Tom,

Thanks, great info to add to the body of remarks on the subject!

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As for John Kanaka origins, I maintain that there is no evidence outside the word "Kanaka" and the supposed Samoan (according to Hugill -- not Hawaiian) syllables (for which no translation has been offered, by the way) that it had any real connection to Polynesia. On the other hand, it has earmarks of chanteys from the greater Gulf of Mexico / Caribbean area, including that it is nearly the same as "Mobile Bay." I really think (although I'm willing to be persuaded otherwise!) that the whole Polynesia thing has been trumped up as a gimmick -- a point of interest for audiences, including children and people who want to experience the "multicultural" dimension of chanteying in a very obvious way. And I think this accounts for much of its popularity. Of course, Revell Carr could say much more, since I'm sure he investigated influences of Kanaka sailors on chanteying.

My own interest here is not origins (birth) so much as the life of these post-sailing days. And to that end I'm interested whether "Kanaka" is a "one-source song," or if the Eckstorm text, too, has contributed anything. Eckstorm clearly did not know the concepted of "Kanaka" (i.e. based on her alleged rendering of the text), so I don't imagine she made any Polynesian connection.