Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 6, Number 7, 1 July 1989 — He Mau Nīnau Ola [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

He Mau Nīnau Ola

Some Health Questions by Kekuni Blaisdell, M.D.

Na Iwi o ke kino (The bones): Na Inoa (The names) Mokuna 'elua (Part II)

INinau: h ke kauka, how did the Hawaiians of old decide on names for the bones of the human body? Pane: Ka pane to your ninau is part of hypotheses on the origin of ka 'ōlelo Hawai'i (the Hawaiian language) itself. Linguistic exDerts. such as

Kulanui O Hawai'i (University of Hawai'i) professor Samuel Elbert, consider our 'ōlelo makuahine (mother tongue) to be one of a family of Polynesian languages. They are derived from three "proto Polynesian" 'ōlelo extending back over 2,000 years, when our Polynesian ancestors migrated into and throughout the 20 million square miles of Ka Moananui (the Pacific Oeean) later to be called the "Polynesian Triangle." No laila, a much-needed study, yetto be undertaken, would be a comparison of human anatomical hua'olelo (terms), including nā iwi, in the principal Polynesian 'ōlelo — Hawaiian, Samoan, Tahitian, Tongan and Maon. We ean hope that with the establishment of masters' and doctoral programs in Hawaiian Studies at the UH in the near future, such a worthy project will fill this knowledge gap. 'Oi ai (meanwhile), until a systematic investigation is pursued, using all available resources, we ean only speculate on how the currently used "Hawaiian" names for the human bones were coined. I kahiko loa (pre-Western Hawai'i), knowledge of nā iwi was the kuleana (domain) of at least two orders of kāhuna (specialists): na kahuna lapa'au (the medical practitioners) who treated ailments in the living; and na kāhuna moe kau ho'oilo (morticians) who disposed of the dead. Since na iwi were enduring even after death, with removal or decay of the soft flesh, nā iwi were considered by ka po'e kahiko (pre-western Hawaiians) as containing the essence of the individual, or metaphorically, to be the essence of the person. Pēlā (thus), "ikaika na iwi" (strong bones) were and are i kēia wa (today), an expression of robustness in the living. For the departed, as Kawena Puku'i put it in 1972, "the bones of the dead were guarded, respected, treasured, venerated, toved or even deified by relatives: coveted anddespoiled by enemies." As with_the naming of all things around them, the early kanaka maoli (Hawaiian) observers often attached inoa with metaphorical significance, as is apparent in the accompanying list of 41 main iwi, whieh are also depicted and labeled in Figure 1. In earlier years, na inoa iwi (bone names) undoubtedly varied more from plaee to plaee. But with permanent settlement in the mid-Pacific islands, later collectively called Hawai'i, and improved inter-island eommunieahon, albeit exclusively oral, some degree of uniform usage oecurred with time. _ Aka, some huna (secrecy) may also have prevailed, for in 1838 when mikanele (missionary) Kauka Gerrit Judd set about to record nā inoa iwi ma ka 'ōlelo Hawai'i,as described i kēlā mahina aku nei (last month), he used some hua 'ōlelo haole; 'oia ho'i, kubita (cubic) for ulna, a prominent forearm iwi (see Fig. 1); and wa'apā (skiff, rowboat) for a small hand iwi. Later in the 19th century, when all native public school instruction was ma ka 'ōlelo makuahine, eommon human anatomical terms underwent further revisions and standardization. No laila, a systematic study of all of the available teaching

materials at that time for these changes in inoa has also yet to be done. The accompanying list of bone names is from Kauka Judd's Anatomia of 1838. Literal meanings, when known, are stated first, then figurative definitions, and finally the Western equivalents. These explanations are taken from the Puku'i-El-bert puke wehe (dictionary) of 1986, Lorrin Andrews' 1865 puke wehe, and the Charles HydeHarold Kent 1986 Treasury of Hawaiian Words. PPN refers to Proto-Polynesian, PCP to ProtoCentral Polynesian, PEP to Proto-Easter Polynesian, and PNP to Proto-Nuclear Polynesian— designations promoted by kumu Elbert. Fig. 1 is clearer and more detailed and authentic than Kauka Judd's skeleton previously shown in this eolumn. It is adapted from Belgian anatomist Andreas Vesalius' masterpiece, De Humani Corporis Fabrica, published in 1543. Pēlā, itshould be more effective for teaching and leaming. Nā po'e heluhelu (readers) will note some cor-

rected revisions in the iwi terms, including proper modem orthography, and that the prefix "iwi" for eaeh bone name is omitted except for iwilei. 1 kēia mau mahina a'e (in the next few months), we will pane i na nlnau about diseases and uses of human iwi, beliefs about bones, and burials of skeletal remains.

Fig. 1. Hawaiian names for main human bones compiled by Kauka Gerrit Judd in 1838 and applied to figure from Andreas Vesalus' De Fabrica of 1543.