Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 37, Number 2, 1 Pepeluali 2020 — Ulukau Expands Its Hawaiian Plaee Names Collection [ARTICLE]

Ulukau Expands Its Hawaiian Plaee Names Collection

By Dr. Bob Stauffer and Dr. Keiki Kawai'ae'a

Ulukau, our own prized 'ōlelo Hawai'i internet library (ulukau. org), is now 16 years old. It is the home of the online Hawaiian dictionary and includes a range of Hawaiian books, a curriculum database, the Kani'āina Native Hawaiian speech repository, the Hawaiian Bible and mueh more. Ulukau library remains the most popular indigenous-language website in the country, and one of the top ones in the world. Ulukau has exceeded well over 180 million clicks across its many sections and collections since its launeh in 2004. Amid quite a number of Ulukau upgrades and additions, Kanaeokana (the Kula Hawai'i Network) has supported the recently upgraded Inoa 'Āina Hawai'i ('Hawaiian Plaee Names') eolleehon of Lloyd Soehren. The upgrade includes virtual global maps of many of its 22,000+ plaee names. Lloyd Soehren was an anthropologist at Bishop Museum's anthropology department from the 1950s until his retirement 30 years later as the department's deputy director. His name shows up in all kinds of museum and anthropology worksite and cultural studies from all around the islands. Upon his retirement Lloyd embarked on a volunteer job that hlled the rest of his life: creating an accessible list of plaee names from often obscure sources. Lloyd' s daughter Merriette Carlson said that she recalled driving him along the coast of Maui when she stopped he got out and disappeared off into the brush. Lloyd continued to rehne his list of names, she said, and he was searching out a new site whose name he had unearthed. He wanted to stand there, look around, and feel the plaee. A favorite tool of the website, particularly for teachers using the place-based method of learning, is to piek an ahupua'a that a school or something is based in, and then look up the plaee names in it. One teacher commented that she had spent years assembling a list of places near her school to take students to, but she was able to double that list in just minutes on the website. Inoa 'Āina Hawai'i also contains Lloyd's highly recommended "Catalog of Hawaiian Plaee Names," an extended essay that gives an excellent introduction to the topic of plaee names and to the website. As always with Ulukau, access is completely free, made available as an educational and community service by Ka Haka 'Ula O Ke'elikōlani, the College of Hawaiian Language at the UH Hilo. Ulukau has been supported over the years by dozens of individuals and organizations who have contributed materials, collections and funding to the growth of Ulukau. ■ Bob Stciuffer and Keiki Kawai 'ae 'a are two ofthefounders of Ulukau. They eonlinue to oversee the growtli and advancement ofthe online internet Hawaiian library until today. Kamalani Jolmson is the Hawaiian Language and Curriculum Specialist for the Haie Kuamo'o Hawaiian Language Center and a Hawaiian Language and Literature lecturerfor Ka Haka 'Ula O Ke 'elikōlani ColIege at UH Hilo.