Kanaka is the word for man in the Hawaiian language, a human being. As an adjective it means manly, strong.
After c. 1820, after the kapus and relationships broke down, many young Hawaiian men needed employment and became sailors or whalers, or were hired out by the Crown to companies needing workers; they became carpenters, builders, Canadian voyageurs, fishermen, farmers, cowboys, etc. Looking for documents on some who were contracted to work for the Hudsons Bay Company, I found much of interest in the archives in Honolulu.
Sailors and others called them Kanakas, and 'John' and other names were used to identify individuals. There was no specific 'John Kanaka,' but many probably answered to that name at their work.

Kanaka Creek in British Columbia is named for the Hawaiians who were farmers, carpenters and builders for the Hudsons Bay Company. They built Fort Langley, packed salmon, shaped lumber, raised crops, etc. much of which reached the Hudsons Bay store in Honolulu. Many returned to Hawai'i when their term of employment was completed, but some stayed, and descendants remain in B. C.

PoppaGator is correct in his use of 'term'; Kanaka became a widely used term for these men.

All of this is digression which has nothing to do with Marti Gras in New Orleans, and the various myths and speculations about the song which have appeared in this thread.

Dave's Wife- Your speculation about the Black Hand of N. O. is an interesting addition to the mythology. The Italians, as well as the Irish, were important in 19th c. N. O., and their stories are not well-known (Now could the song be mis-heard Gaelic?- oh, no!).