 THE HAWAIIAN isles were colonized between A.D. 300 and 600 by Polynesians sailing from other Pacific islands. Native traditions, culture, and the Hawaiian language remained pure and vital until the 1778 arrival of British Captain James Cook precipitated the coming of English-speaking missionaries. As Hawaiian was only an oral language, the missionaries set out to make it a written one as well. Their immediate goal was to establish schools and translate the Bible and other religious material. Missionary influence also markedly affected island culture. Traditional feasts and rituals were discouraged as pagan, and converting the Hawaiian people to Christianity was carried out with zeal. In 1860 King Kamehameha IV signed into law the Act to Regulate Names, which mandated that all citizens of the Kingdom of Hawaii follow the standard European system of naming. Until this time, traditional naming practices were of great cultural importance. One's name was a force unto itself and was considered to be one's greatest possession. Once a name was spoken aloud, it assumed its own existence and had the power to help or harm its bearer. Therefore, the choice of a name was a serious matter, and not only involved the parents but the extended family as well. There were several ways a name was chosen. First, a "night" or "dream" name could be put forth by the family's ancestor god through the dreams of family members. Second, the name could be heard spoken by the ancestor god in a supernatural voice. Third, the name could be given in a sign directed from the ancestor god. Any name chosen by the ancestor god had to be used. Failing to do so would result in illness and even death to the newborn. Other types of names were given as well. There were secret names that were very sacred and never spoken aloud, everyday names that were often shortened forms of much longer names, names that were commemorative of special events, places, or personal achievements, and ancestral names through which one's lineage was traced. As in many other traditional societies, names were also given to children to trick evil spirits into staying away. These were called "reviling" names. They were invariably ugly or disgusting so as to make the evil spirits think the child was as repulsive as its name and consequently leave it alone. Traditionally, there was no system of marriage and there were no surnames. After the Act to Regulate Names was passed, all citizens were made to assume a Christian first name, the resulting selection often a Bible name. Because many of the- sounds of the English language are not pronounced in Hawaiian, the names were "Hawaiianized." Vowels were placed between consonants and added to the ends of the names, and the letters of the English alphabet not found in Hawaiian were replaced by Hawaiian ones, as in the table below. Daniel was changed to Kaniela, Jason to Iakona, Clarice became Kalalika, and so on. Such names are not considered truly Hawaiian by those who study and work to preserve native culture. They are included here because the fact remains that they are now in common use in Hawaii. After a Christian name was chosen, a person's native name was usually used as a surname, often in shortened form. Marriages were also performed and the woman was required to assume her husband's new surname, as were all children born to the couple. Many satisfied the legal requirement of giving their child a Christian first name, but also added a traditional Hawaiian name as a middle name. In 1967 the Act to Regulate Names was changed, and the requirement that the first name be Christian was dropped. Hawaiians were once again free to bestow names in the traditional manner, yet the trend to do so is not proceeding as fast as many had hoped. Hawaiian names are still generally reserved for middle-name status. Many names are unique, and parents may choose a name by consulting a Hawaiian dictionary and using care to keep the diacritical marks in place. Failure to do so can change the meaning of a wonderful name into a very undesirable one. Hawaiian words and names are generally stressed on the next to the last syllable. All vowels marked with macrons are also stressed and are somewhat longer in sound than other vowels. A glottal stop is marked by the symbol ', and is similar to the break between the English oh-oh. Hawaiian names are beautiful and melodic. They can have several different meanings, and interestingly, they are also unisex. Some of the names in this chapter have been categorized as male and female with a thought to traditional Western ideas of masculine and feminine qualities. |
