How many place names are there in the Hawaiian Islands? Even a rough estimate is impossible. Hawaiians named taro patches, rocks, trees, canoe landings, resting places in the forests, and the tiniest spots where miraculous events are believed to have taken place. And place names are far from static--names are constantly being given to new houses and buildings, streets and towns, and old names are replaced by new ones. It is essential, then, to record the names and the lore associated with them now, while Hawaiians are here to lend us their knowledge. And, whatever the fate of the Hawaiian language, the place names will endure. The first edition of Place Names of Hawaii contained only 1,125 entries. The coverage is expanded in the present edition to include about 4,000 entries, including names in English. Also, approximately 800 more names are included in this volume than appear in the second edition of the Atlas of Hawaii.
From the green and fertile lands of Kauai Kuapapa (ancient Kauai) came the most beautiful chiefesses, the bravest heroes, the strongest warriors, and the fiercest giants. It was a land of dauntless raiders who boldly sailed out to sea while others crept cautiously from island to island. Gods and demi-gods participated in the everyday life of the people, and the places where they lived, fought, and loved were remembered and celebrated. Gathered here for the first time are the delightful stories behind the place-names of ancient Kauai. Over a period of almost two thousand years, each ridge, mountain, valley, and stream was named, as were unusual rocks, groves of trees - every corner of the island on which people lived and worked. The names tied people to the land and to places where mauli ola, the sacred essence of life, was to be found. Today these names serve as colorful windows on the past, telling of the rich and wondrous heritage of the people of Kauai Kuapapa.
In Kalaupapa Place Names, John Clark presents a unique history of the leprosy settlement on Moloka‘i, based on his meticulous research of more than three hundred Hawaiian-language newspaper articles. He first assembled an extensive list of familiar and long-forgotten place names associated with the Kalaupapa peninsula and then searched for them in the online repository of Hawaiian-language newspapers. With translation assistance by Iāsona Ellinwood and Keao NeSmith, he discovered articles that show a community of Hawaiians from every island except uninhabited Kaho‘olawe. Their stories reveal an active community with its members trying to live their lives as normally as possible in the face of a debilitating disease. The first section of the book contains newspaper articles arranged under an alphabetical listing of place names. The second section organizes the material into chronological segments, from before the establishment of the Kalaupapa Settlement to the death of Mother Marianne Cope in 1918. These two sections are followed by a collection of kanikau or lamentations, interviews with Kalaupapa residents, and a list of Hawaiian language newspapers. Introductory paragraphs for groupings of newspaper articles assist the reader in visualizing the physical landscape and understanding the history and significance of a particular location. The poetry of the Hawaiian language is evident throughout the translations, especially in the kanikau.
Study to record in a single list what has been discovered thus far about the pronunciations and meaning of the more important place names, before the deaths of informants and the destruction of sites render recovery of that information impossible.
Pronounce and understand Māori place names with the new fourth edition of A.W. Reed's classic guide to meanings and origins of names across New Zealand. From Ahaura to Whitianga, this handily sized book is the definitive guide to the most common and notable Māori names in Aotearoa/New Zealand. Included are maps on the inside covers showing principal names, and reproductions of the illustrations from the 1950 edition of the book by renowned artist James Berry.
For many years, Hawaiian Dictionary has been the definitive and authoritative work on the Hawaiian language. Now this indispensable reference volume has been enlarged and completely revised. More than 3,000 new entries have been added to the Hawaiian-English section, bringing the total number of entries to almost 30,000 and making it the largest and most complete of any Polynesian dictionary. Other additions and changes in this section include: a method of showing stress groups to facilitate pronunciation of Hawaiian words with more than three syllables; indications of parts of speech; current scientific names of plants; use of metric measurements; additional reconstructions; classical origins of loan words; and many added cross-references to enhance understanding of the numerous nuances of Hawaiian words. The English Hawaiian section, a complement and supplement to the Hawaiian English section, contains more than 12,500 entries and can serve as an index to hidden riches in the Hawaiian language. This new edition is more than a dictionary. Containing folklore, poetry, and ethnology, it will benefit Hawaiian studies for years to come.
The story of Ni‘ihau has been told many times by many people, but Ni‘ihau Place Names adds new information to the island’s history from a unique source: Hawaiian-language newspapers. From 1834 to 1948, approximately 125,000 pages of Native Hawaiian expression were printed in more than 100 different newspapers. John R. K. Clark has gathered and edited a large collection of invaluable articles that recorded daily life on Niʻihau, events and topics of interest, and the island’s place names. Additionally, Keao NeSmith, a Native Hawaiian of Kaua‘i and an applied linguist, translator, and researcher fluent in ‘ōlelo Hawai‘i, translated each passage into English. Most of these excerpts have not appeared in any other publication. Ni‘ihau is unique in the state of Hawai‘i because it is the only island that is entirely privately owned. In 1864, Kamehameha V, the monarch of the Kingdom of Hawai‘i, sold the island to the Sinclairs, a wealthy immigrant family looking to establish a ranching business. Descendants of the Sinclairs still own the island today. Diverse opinions about the sale of Niʻihau were published in newspapers across the Hawaiian Islands, and this book traces the development and aftershocks of that historic event. Ni‘ihau Place Names contains over thirty kanikau (dirges, poetic chants) written and published from 1845 to 1931 to honor deceased Niʻihau residents. These compositions of deep emotion are treasuries of language, history, genealogy, cultural knowledge, and especially place names. Another important contribution in this volume is the identification of ‘ōlelo no‘eau (proverbs and poetical sayings) with demonstrations of their use in everyday conversation. The book is divided into two main sections. “Ni‘ihau Place Names” is an alphabetical list of prominent place names on the island, accompanied by relevant passages in Hawaiian and their English translations. The list also includes Lehua, the small island near the northwest tip of Ni‘ihau. “Ni‘ihau History” is an additional collection of articles that includes many lesser-known place names and elucidates other topics deemed worthy by reporters and contributors of the time. Following the main text, readers will find helpful indexes of general terms, place names, and personal names.
Soon after moving to Maui in 1983, Michelle Anderson met Maui County historian Inez Ashdown, who was then 83 years old. They hit it off immediately and Michelle became Mrs. Ashdown's close companion for the remainder of her life. She took Mrs. Ashdown holo-holo all across Maui and escorted her to many events and to her weekly show at the old Kapalua Bay Hotel. Michelle developed a deep appreciation for the wahi pana (storied places) of Maui during these outings with Mrs. Ashdown, who regaled her with stories of the distant past in every district they visited. Michelle came to realize that many of her Hawaiian friends had never heard these stories, so she promised Mrs. Ashdown that one day she would write about Maui's wahi pana to safeguard it for future generations.
