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P03796 – Large crowd of people having a picnic on a meander near the mouth of Kanaka Creek. This 1890’s photo shows what the landscape around the mouth was like in those days.
The Kanaka Settlement
When the Hudson’s Bay Company started calling at the Hawaiian Islands (back then the islands were called the Sandwich Islands), they picked up workers that wanted to go to fur trading posts on the West Coast of British Columbia. While Kanakas refers more broadly to Pacific Islanders that worked in various British colonies, such as Australia and Fiji, all of the Kanakas that came to British Columbia were from Hawaii.
When Fort Langley was established in 1827, there were six Kanakas listed as crew on the Cadboro, who were among the first Hawaiians to help to build the fort. Many of the young Hawaiian men married First Nations women, usually from the Kwantlen people. The group of Kanakas working in Fort Langley around 1827 were not allowed to have their First Nations wives live with them at the Fort, so they moved across the Fraser River and settled in the natural clearings around the mouth of what would become known as Kanaka Creek. From here, they made the daily boat journey across the Fraser River back to work.
They were allowed to return home in 1858 when they were discharged, but many had made lives for themselves here and chose to stay. One of the reasons that so many Kanakas chose to stay in British Columbia is that they had the same civil rights as other newcomers. Under the British control, Kanakas could vote or pre-empt land provided they became naturalized as British citizens.
While the population of Kanakas in Maple Ridge likely never exceeded ten families, at one time, there was still a substantial settlement. The 1877 municipal assessment roll shows that second generation Kanakas George Apnaut, Papua [Joseph] Mayo, and Robert Wavicarea all owned 160 acres of land in Albion.
While most of the Kanakas were farmers and fishermen, Robert Wavicarea worked as a cooper. In 1879, George Apnaut was elected to Maple Ridge council.
When Samuel Robertson came to Albion from Fort Langley, some of the Kanakas came with him and worked on the Robertson Estate.
For the Kanaka children, there was no school for a long time and they had to cross the river and go to the school in Fort Langley. When the Maple Ridge School opened in 1875, there was a Mayo – one of the Kanaka children – on the first class list.
When the C.P.R. tracks were laid down in 1885, they ran right through the original settlement and in large part destroyed what remained of it. The last of the Kanaka houses was gone by 1912.
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