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Hawaiian Sugar Plantation Occupations
by Melody Lassalle
Many Jobs to be Done
It's easy to conjure up images of laborers working the fields on a sugar plantation. Field laborers made up a large part of the plantation system. There were other aspects to the overall work force that may not be so readily known. On the plantation, people worked in a variety of positions filling the management, skilled, and unskilled jobs.
Those in management had such titles as Overseer, Foreman, Head Overseer, and Manager. Underneath the management level, fell the skilled and unskilled positions. Some of them held higher status over others. Those requiring more skills earned higher pay and were held in higher esteem by others within the system. These jobs might be worked in the field, mill, railway, office, or the plantation store.
What Types of Work was There on a Typical Plantation?
Those who worked out in the fields of the plantation did a variety of tasks. Each morning they were separated in to "gangs" with each gang lead by an overseer (a.k.a. Luna). A gang did one task and one task only all day long. These workers did everything from planting seeds to weeding to cutting cane. Their were also those who worked on the plantation railway which ran from the fields to the mill. All of the work was back breaking. Workers labored for long hours fighting the insects and hot sun. Overseers were relentless sometimes refusing to allow workers to stand up straight to get relief from tasks such as hoeing which had to be done bent over.
Those working in the mills were able to work inside, but the conditions were just as intolerable. "Pau Hana" by Ronald Takaki (pg. 58) gives this description of what it was like to work in the mill "...its thundering machinery deafening and it's heat terrible". Mill workers worked in sweltering conditions with machinery including presses, boilers, and furnaces. And, once electricity was in place, they worked in shifts around the clock.
Some plantation employees worked in the administrative fields. They worked in offices and help positions as bookkeepers, clerks, and so forth.
Most plantations had their own store thereby keeping workers' paychecks within the plantation system. The store was run by a storekeeper or manager. The usual salespeople and clerks assisted shoppers with their purchases.
All of these positions held the plantation together. Though some positions were not as prestigious as others, each contributed to the success of the plantation. None was more important than the other. Without them the entire plantation would not have survived.
A Quick Look at Process
Laborers did a variety of tasks depending on what season it was. In the beginning, fields were hoed, seeds were planted, and the fields were watered. The plants would be tended to as they grew. Laborers would do weeding and other tasks.
Once the cane ripened, harvesting began. The tasks changed. The 12-foot high stalks were cut down with machetes. Dry leaves were stripped from the stalks. The stalks were then tied into bundles and loaded onto wagons or railroad cars to be taken to the mill.
At the mill, the sugar cane was processed. It would be crushed, then the juices were boiled into sugar and molasses. Nothing was wasted during production. The sugar case refuse was storied and later used as fuel for the mill furnaces.
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Sources:
1. Hawaii Pono: a Social History, by Lawrence H. Fuchs. Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich Publishers : New York, c1961.
2. Hawaii, a History: From Polynesian Kingdon to American State, by Ralph S. Kykendall and A. Grove Day. Prentice Hall : New Jersey, revised edition, c1976.
3. Pau Hana: Plantation Life and Labor in Hawaii, 1835-1920, by Ronald Takaki. University of Hawaii Press : Honolulu, HI, c1983.
© 2002 Melody Lassalle
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