Cane Knife
Cane knives were used by Japanese American laborers to harvest sugar cane (kachiken) in Hawai‘i. By 1890, 72 plantations in Hawai‘i produced about 260,000,000 pounds of raw sugar.
Many plantation workers worked under harsh conditions from dawn to dusk, earning $4.00/month until 1885. By 1920, the average wage for common laborers increased to $20.00/month.
Gift of Barbara Kawakami. Photo by Smithsonian National Museum of American History Archives.
Doesn’t the word cane knife referrer to a type of disguised knife whose sheath looks like a cane?
Perhaps you might be correct, however, with respect to this particular kind of knife, “cane” refers to sugar cane.