Filipino American Lives

Chapter 3: "Sometimes, I Am Not Sure What It Means to Be an American"

Farm LAborers in Hawaii Chapter 3 "Sometimes, I Am Not Sure What It Means to Be an American" Connie Tirona My parents were recruited to Hawaii as laborers sometime between 1920 and 1926. My father was from Aldan province in western Visayas. He stopped attending school after the seventh grade. I remember him telling me that he had to give up his education because he had to work to send his brothers and sisters through school. He joined the Philippine Scouts. For him, it was an adventure because of the chance to meet the American officers . He wanted to learn more about the United States. My mother lived a very sheltered life. At that time, women were taught to stay home and learn homemaking skills to prepare for marriage. She only had a third-grade education. Her parents felt that was sufficient for a female. Her father owned a ferryboat in the Visayan Islands, so people could travel from one island to another. So they must have been middle class or upper middle class. It was a hard decision for my mother to go to Hawaii, coming from a very sheltered life. There were four or five other Filipinas who came at the same time that my mother did. Later on, when we were in California, they would meet often and tell the old stories about Hawaii, and I would just sit there and listen. There were nostalgic stories as well as sad ones, like the time my mother had a miscarriage coming over [in] steerage. They came Copyrighted Material 65 66 • Connie Tirona over in steerage class on one of the American President liners, and their fare was paid by the recruiters. My parents were sent to the Wailua Sugar and Pineapple Plantation. They lived in labor camps. I learned all this from my father, so this is oral history. It was sad, because my father said that they were so mistreated by the different crew bosses. At that time, only Ilocanos and Visayans were recruited to Hawaii. It was my understanding that this was because they were the fanners. The Tagalogs were more the intellectuals. What I heard from my parents was that at first, Filipinos in those labor camps saw themselves as either Ilocanos or Visayans. My parents were Visayans. But they became " Filipinos" because of what was happening to them: the violence against them; they were mistreated. They united against the Portuguese foremen and the "haoles" [whites]. My father learned to speak Ilocano fluently because Ilocanos and Visayans were always put to work together, and the Ilocanos also learned to speak Visayan. Some ofmy children's godparents are Ilocanos. So regionalism didn't matter to either group because they had suffered the same indignities. The Filipinos also got along with the Japanese [in the labor camps.] Because ofthe different ethnic groups in these camps, "pidgin English" became their common language bond. My mother learned to cook many Japanese dishes. I think that was because they were all together in the work camps. They all had to work hard, and this is why they became so close-knit with each other. Theirs was a hard life. They would work from very early in the morning until late at night. They would leave for work before the break ofdawn and return long after dusk. The women like my mother would do the cooking, and some of them would go to work in the fields along with the men. But again, they said there were some fun times when they would get together and have their famous cockfights. Among other things, they would make this fennented drink from coconuts. So, despite an oppressive work atmosphere , there was some joy. My parents stayed in Hawaii for about five years. My father was able to leave the plantations and work in the shipyard. Some oftheir Filipino friends in Hawaii who had gone to the mainland asked them to come and join them there because there was plenty of work to be found. My father had made enough money for passage from working in the shipyard. Childhood Memories ofthe Manongs When my parents landed on Angel Island in San Francisco Bay, their friends were in the Delano area working in the grape fields. My parents did not know where Delano was. A Japanese grower from Stanford decided to hire Copyrighted Material Connie Tirona • 67 Connie Tirona (center) singing Christmas carols...