Creator
Waiakea Plantation
Title
First New York Volunteers Thanksgiving Luau
Coverage
Territory of Hawaii
Date
November 24, 1898
Description
The First New York Volunteers attended a complimentary luau on Thanksgiving in 1898 at the Waiakea Plantation on the Island of Hawai’i. The traditional feast featured fish “from fish ponds,” pig baked in ti leaves, sweet potatoes, breadfruit, beef, kukui (candlenut) relish, turkey, poi (taro), kulolo (coconut and taro pudding), soda water, and lemonade. Since the Spanish-American War had already ended, the federalized National Guard regiment soon returned home, having never reached the Philippines.