#immigrantfarmworkers

[kataibusaibiin]

Couple weeks ago, an #Uchinaanchu cousin from #Brazil contacted me after finding me as a DNA match. How awesome we got to "meet" last week via Zoom.

When I got my brother to take a DNA test few years ago to aid in genealogy research of our dad’s / American family, I definitely wasnʻt expecting anyone on my mom’s / Uchinaanchu side of family to show up as matches. But Iʻve been pleasantly surprised by the #Shimanchu cousins Iʻm encountering across the #diaspora.

As I've sifted through various documents and ships’ manifests in search of possible relatives that connect us cousins, I've come across descriptions like those pictured here, which made my heart race as I felt something tug at it and my eyes widen:

"Tattoo marks on back of 2nd and 3rd finger of both hands."

"Tattoo marks on backs of all fingers of both hands..."

Hajichi.

I could almost picture their hands blessed with #hajichi, holding so many stories past/present/future - connecting their lives in Ryukyu islands and journey to new shores with our present and collective memories and all our connected roots in our beloved ʻnmarijima, across #LooChoo.

This manifest is filled with pages of passenger names almost entirely young Uchinaanchu arriving as “farm workers.”

These Shimanchu arrived in Hawai'i as #ImmigrantFarmworkers or traveled on to Mexico, US, Peru, Brazil, Argentina... Many were recruited with promises of guaranteed work, steady pay, and in some cases land or free lodging. Many would discover otherwise upon their arrivals.

My cousins are here now reaching out to each other because somehow the passengers of this ship and others that passed through these ports found ways to persevere. It is important we do our part to remember and learn from them, even if we must dig a little together now to do so.

Whenever I review ship manifests and immigration documents, I often wonder what folks thought and felt as their new home could be seen on the horizon and their future came more clearly into view...

This time, I found myself drawn to the image of these hands... what must they have carried with them on this journey?