Weght hiyu "Kanaka" wawa

[David D. Robertson]

I also received the following replies about "Kanaka", which weren't sent to
the list at large but are interesting.  Hope it's OK to take the liberty of
sharing these notes from anonymous contributors.  --  Dave


Kanaka is a bonafide Hawai'ian word and means "person."  I know that a
similar word exists in all the other Polynesian languages.  I also think
that many of the Micronesian languages have similar sounding words for
"person."  The Vanuatuians refered to in the passage that you quote
speak a Polynesian language.
-----------------------

Hawaiian simplifies the T's of other polynesian languages to K's and the
NG's to N's.

  "Person" is Kanaka (Hawaii) and Tangata (Rarotonga)
  Kanaka is definitely Polynesian in origin and does not come from "Cane
hacker."

  Incidently the the word Owyee, Hawaii, Avaiki (Rarotongan) is the
mythical homeland of all
  Polynesians before they became sea faring folk.  I've read some theories
that it is in Malasia or
  Taiwan but it is found in most polynesian oral traditions.

The word also has a history in melanesia...

  In the late 1960's a radical student movement took up the name Kanak
(human being) as a challenge
  to the derogatory Canaque and Kanaka used by European settlers. The
indigenous Melanesian
  population and other supporters of independence now use the name Kanaky
for the islands. For the
  French and settler population, Nouvelle Caledonie (New Caledonia) is an
overseas territory of
  France; for those who call this Kanaky, it is a colonised nation seeking
to re-establish itself
  as part of the South Pacific.
  ( http://www.caa.org.au/horizons/h17/kanaky.html )

I just thought the spelling Canaque was an interesting French variation
although possibly a
derogatory spelling.

Some other interesting Polynesian words...

  "South" is Kona (Hawaii) and Tonga (Rarotonga)
  The famous Kona Coffee is from the South Coast of the Big Island of
Hawaii.
  Rarotonga is a compound meaning "down south."

  "Mukmuk" is Kai (Hawaii) and Kai (Rarotonga)
  Rarotongan extresses home as Kainga which is the passive or "Kah iskum
muckamuck"

  "Man" is Kane (Hawaii) and Tane (Rarotonga)

  "Saltchuck" is Kai (Hawaii) and Tai (Rarotonga)
  "Chuck" is Wai (Hawaii) and Vai (Rarotonga)

  "Sawas", "indigenous" is Maoli (Hawaii) and "Maori" or "Moori" (Rarotonga)
  Vai maori is fresh water from the land as opposed to tap water.
---------

My teacher in the 1960s, Lummi elder Joe Hillaire, was
of Hawaiian ancestry also.  He would point out the
wave in his hair.  His "Kanaka" ancestor was recruited
by the British and he wound up at Fort Victoria
(Victoria, BC).

It was always my understanding that "Kanaka" was a
Polynesian word for any Polynesian person, including
Hawaiians.  As I understood it, the British recruited
Polynesians to hunt sea mammals and many wound up
working for Hudson's Bay Company, along the Columbia
River, in Puget Sound, and along the Straits along
Vancouver Island, BC.