"Kanaka" etymology from Lonely Planet Publications

[Ross Clark (FOA DALSL)]

 Yes, Dave, Anthony and all the other people who responded are quite right,
it's a Hawaiian word and I'm disappointed that LP should perpetrate the
completely baseless "cane hacker" story. Don't have my files at hand now
(having a happy holiday in Rarotonga) but I'm pretty sure I have examples of
"kanaka" used (in English) for Hawaiians from the 1820s, long before anybody
was hacking any cane up there.

Ross Clark

-----Original Message-----
From: David D. Robertson
To: CHINOOK at LISTSERV.LINGUISTLIST.ORG
Sent: 3/02/2003 5:32 p.m.
Subject: "Kanaka" etymology from Lonely Planet Publications

In Lonely Planet's "Pidgin Phrasebook:  Pidgin Languages of Oceania" the
section on Bislama (spoken in Vanuatu) has this:

"The term 'Kanaka' was coined during this time to refer to the Pacific
Islanders working on the [Queensland, Australia] plantations.  The exact
origins of the term are unclear, but one possible explanation is
that 'Kanaka' was derived from the English 'cane hacker'."  [page 15]

I have been under the impression that 'Kanaka' was of Polynesian origin,
maybe a native or pidgin Hawaiian word.

We have at least a couple of experts on relevant fields among our list's
membership.  Anyone care to comment on this word that also entered
Chinook
Jargon?

--Dave