Art is from the biggest island in the Hawaiian Islands chain. That island is called Hawaii which leads to a little bit of confusion since our state is Hawaii. What we've always done is to call that island the Big Island. It's been the Big Island for as long as either Art or I have been around.
We were surprised when we were traveling through Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island and saw t-shirts sold that said The Big Island. My first question was, "Why are they selling Hawaiian t-shirts in Canada?" Then I realized they were referring to an island in that area. Unfortunately I can't remember which island they were referring to. I'm surprised Art didn't buy a t-shirt there.
Well now for some reason they're starting to refer to the Big Island as Hawaii Island. What the heck? Why the change?
Keahi Tucker, a newcaster was on the Big Island and he surveyed as many people as he could while covering the Merrie Monarch Hula contest. The count was Big Island (137 votes) Hawaii Island (120 votes). Now there's also another group of people who want it called The Island of Hawaii.
Sheesh! Couldn't we please leave well enough alone?
I still can't get used to Burma being called Myanmar.
We were surprised when we were traveling through Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island and saw t-shirts sold that said The Big Island. My first question was, "Why are they selling Hawaiian t-shirts in Canada?" Then I realized they were referring to an island in that area. Unfortunately I can't remember which island they were referring to. I'm surprised Art didn't buy a t-shirt there.
Well now for some reason they're starting to refer to the Big Island as Hawaii Island. What the heck? Why the change?
Keahi Tucker, a newcaster was on the Big Island and he surveyed as many people as he could while covering the Merrie Monarch Hula contest. The count was Big Island (137 votes) Hawaii Island (120 votes). Now there's also another group of people who want it called The Island of Hawaii.
Sheesh! Couldn't we please leave well enough alone?
I still can't get used to Burma being called Myanmar.
Your posts make me so nostalgic for the Hawaiian islands. As I have mentioned I went to graduate school on Oahu, met my husband there, and return there many times for layovers after heading even further out to the far Pacific for my first job. Boy do I miss those places!
ReplyDeleteYeah really, hands off the old name. The Big Island has such good connotations and the name rolls of the tongue, unlike the new suggestions.
ReplyDeleteIn the late 80s we at the embassy had to use the long official name, the Union of Myanmar.
Till today it bugs me to hear Israeli newscasters, reading unvowelled Hebrew, add a syllable and say "Miyanmar" and call Yangon "Yangoon."
I know what you mean, why after all this time?
ReplyDeleteA change would help with all that confusion between Hawaii and Canada.;) I am sure the Postal Service is behind this.
ReplyDeletethat would be confusing and I can never understand why they change things like this, the same with street signs, they should never change either.
ReplyDeleteNova Scotia is the big island i believe but it is a purely local name,
Art just said he's pretty sure it was Nova Scotia too. I still don't understand why he didn't buy a t-shirt there.
DeleteThank you for giving me things to talk about at my cardiology appointment. My doctor is Hawaiian. Next week I can get his opinion on the controversy. Since they call it The Big Island on Hawaii 5-0, and other movies and shows, it has already gained world popularity as such. Let the Canadians change:)
ReplyDeleteI have never been to Hawaii, so I think of the Big Island as being the state, but I realize it's a chain of islands. I think this is rather confusing, but I figured somebody knew what everything is supposed to be called. I'm surprised to find that there is any controversy at all. :-)
ReplyDeleteThat's progress for you...lol!
ReplyDeleteI should learn more about the Hawaiian islands, a girlfriend just told me they like to visit Maui.
ReplyDeleteA little off topic, but not totally: I should think "The Big Island" in the Canadian Maritimes would be Newfoundland.
ReplyDeleteKay,
ReplyDeleteWhen I was a travel agent and tried to explain the islands of Hawaii to travelers, I had the same problem. Even when I showed them a map, they sometimes could not believe that ONE of the islands was Hawaii, but commonly called "The Big Island". One of my regular travelers was also from the Big Island and he always teased me and told me that it was the BEST one and would ask me how many had I sent there lately! Funny how they are calling it "Hawaii Island" now.
One of the big tour companies used to send the novel "Hawaii" by James Michener along with the travel documents. Just wondering, have you ever read that book? I have read others by James Michener and even though they are fiction, he has such good facts about places that must be why the tour company included it!
