Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 40, Number 9, 1 September 2023 — State of Hawaii [Hawai'i] ?? Hawai'i Island [Island of Hawai'i]?? [ARTICLE]

State of Hawaii [Hawai'i] ?? Hawai'i Island [Island of Hawai'i]??

<LETTER TO THE W EDITOR r

Welina mai, What follows may be deemed too picky by many or some, but nuanee and details are important, as we learn when mele, oli, and olelo are studied. First, let's recognize two entities: the Hawaii Board on Geographic Names (HBGN), and the US Board on Geographic Names (USBGN). Ihe Hawaii Board sends information regarding plaee names to the US Board. The US Board generally accepts recommendations of the Hawaii Board for changes, corrections, or new plaee names. When our Statehood Act, Public Law 86-3, March 18, 1959 [S. 50], was passed by Congress, "Hawaii" was spelled without an 'okina, as was usual at the time. On July 2, 1959, Governor William Quinn, wrote to President Dwight D. Eisenhower, conveying the results of a vote on June 27, 1959, asking if Hawaii should immediately be admitted to the union. The vote was 132,773 (for) and 7,971 (against) of a total population of about 622,000. On Aug. 21, 1959, President Eisenhower signed Proclamation #3309, admitting Hawaii to the Union. All without an 'okina. To remedy those misspellings, a Congressional Bill needs to be introduced, passed, and signed that will correct the spelling of "State of Hawaii" to "State of Hawai'i." Until then, all federal institutions must use "State of Hawaii," as listed in the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) database of the USBGN, in their publications. Ihe USBGN GNIS database also lists "Island of Hawai'i" as the official name of Moku o Keawe. Island of Hawai'i, rather than "Hawai'i Island" must be used. Many, many institutions in Hawaii choose to use "Hawai'i Island," rather than the correct Island of Hawai'i. We hope that these oversights are corrected. ■ Me ke aloha, Bobby Camara Kea'au, Island ofHawai'i, State ofHawaii