Hawaiian Pineapple "Halakahiki"

Description: Hawaiian Pineapples started as Foreign Pineapples and the changes to make them Hawaiian pineapples would start in 1914 through Pineapple Breeding efforts. This was done by the Federal Station in Honolulu and in (1916-1972) by the Association of Hawaiian Pineapple Canners (later the Pineapple Research Institute of Hawaii - PRI). These programs aimed to develop varieties that were superior to the then-dominant 'Smooth Cayenne' (the variety that fueled Hawaii's canning industry). PRI amassed one of the world's largest and most genetically diverse collections of pineapple varieties. This collection was later transferred to the USDA germplasm repository in Hilo, Hawaii, and is still maintained there (now managed by the Agricultural Research Service - ARS and the University of Hawaii at Manoa). Several varieties are known such as the: Del Monte Pineapple (MD-2, regional), Gold Pineapple (Maui), and Crowngold Pineapple (Big Island).

Foreign Fruit: In Hawaii Pineapples are called a “Foreign Fruit” and in Hawaiian “Halakahiki”, which literally means foreign fruits, because the ones that were produced were not indigenous to Hawaii. They have become synonymous with Hawaii due to the marketing, canning, and growing pineapple distribution. There are several theories of who brought over pineapples to Hawaii with: Francisco de Paula Marin (1813), John Kidwell (1882), or the those who traded overseas. While there were businesses in Hawaii that thrived due to pineapples brought over by foreigners it brought more interest in Pineapples than what Hawaii is actually known for Taro that made it slow cultural erasure by not explaining the difference of foods that are Hawaiian and foods that are “Grown in Hawaii”. Pineapples go all the way back to understanding the Dole Family and the Hawaiian Kingdom overthrow.

Hawaiian Kingdom Overthrow: Sanford Ballard Dole, was a American Missionary who helped overthrow the Hawaiian Kingdom and served as the President of the Republic of Hawaii (1894). He’s a man whos name is locally synonymous with native Hawaiian exploitation, removing Queen Lili’uokalani, and one of the biggest most recognizable symbols of colonialism in Hawaii. The Dole Ohana tarnishes the entire group of those who come from the United States, and be the figure to stigmatize “Whites” of the American color system. The Dole Ohana would live in infamy by locals by being known to force King Kalakaua in 1887 by coup detat by the Honolulu Rifles, which Sandford contributed to the overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom. Many Local Haole believe that he is responsible for the old tradition of creating a social expectancy for Haoles to prove themselves to be local and not be rooting for capitalistic exploitation of the land and sea of Hawaii as the Dole Ohana had shown in the past.

Racism in Hawaii: White Privilege, Increased Racism in Hawaii, Sanford Ballard and Lorinn A Thurston worked with supporters like John Tyler Morgan “KKK, 2nd Grand Dragon of Alabama" to draft the structures and laws of government being appointed by progressive imperialist President Willian McKinley (Ohio) who was notorious in Hawaii for annexing and exploiting: Hawaii (July 7, 1898), Puerto Rico (October 18, 1898), Guam (June 21, 1898), and the Philippines (December 10, 1898). There was a strong sense of racism during this time with limited jobs at Dole Pineapple Cannery, The Docks, or Government that was ruled by those in power. The divide would widen as the infamous “Massie Trial, 1932” involving Thalia Massie and Grace Fortescue (New York) that solidified institutionalize racism in Hawaii with cover ups, racial labeling of the term “Locals” to place together Hawaiians, Polynesians, and Asian Immigrants in a box, and separated those accepted in American-White color chart self-labeled as “Haoles” under the governing rule of the Hawaii Territory.

Legacy Media: The Hawaii Territory would be responsible for news signaling of Hawaii’s people to be conveyed as: local perception (savages), military perception (foreign invaders), haole perception (white supremacist management), and differential treatment between the three to show institutionalized racism. This divide would not be limited by any means, since there were strict definers that explained what was food that was eaten by military and upper class whites and lower-class locals who ate what they could to get by while sharing with others to make ends meet. Meanwhile tourism and mansions would be all over the islands during this time period.

Dole's Stolen Pineapple Land: In 1899, Pineapple production would ramp up for cousin James Drummond Dole “The Pineapple King” would move in with his cousin Sanford Ballard Dole who was the president of the republic of Hawaii that was ruling by force of guns . Many years later as he would capitalize on Hawaiian, Filipino, and Japanese, by having them work in the hot sun and live with no electricity or water available to them in Lanai. Pineapples and High-class Haole cuisine often reminded people of the extreme financial and power disparity that White families had over local families, because of what they had access to for eating all sorts of high class foods, and that they sat in mansions watching over plantation workers who went on to hand build the Pineapple Empire for the Haoles, which eventually made pineapples a symbol of Hawaii through James Drummond Doles public relations.

Power Transfer to The Big Five: In 1922, the Hawaiian lands of Lanai stolen by James Drummond Dole would be passed on to “Charles Gay”, and in 1961 it would change hands to Castle & Cook (Big Five). Dole Foods in name brings much pain to locals for various reasons, which can be pointed out from what history shows: (1) liberal use of symbolized colonialism, (2) not understanding historical contexts to the hardships of the Plantation era, (3) how Pineapple is connected to the Dole Ohana. So in general its best not to continue calling a Pizza or any dish for that matter with Pineapple to mean Hawaiian as it further stigmatizes Hawaiians and Haole’s who continue to use the term in synonymous way to pineapples.

Canadian Pizza Misattribution: While many have memories of the iconic pineapple water tower in Honolulu there is much to dig through to understand pineapples impact on Hawaii. A dish that is known all over America as Hawaiian Pizza is seen as a food culture symbol of the painful past left from “Dole Ohana”. It isn’t just the the pizza, but more so calling it Hawaiian when it is not at all Hawaiian is highly inaccurate to its own history not being born from the Hawaiian food culture or Hawaii food culture in general. Calling it Hawaiian does not respect the history in its naming and while a pineapple pizza is an argument in of itself with pineapple on pizza, who made pineapple synonymous with pizza, the Canadians, but they put the Hawaiian label on it instead.

Plantation Pizza has Pineapple: Call a pizza with Pineapple on it a Hawaiian Pizza is extremely rude and disrespectful to all those who live in Hawaii because it is how Hawaii lost its last queen with Sanford Ballard Dole and the “Bayonet Constitution”. While the people who worked the plantation brought up a unique culture the management and owners would often times not share the burdens that made such a culture. There were pineapple plantations on many of the islands, but the main pineapple plantation would be on Lanai owned by James Dole. Water would be siphoned away from main sources, which would leave bad conditions for taro growing, muddy fish ponds, and not be accessible to plantation workers who were highly segregated from the White community. 

Search for an Actual Hawaiian Pizza: There likely is a Hawaiian Pizza, but it is unlikely that it has pineapple and due to respecting history there is likely a Pizza with Pineapple on it, but not purely defined as the only "Hawaiian Pizza". If there is a Hawaiian Pizza that has Pineapple it would most likely have to be honored by Hawaiian people themselves. With the plantations there is likely a pineapple pizza, but it most likely didn't have Canadian Ham and imported Pineapple varieties. It most likely used Pineapple from the plantation and probably was not as popular, since it would be eaten only be a select few families.