I saw an interview with Michener just before he died. His book is good, but the feature was about the fact that Michener wrote "Hawaii" before he knew, and it became common knowledge that Hawaii was "stolen" by the U.S. That information may have put a different slant on his book. DrumMajor
DeleteArt said he read it a long time ago. I was lazy and only saw the movie with Julie Andrews. And yes, Art said some of the information would be dated today. It is important to understand the shameful history of how Hawaii was "acquired" by the U.S.
DeleteYou are right, I just looked it up and it is shameful. I didn't know that President Clinton acknowledged this in 1993 with the Apology Resolution (US PUBLIC LAW 103-150.) I learned this today, thank you.
DeleteI was pleased to read that President Grover Cleveland thought it was shameful too, I knew I always liked Grover Cleveland!
I think those kind of name changes just cause confusion and most people just keep using the old name anyway. I am going to Kauai next month.....I hope they don't change that name between now and then or I might get lost. :)
ReplyDeleteOh dear, I don't do well with those kind of changes. Here we had a big argument over changing Central Ave. to Chavez Ave. Ok with me but not ok with the Polish neighborhood where Central Ave. was located. I could see their point but it was named Chavez Ave. in spite of their protest. Why?
ReplyDeleteIt's funny how often enough names and nicknames build up and get confusing.
ReplyDeleteInteresting poll results. I thought mainlanders caught on eventually, that the Big Island is just that, the biggest island in the chain. For people who don't research any trip to Hawaii, so many assume Pearl Harbor and Honolulu is on the biggest island, instead of Oahu. I think you should keep calling it the Big Island. It's your state. The rest of us need to learn what's usual there! DrumMajor
ReplyDeleteI agree with Jean. I actually don't know what the answer is, but I think The Big Island in eastern Canada should be Newfoundland.
ReplyDeleteOf course, in western Canada, there is "The Island" which is Vancouver Island. British Columbians say "I'm going to the island" or "I'm going to The Island" and we all understand one another. Foreigners (like people from Alberta, LOL) say "Vancouver Island"!
K
I think of it as Big Island. If you keep saying it is Hawaii Island to the younger generation it eventually will be that name.
ReplyDelete~L.
It will always be the Big Island to me, and I intend to keep using that term in my blog, Twitter, and emails.
ReplyDeleteWe called the Big Island when I lived there. My cousins live there now, and they call it the Big Island.
ReplyDeleteThis is the kind of change that drives demographers crazy. One of my jobs at the CB was to track geographic changes across the states and counties of the US. Another was to track changes across the world...(no comment) Too many changes and all political. Next thing you know Egypt will have a new name!! Remember, Ethiopia was Abysinnia for eons. Dianne
Whatever anyone calls it, I call it home!
ReplyDeleteI often wondered why the biggest island on our chain is called the Hawaii Island. How did that island get the state's name to begin with!! So it serves us right to have this confusion. So I agree maybe just call it Island of Hawaii instead of just Hawaii.
ReplyDeleteL...w
No, they can't leave it alone! I'm getting tired of politicians!
ReplyDeleteThank you for the enlightenment here.
ReplyDeleteIt’s hard to remember the names of countries when they change, or the names of towns even. I remember Madras in India but now it is Chennai I think. It’s the same in Algeria – I went to Bougie but it is now Bejaia. How about my first kind-of boy friend whose mother was from Ceylon – it’s now Sri Lanka. I had not realized about the “Big Island” until we went to Hawaii – I thought all the islands together were called Hawaii and each one had a separate local name.
ReplyDeleteI have known that the biggest island in the state of Hawaii is named Hawaii, The Big Island of the Hawaiian Islands. See, that's why it's confusing, and why it is simply called The Big Island.
ReplyDeleteYes. Pixi prefers to be a part- Burmese cat,
ReplyDeleteand I lived in Kona BEFORE they decided it needed to be Kailua-Kona!
Let us savor the Spring and leave the minutia to smaller minds. But let's do stick with "Big Island" as always!
ALOHA from Honolulu-Town
Comfort Spiral
~ > < } } ( ° > <3
Made in Formosa just doesn't sound exotic, dear.
ReplyDeletewalt