Nā Wahi Pana I Hoʻonalowale ʻIa…Ā Loaʻa Hou: Hawaiian Place Name Loss and Recovery in “Paradise”

Abstract

The erasure of Indigenous place names takes place all over the world, enabled by territoriality, private property and settler colonialism. Hawaiʻi did not escape this colonial process, but the writing over of our geographic labels has a unique genealogy. Unlike many places, Hawaiʻi’s inoa wahi (place names) were legally preserved and codified during the transition from common to private property by the constitutional monarchy that ruled Hawaiʻi. However, these place names were eventually obliterated as part of the geopolitical climate that began just after the Hawaiian Kingdom’s overthrow in 1893.This text will describe Hawaiʻi’s unique naming genealogy and examine the factors that contributed to it. Through the case study of Waikīkī’s transformation from food production area to international tourist destination, it will contextualize the process of place name erasure during Hawaiʻi’s post-overthrow and territorial period (1893–1959) and discuss the ways that Kanaka Maoli (Native Hawaiians) were disenfranchised historically. Additionally, this text will also detail processes that can be utilized to reclaim these Indigenous place names and the connections to land and identity for Hawaiʻi’s Indigenous people and landscape.