Essay by Swede Sandblom

                                         Kapaia Foundation Scholarship Recipient, 2026
                                                             

The sugar plantation era revolutionized Hawaii in many ways. The era began when the first sugar plantation was established on Oahu in the early 1800’s, and as other plantations were established all throughout the state, the need for workers grew. The plantations provided housing for their workers and their families, and the beginning of plantation communities was born.

I grew up hearing stories from my mother and grandparents about the different houses they lived in. My grandfather, Bobby Matsuda, spent most of his life working for various sugar plantations: Gay & Robinson Sugar (G&R), Olokele Sugar, Kekaha Sugar, and Lihue Plantation Company.  As housing was an important benefit for working for the plantation, when my grandpa moved to work for different plantations, he and his family moved to different housing in those respective plantation communities, too.

Thanks to the plantations, my grandparents lived in two different houses in Kaumakani and another in Kekaha before finally settling down in Waimea. Whenever we drive past those houses, my mom will always point them out because those experiences helped to shape her. My grandpa built their family home and finally finished it in 1989. He used to tell me how the roof was made possible and put on thanks to the help of his father (my great-grandfather, Toshio Matsuda), a bunch of uncles who also worked for the plantation, and lots of friends and neighbors pulling together to make it happen. That’s what the plantation lifestyle was like back then; everyone was willing to lean in and help each other. Just as everyone helped my grandparents with their house, they were just as willing to help whenever others needed support or help too.

I never had the chance to meet my great-grandparents, but I know the stories of them told to me by my mom, Marissa. My great-grandpa Matsuda was an accountant for the sugar plantation, while my great-grandma Matsuda helped run the ice cream counter near the general store. My mom used to say that her grandma made the best musubis out of leftovers, and she also made the best-looking ice cream cones for dessert. But if you ate them quickly, you’d find a space at the bottom of the cone - probably to save money and not waste too much ice cream! It was important not to be wasteful, and I recall my mom sharing a story of how her grandpa engineered a can crusher in the backyard so you wouldn’t have to keep stepping on cans to crush them down to save space. My grandfather’s ancestors came from Okinawa and worked for the West Side plantations, and my grandmother’s ancestors came from Portugal to work for the McKee plantation in Kapaa.

I was born in 2008, so I didn’t get to experience the end of the plantation era, but the memories and the impact of the plantation era still remain strong within the community. I attended Kekaha Elementary school, and every day we always passed by the skeleton of the Kekaha Sugar Mill. My grandpa would point out where the machine shop was and where he worked. He’d also show me the tree he’d parked under whenever it was his turn for fire watch. My mom has fond memories of keeping her dad company late at night. She probably wasn’t supposed to be up that late, but getting o keep her dad company as they watched over the mill processing sugar is a memory she treasures to this day. Grandpa loved to pick me up from school - partly I think because he could tell stories with all his plantation friends as they waited for their grandkids too, and also because he would share stories about his time working in that era.
Something that stuck with me was his telling me about the process of harvesting sugar cane, where you needed to actually burn the crops, which surprised me, and that when it was time to harvest, the community would close their windows and doors to prevent ash and smoke from getting into the house. Another cool thing that I learned was that my grandfather played for a plantation volleyball team way back in the day. It sounded like plantations had friendly competitions in different sports, and my mom remembers as a little kid getting invited over to the Manager’s House for an annual employee picnic, where everyone would gather to play games and eat. That made me realize that plantation workers had to work long and tiring hours doing hard work, but they also had the chance to play hard too, every now and again.

My grandpa has been one of the biggest influences in my life. He was humble, hard-working, honest, and just an amazingly good person. Work was important, but family was everything. His work ethic and motto of doing things right the first time inspire me, and he’s one of the main reasons why I’m determined to follow in his footsteps and become an engineer. When he passed away recently, it was an incredibly difficult time; however, Uncle Bruce Hiraoka worked for my grandpa in the plantation days, and he shared with my family how much he respected my grandpa. Those memories helped our family tremendously and go to show that while the plantation era has come and gone, its memories and impact will live on in all of us.