Hawaiians of Fort Vancouver

Wing Luke Museum in partnership with the National Park Service approached us to help share the stories of the Hawaiians that were a part of The Hudson Bay Company at Fort Vancouver in the early 1900’s.

The Hudson Bay exchange might have included trading furs for American knives and copper pans, swapping for Hawaiian sandalwood or whale oil, bartering for Cantonese silk and tea. Hawaiian imports to the Northwest included items such as hogs, sugar cane, salt, molasses, coffee, wicker baskets, and sweet potatoes. By the 1830s, Fort Vancouver exported produce, wheat, flour, lumber, and salmon to the islands. Northwest timber built Hawaii’s European style homes, while Hawaiian coral supplied lime for fertilizer and whitewash, and mortar for the Fort’s chimneys. Meanwhile, the now traditional lomi lomi salmon served at present-day luaus remains a forgotten legacy of the fur trade era.