ʻŌlelo Noʻeau #2484
In our moʻomeheu (culture), an inoa is a precious mea ola (living thing) possessed of its own mana. It shapes health, fate, and character. We are more blessed when we receive our inoa from kūpuna.
Culturally, there are different types of inoa: Inoa pō (names received in a dream); inoa hōʻailona (names received in signs, omens or visions); inoa ʻūlāleo (supernaturally voiced names), inoa hoʻomanaʻo (commemorative names) and inoa kūamuamu (reviling names).
Such has been the inoa of places on the continent settled by Kānaka Maoli. Kūpuna did not see their new settlement as a replacement for Hawaiʻi, but as a puʻuhonua (place of refuge) where ʻohana in kaiāulu could survive while keeping their culture alive.
Iosepa is a town in Skull Valley, Utah. In 1889, King Kalākaua permitted 50 Kānaka Maoli to journey to Utah. These Mormon converts followed Joseph F. Smith, whose perfect fluency in ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi served as a powerful charm for their faith. Trekking from San Francisco via the Transcontinental Railroad, they settled 75 miles from Salt Lake City.
They named their town Iosepa, an inoa hoʻomanaʻo honoring Smith and an inoa hōʻailona that foresaw a great journey. Though its residents departed in 1917 to build a temple in Lāʻie, this mana lives on in streets named Honolulu, Wailuku, Kapukini, Waimea and Lāʻie. Today, the history of this puʻuhonua is preserved by the Iosepa Historical Society, Hui Hawaiʻi o Utah, and Kauwahi ʻAnaina Hawaiian Civic Clubs.
Kalama, Washington, stands as an inoa hoʻomanaʻo for John Kalama, a Maui-born trailblazer who arrived on the West Coast in 1830. During the 19th century, Kānaka Maoli were essential to the Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC), prized for their expert skills in swimming, logging, and smithing.
John Kalama served as a vital middleman between the HBC and the Cowlitz Indian Tribe from what is now known as southwestern Washington state. He eventually married Mary Martin, daughter of Nisqually Chief Sulkaden. Kalama, meaning “the torch” or “light,” was bestowed upon the river and the city incorporated in 1871. This legacy of light is supported till today by the Mokuʻāina a Wakinekona Hawaiian Civic Club.
Las Vegas (The Meadows) and the “Ninth Island” is a desert puʻuhonua that grew from the 1950s recruitment of the first showroom entertainers, The Mary K (Kaʻaihue) Trio. Seeking to mimic Waikīkī, the hotel and entertainment industries drew Hawaiʻi’s talent of travel agents, hotel managers and musicians to the Oasis. Showrooms adapted hula for the era’s spectacle.
In 1996, Uncle Mel Ozeki popularized the nickname “Ninth Island” in ʻOhana Magazine, bridging two lands defined by isolation: one by sea, one by desert. Today, the “Ninth Island” continues to draw all of Hawaiʻi as well as our Kānaka on the continent to where aloha and moʻomeheu is shared; an inoa hoʻomanaʻo to some, an inoa kūamuamu to others. Uncle Mel was a member of the Las Vegas Hawaiian Civic Club.
, an inoa is a precious mea ola (living thing) possessed of its own mana. It shapes health, fate, and character. We are more blessed when we receive our inoa from kūpuna.){kind=link}