The Word of the Day is "Paniola"

Aloha mai kākou,

Continuing from yesterday’s entry of “Waimea”, the town is renowned to be the home of the first “paniola” (pah nee oh la) or cowboy. Most people (even myself, before I extensively researched the word origin) have known it to be “paniolo”, NOT “paniola”. I knew that the word derived from the word “espaniola” meaning Spanish….. King Kamehameha I was given some black longhorn cattle from a British captain, George Vancouver. In 1809, 19 yr. old John Parker, bailed ship and was hired by Kamehameha, to handle the herd of cattle. A few years later, he married the daughter of a high ranking chief and started the long dynasty of the Parker Ranch.

In 1832, with an invitation from the King, the Latin American Vaqueros taught Hawai`i’s first group of Hawaiian cowboys how to ride and rope these wild cattle and horses that were introduced in Waimea. With the domestication of cattle, Parker Ranch flourished and the population in Waimea were families that were associated with the Ranch. In the early 1900’s, a famous Hawaiian cowboy, Eben Parker Low had "his boys" (Ikua Purdy, Archie Ka`au`a, and Eben’s brother, Jack Low) compete in the Frontier Days Celebration in Cheyenne, Wyoming. They put Hawaiian cowboys on the map by winning, 1st, 3rd and 6th place. 

It is evident even today, how important the cowboy way of life is when you see the paintings and hear the stories from beloved families who continue the cowboy traditions. 

Please visit the following link so you can understand how a big mix up came to be in what is written in history, compared to what should have been the correct word for “cowboy”.

http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2003/Sep/05/ln/ln52a.html

A hui hou,

Haunani