1st day of Mo‘okū‘auhau: He Inoa ‘Ala

It is the 1st day of Hawaiiana lessons, and I am in two courses: a language course and a genealogy course as well. I am hoping to build my foundation of Hawaiiana so that my dissertation will be solid and have the mana'o (thoughts) captured as purely Hawaiian as possible. Below my posting for the discussion on 1st day of Mo‘okū‘auhau: He Inoa ‘Ala. This means Genealogy: A fragrant name.

The whole concept of inoa or name is that it is a prized possession. the Hawaiians believe that one's inoa, once spoken takes on a life of its own. Much thought went into choosing an inoa at birth. Ali'i were given inoa to signify important events in their lives...and also to show reverence and honor perhaps to an 'aumakua or kupuna. Inoa is an integral part of one's life, one's identity, and culture.

Aloha mai kakou. 'O Cami ko'u inoa.
Oh boy. I have a really long name! My formal name is Camilla Grace Fusae Kaiuhino‘onalani Wengler Vignoe. It was kind of funny to see people’s faces so astonished as they announced my name at graduation. I had it printed on my diploma because it made my mom proud to see me graduate.

In any case, I prefer to be called Cami; I am from Honolulu on the east side near ‘Āina Haina. I am the second eldest of 11 children born to Harry and Charlotte Wengler. Each one of us has a long name that tells a story: We have a first name, a middle name which is a Christian name, a Japanese name, a Hawaiian name, and our last name; in my case, I have two last names because I got married.

My first name was chosen because my mother heard it and really liked it. Camilla has a Latin base; it means “ceremonial attendant”. Camilla was also a warrior queen in Virgil’s poetry. Grace, also Latin, means “God’s favor”; it comes from my mother’s favorite prayer: “Hail Mary, full of Grace…”

Fusae was given to honor our Japanese ancestors. It refers to a beautiful and very delicate, yet sturdy ornament that hangs on a far branch of a cherry blossom tree. I recall my grandfather telling me the story a long time ago. Even after the harshest of storms, miraculously, this ornament would still be dangling, intact, on the branch of the tree. As I reflect upon his sentiment, I think it symbolizes hope when all seems to be lost.

Kaiuhino‘onalani, my Hawaiian name, is an inoa pō. My Tūtū (great-grandmother) gifted it to me. It means “one who is held in high esteem with the chiefs”. As I have studied a little bit about inoa pō, I understand that an ‘aumakua will send the name to your kupuna, perhaps in a dream, who then must give it to you.

My maiden name has its origins from Germany. They say that it is a common name there, and that the Wengler clan lived in the hills somewhere there. I would really like to visit Germany some time and research my father’s family.

My last name Vignoe was originally Vignali; it has its roots in Italy – my husband is third generation Italian. It means “of the vines”; the family used to make wine in either Naples or Sicily. Anyway, the story that the Vignoes tell us is that when Dave’s grandfather arrived from Italy, immigration people thought it was too hard to say their name, so the officials Americanized their name on the legal papers.

Learning about people’s names is fascinating. It gives us the story of where we came from (nationality), and ties us to a place so that we can trace our genealogy. It also makes us appreciate our kupuna as real people contributing to society, and dealing with real problems of their time. I am so looking forward to learning more in this papa.