Pau Hana is a refreshing change from the usual genre of ethnic materials expressing the dynamics of culture set within an historical context; it is an exciting sequential analysis of the various ethnic peoples who provided plantation labor for the Hawaiian cane fields from the 1860s to the 1920s. Using primary resources, songs, historical tracts, and census data, Takaki brings together the various ethnic perspectives into a cogent account of the history, culture, and economy of sugar cane plantation existence. From early beginnings to the decline of “king sugar,” Takaki presents the Euroamerican perception of Native Hawaiians, Chinese, Japanese, Portuguese, Norwegians, and Filipinos and [its] attempts to keep the ethnic groups isolated to prevent any unified strike-action against plantation owners' unfair labor practices.
—Explorations in Sights and Sounds. No. 4 (Summer 1984)
- UH Press, 1984
- Paperback, 232 pages