n. Governor; governorship.

Our kiaʻāina, Ige, was in the news (or moreso not as he had his chief of staff and deputy director to DLNR wait outside his office to receive the visitors), yesterday as many in our state, wearing red, marched from the OHA offices in downtown Honolulu to the state capitol on Beretania Street. At issue is the building of the Thirty Meter Telescope atop Mauna Kea. The Kū Kiaʻi Mauna warriors, as well as their supporters, wanted to meet with the kiaʻāina to ask him to intervene in the process until a ruling could be made by the court.

I find it interesting that the Hawaiian word for governor, kiaʻāina, literally means “land pillar.” Kia translates as: pillar, prop, post, pole; mast of a ship. So, in essence, a governor is seen as one who is a pillar for the ʻāina, the land.

I wonder if Kiaʻāina Ige has this in mind as he chooses to support TMT. Or not.

Copyright:

2015 – Liana Iaea Honda. All rights reserved. All versions of He Momi e Lei ai”, in its entirety, past and present, is the property of L. K. I. Honda. Reproduction and use of any kind other than the sharing of this website is prohibited. Alteration to the original content in any form is prohibited in every and any instance, and use in any other variant is prohibited without written consent of the author. Adress inquiries to: hemomi [at] gmail.com. Definitions and wise sayings are from: Hawaiian Dictionary by Pukui and Elbert, 1986. ʻŌlelo Noʻeau – Hawaiian Proberbs & Poetical Sayings by Mary Kawena Pukui, 1983.