- \n
- kuroi = black<\/em><\/li>\n
- \u2018aina = land<\/em><\/li>\n
- piko = belly button<\/em><\/li>\n
- kai = ocean<\/em><\/li>\n
- po\u2019e kahiko = ancestors<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
- \u2018aina = land<\/em><\/li>\n
When I was born my mother gave me three names:
\nChristabelle, Yoshie, and Puanani
\nChristabelle was my \u201cEnglish\u201d name,
\nMy social security card name,
\nMy school name,
\nThe name I gave when teachers asked me for my \u201creal\u201d name
\nA safe name<\/p>\n
Yoshie was my home name
\nMy everyday name,
\nThe name that reminded my father’s family
\nThat I was Japanese, even though
\nMy nose, hips, and feet were wide,
\nThe name that made me acceptable to them
\nWho called my Hawaiian mother kuroi mame (black bean),
\nA saving name<\/p>\n
Puanani is my chosen name
\nMy piko name connecting me back to the ‘\u0101ina
\nAnd the kai and the po’e kahiko
\nMy blessing, my burden,
\nMy amulet, my spear<\/p>\n
********************<\/p>\n
Hawaiian Word Definitions:<\/em><\/p>\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Puanani-Burgess.png\")
<\/a> Puanani Burgess (1947 -2024) was a poet, priest, aunty, and friend to many. She was a community activist in the Native Hawaiian sovereignty movement for over fifty years. As the designer and facilitator for Building the Beloved Community – a process that brings ceremony, storytelling, and circles of trust and respect – Aunty Pua shared Native Hawaiian practices throughout the world to bring healing and reconciliation. She served as the Myles and Zilphia Horton Chair for the Highlander Research and Education Center in Tennessee and as a community scholar in residence at the Department of Urban and Regional Planning at the University of Hawai’i. Aunty Pua was an ordained Zen Buddhist priest in the International Daihonzan Chozen-ji.<\/em><\/p>\n