Indigenous Knowlege and Environment

‘O ke kapa inoa i nā mea ola a me nā hi‘ohi‘ona ‘āina ke kuleana o ka Nomenclature Hui. He kōmike nō ia hui ma lalo o ka Native Hawaiian Cultural Working Group o ke Kiaho‘omana‘o Kai Aupuni ‘o Papahānaumokuākea. Aia nō ka mole o ko mākou ka‘ina hana kapa inoa i ka pilina wehena ‘ole o nā Kānaka ‘Ōiwi, ‘o ia ho‘i ka mo‘okū‘auhau o Kānaka, ka mea e ho‘opili ai a pili kākou i nā mea a pau loa. A ‘ike le‘a ‘ia nō kēia pilina ma ke ko‘ihonua ‘o ke Kumulipo. Ma o nā lālani he 2,000 i hānau ‘ia mai ai kēlā me kēia mea ma ke ao Hawai‘i mai kikilo mai nō a hiki loa i kēia wā ‘ānō e holo nei. Ma Hawai‘i nei, mai Hawai‘i Mokupuni a hiki loa i Hōlanikū, mau nō ke kaunānā ‘ia o nā ‘ano mea ola like ‘ole, ‘o ka limu ‘oe, ‘o ke ko‘a ‘oe, ‘o ka i‘a ‘oe, ‘o ka manu ‘oe, ‘o ka lā‘au ‘oe, a ia ‘ano lāhui hou aku. Ma kēia pepa nei e wehewehe ‘ia ai ia ka‘ina hana kapa inoa Hawai‘i i ia ‘ano mea hou loa i kaunānā ‘ia. Ma o ka hana kapa inoa e pili pū mai ai nā mea ola hou iā kākou ma ko lākou ho‘onohonoho ‘ia i ko kākou mo‘okū‘auhau, a lilo ia i kumu e hō‘oia ‘ia ai ka pono me ke ko‘iko‘i e mālama aku i ia lālā ‘ohana hou loa. I ‘ike ‘oe, e ka mea heluhelu, he hoa namu haole ko kēia pepa. ‘A‘ole na‘e ia he unuhi.

The Papahānaumokuākea Native Hawaiian Cultural Working Group Nomenclature Subcommittee gives Hawaiian names to spaces, objects, or organisms within the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument. Our naming process recognizes the intimate genealogical relationship between Kānaka ‘Ōiwi (Native Hawaiians) and the environment. This is well-documented in the cosmogonic chant, the Kumulipo, which spans across 16 wā (epochs). Over 2,000 lines breathe life into everything in the Hawaiian Universe that continues today and guides us towards the future. In this contemporary wā, the (re)discovery of new marine species, including limu (algae) and ko‘a (coral) in Hawai‘i represents a need to name them. This paper documents the subcommittee’s naming process that draws upon traditional Hawaiian knowledge and practice. Kānaka ‘Ōiwi understand the life-giving potential of names. Thus, the subcommittee draws upon the Kumulipo in the naming of newly discovered species and places found in Hawai‘i—recognizing their cultural significance in our genealogy and the need for their study and conservation. This paper is presented primarily in ‘ōlelo Hawai‘i, the Indigenous language of Native Hawaiians. An English paraphrasing follows.