Fwd: Kauaÿi council resolution

[Liko Puha]

http://www.kauaiworld.com/display/inn_news/news02.txt
Friday, June 20, 2003

Council resolution would put correct Hawaiian place names on street signs

By LESTER CHANG - TGI Staff Writer

A proposed resolution to recognize the richness of the language and
culture of Native Hawaiians was approved by a Kaua~Qi County Council
committee meeting yesterday.

Through the resolution, Council Vice Chair James Kunane Tokioka and
Councilwoman JoAnn Yukimura asked county departments, agencies, officials,
visitor industry representatives and residents to use macrons and glottal
stops in spelling Hawaiian words. The Hawaiian word for macron is kahako,
and a glottal stop is known as an ~Qokina.

If approved by the full council, the resolution also would apply to
Hawaiian terms and Hawaiian place names.

The measure, if adopted, would help perpetuate the culture and language of
Native Hawaiians.

To give meaning to such a resolution, county officials should replace
street signs with Hawaiian words, change the county letterheads and reword
letters in the county seal, proponents of the measure said.

At a meeting of the council committee of the whole at the historic Kaua~Qi
County Building, committee members and audience members commended Tokioka
and Yukimura for proposing the resolution.

Hokulani Cleeland, a kumu (or teacher) at the Ke Kula Ni~Qihau O Kekaha
Learning Center, a "new century" public charter laboratory school,
proposed establishing an advisory committee to provide proper names for
street signs and places.

"Single names won't be a problem, but it could get difficult with place
names," Cleeland said. His idea drew support from committee members and
Native Hawaiians in the audience.

Cleeland recommended the committee be made up of people who have a wealth
of knowledge about Hawaiian history and the Hawaiian language. Yukimura
asked Cleeland to provide names of potential candidates.

Support for the measure came form Ilei Beniamina, an associate professor
of Hawaiian Studies at the Kaua~Qi Community College and a counselor of
students.

She said the 25 students she taught the Hawaiian language to in 1988 had a
hunger for the language. The students wanted to reword the Lihu~Qe Airport
sign in the Hawaiian language, and that should be done now, she said.

Beniamina said Hawaiian and English are the official languages of the
state and that the Hawaiian language has equal importance.

Beniamina said the Hawaiian alphabet has 13 letters and that the 13th
letter is the ~Qokina.

In supporting the resolution, councilman Joe Munechika said he grew up in
Waimea listening to Hawaiian spoken by neighbors and learned to appreciate
the language.

Munechika said he attended a graduation ceremony recently held at the Ke
Kula Ni~Qihau O' Kekaka School, and was impressed that the ceremony was
conducted only in Hawaiian.

Councilman Jay Furfaro said his appreciation of the Hawaiian language runs
deep from his decades of living in the Hanalei District.

Mohala, his daughter and a graduate of Kamehameha School, has a master's
degree in planning and is using her knowledge of the Hawaiian language and
history in her work, Furfaro said.

Beniamina said she taught Furfaro's daughter and found her to be an
"accelerated student" with a deep grasp of things Hawaiian.

Furfaro said using Hawaiian place names gives locations on Kaua~Qi a "sense
of place."

For instance, Hanalei Bay may be promoted as a top visitor destination,
but the word Hanalei means "crescent bay," Furfaro said. Visualization of
that image gives the bay a more special meaning, he said.

Council chair Kaipo Asing said he grew up in Ha~Qena, was raised by
grandparents who spoke Hawaiian fluently and that he learned to make poi
from them.

He said he always knew Makua Beach by that name and was befuddled to hear
that it became to be known as "Tunnels Beach."

The stories that are part of the places bearing Hawaiian names are
"enlightening" and they give richness to his life in Hawai~Qi, Councilman
Mel Rapozo said.

Tokioka said he wished he had listened to his grandparents' exhortation to
speak Hawaiian. "I kick myself for not learning the Hawaiian language
better," he said.

Tokioka said he has his daughter spend more time with his mother to learn
about the Hawaiian language and culture.

"Hawaiians are the host culture, and we need to be sensitive to that,"
Tokioka said. Councilman Daryl Kaneshiro voiced similar messages and
support for the resolution.

In supporting her measure, Yukimura said she was presuming the county
Public Works Department would replace signs with those bearing Hawaiian
words.

Yukimura said the idea for the resolution came from earlier council
brainstorming sessions to identify issues of priority.

The resolution notes:


*       The symbols are commonly used in publications and by counties for
streets with Hawaiian names.
*       The glottal stop is a consonant in the Hawaiian language, and leaving it
out changes the meaning of an Hawaiian world.
*       The measure is intended to show respect to the Hawaiian culture.


Staff writer Lester Chang can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 225) and
lchang at pulitzer.net