Taldiap: Sakada, Nagpuonan ti Filipino nangruna Dagiti Ilokano tapno madanon ti Hawaii

All dressed up and ready for a night on the town.
[Photo courtesy of Lyman Museum Collections]


Appreciating the Sakada Connection in Hawai'i

From 1906 to 1946, some 125,000 Filipinos were recruited by the Hawaii Sugar Planters Association (HSPA) to work in the sugar cane and pineapple fields of the Hawaiian Islands.  They were known as “Sakadas”—in the Tagalog and Ilokano languages of the Philippines, meaning “lower-paid workers from out of the area.” 

n Hawai‘i the term has become synonymous with these pioneers who came here for adventure and to seek a better life for themselves and their families.  Throughout the past century of sugar growing in Hawai‘i, until the very end of the industry in December 2016, the Sakadas and their descendants predominated among the laborers who increased sugar and pineapple production to its greatest extent and profitability, laying a foundation for the economic growth and stability that helped create modern Hawai‘i.