What’s in an Inoa? (Name).

How generational colonization-induced trauma continues in the way we identify our locations on Oahu

Reflecting on how Hawai’ian's traditionally named places, there is a stark contrast between the two cultures.

“Mo’o’lelo (stories of place) is Kupuna (ancestral); it can be human, but more often than not, the names are Aina (land) related,” said Kumu Pualalea Slover, who teaches Hawai’ian Studies at the University of Hawai’i.

Place naming or inoa aina serves multiple purposes to the individuals living on the land; places are named to indicate to future generations what resources may be found in that location, to preserve a lesson or story told in that place or mo’olelo, and also to describe place names to assist in navigation and travel.

Some schools such as Punahou, have kept their original place names and due to this we are able to read the history of the birth of the land from Hanauma Bay to Le'ahi (known as 'Diamond Head.)

Slover broke it down into two main concepts: “inoa is about histories and resources; we name things and use inoa to show that we are familiar and intimate with the place. As children of the land, it’s important to know our relations.”

Slover continued to explain the entomology behind place names in Hawai’i is of high cultural significance. Examples of these place names were traditionally right in our backyard, but renaming has destroyed the original place names and the messages they were intended to convey.

For example, Kaneohe Bay is a notorious breeding ground for Hammerhead sharks, which makes sense and could be predicted given its original name was “Ka Waha Oka Mano,” directly translating to “mouth of the shark,” information that would be helpful to individuals who wanted to swim in the waters there.

The list of renamed locations across the islands continues, and Oahu is a long way from reclaiming all the traditional inoa.

Although there have been successful name reclaiming. For example, the signage for Sandy’s beach Park has been replaced with one displaying the beach’s traditional name of Awawamalu.

Ongoing movements in the past have tried to change the situation, such as the name reclaiming of Dole street, started by The University of Hawai’i’s Graduate Student Program in 2016.

Traditionally Dole Street was called Kapa’akea street, meaning white coral; this was due to the coral beds atop which the road was built. This changed in 1950 when it was renamed by the territorial government to honour Sanford Dole’s family.

The 2021 proposed bill to return McKinley High School - named after the 25th US President - to its original name of Honolulu High School has currently been deferred.

“For me, it’s [using original place names] about connection and knowing the place I am and the land I am. I was born and raised in Waianae and knew it meant something to do with fish. Diving deeper, I learned nae is the name of a specific fish that grows to a certain size here. It’s about learning the land we’re living on and appreciating it,” said University of Hawai’i student Danielle Smith.

Slowly through education and learning the historical wrongdoings the original place names can be reclaimed.