordained missionary in Tabiteuea, the largest of the Gilbert Islands. Historians view Nālimu and his colleague, W. B. Kapu, unfavourably due to the Tabiteuean religious wars (1879–1880), in which their converts killed hundreds of non-Christians. Nālimu encouraged the war as a necessary means of conversion and likely led combatants into battle. After the Gilbert Islands Mission held Nālimu responsible and sent him back to Hawaii, Nālimu returned to Hilo, his hometown, and became a respected community member.
Early life and ministry (1835–1870)
[edit]Henry Benjamin Nālimu was born on November 16, 1835, in Pāpa‘aloa, the birthplace of his parents, north of Hilo, Hawaiʻi. Nālimu was descended from the aliʻi of Hilo and heard tales of his ancestor, ʻĪ, a warrior of Kamehameha I, as he grew up.[1] In 1840, his family relocated to Pi’opi’o, Hilo, where they lived until 1847.
Nālimu attended Hilo Boarding School from 1853 to 1856. The students were taught by American missionary D. B. "Laimana" Lyman, the school's founder,[2][3] and his Hawaiian assistants. Their days were a mix of lessons and agricultural work, such as planting taro and pounding poi. In his elder years, Nālimu would praise Lyman as "a very good and learned man [to whom] I am very grateful", and lament the decline of Hawaiian language and teachers in schools; his classes and books were all in Hawaiian.[3]
Nālimu subsequently studied at the Lahainaluna School for four years. After graduating in 1860, he became an aid to American missionary Titus "Koana" Coan at Haili Church.[2] On April 13, 1863, Nālimu married Keahiloa.
Gilbert Islands (1871–1882)
[edit]Early years (1871–1879)
[edit]On June 22, 1871, a ship carrying Nālimu, his wife, and their little son set sail from Honolulu. The Nālimu family were bound for the first Christian mission in the Gilbert Islands. The Gilbert Islands Mission was a collaboration between two Congregationalist organizations, the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) and the Hawaiian Evangelical Association (HEA); Nālimu was an HEA member.
After two weeks, Nālimu reached Abaiang, where the mission's annual general meeting was being held. The mission sent him to Tabiteuea, the largest of the Gilbert Islands. He joined Rev. W. B. Kapu and replaced Rev. George Leleo, who had been reassigned to Nonouti. When Nālimu arrived, he set up in Utiroa and took charge of the southern villages of Aanikai, Tabiteuea's main islet. Kapu remained in Eita, overseeing the villages to the north.
Both Nālimu and Kapu were considered contentious and forceful personalities by their colleages. In 1872, Rev. W. B. Alexander
Tabiteuean religious wars (1879–1880)
[edit]Aftermath (1880–1882)
[edit]Later life (1882–1934)
[edit]Keahiloa died on January 12, 1898.
Notes
[edit]Citations
[edit]Bibliography
[edit]External links
[edit]- ^ Kelsey, Theodore (November 7, 1925). "Rev. H. B. Nalimu, Oldest Living Graduate of Hilo Boarding School in City". Honolulu Star-Bulletin. p. 17.
- ^ a b Kelsey, Theodore (November 19, 1931). "A Nonagenarian of Old Hawaii". Honolulu Star-Advertiser. p. 12.
- ^ a b Kelsey, Theodore (November 7, 1925). "Rev. H. B. Nalimu, Oldest Living Graduate of Hilo Boarding School in City". Honolulu Star-Bulletin. p. 18.