Dear Dera,

There were two brothers with the names of Eugene Pascual Lasartemay and Louis Lasartemay who were born in Hawaii in 1903 and 1906. They moved to the Alamedia area and evidently married wives from California. Their mother's maiden name was Torres according to census records. I doubt if they are the Blacks who came to Hawaii as contract workers from the American south in 1901. I have not found that name in any local directories here which makes me think that family moved to California early in the 1900s. Further, based on names I suspect(but not sure) they might be from Cape Verde Islands; the Cape Verdeans came to Hawaii with the Portuguese migration before 1900. Many of the Cape Verdeans were Portuguese Blacks and they married Hawaiian women. As far as "Black Hawaiians", Hawaiians and American Blacks have intermarried through the years. Their children have always been accepted as Hawaiians.I have never heard of a group of people referred to as "Black Hawaiians" as such.