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Posted by: Beckee on 2010-02-06, 12:31:58
Filipinos are a fraction of the population of Hawaii, but most of the Filipinos in Hawaii are Ilokano speakers. Migration of Filipinos to Hawaii has followed a common pattern. A few people migrate from, say, a village. They send word home to their family and friends, "Hey, it's pretty cool over here. We have to work hard, but we can earn more money here than we can make back home. " Someone writes (or has someone write for them) and says, "Hey, can I come work there, too? " The stronger the connection, the more likely it is that the second person will get the support they need to come over, so they tend to come from the same families and villages. In Hawaii, for example, the Chinese who migrated tended to come from the Pearl River Delta (downstream from Canton, upstream from Hong Kong--a county now called Zhongshan). The Filipinos who came to Hawaii over the past century have come from the Visayas or from the Ilocos Coast. More recent ones are more likely to come from Ilocos Nord or Sud (North or South). I've heard it said that at one time, the owners and lunas (overseers) on the plantations in Hawaii were looking for the least educated workers, since more educated workers were more likely to organize unions and try to negotiate for better pay and working conditions. I've also heard it said that as recently as the 1930s, the folks who ran the plantations were telling the teachers who came to Hawaii, "Teach the children, but don't teach them too much. " Apparently, this is why they went to the far corners of the P.I. to recruit workers instead of recruiting from Manila or Quezon City. |
