Hello all who come to read this post!
My full name is Malia Alika Wakinekona and I take pride in my Hawaiian name. Not too long ago in my family history (1800s) our last name used to be Noni. During this period of time my ancestors worked as servants to the Hawaiian king(King David Kalakaua). One day he left the Hawaiian Islands for a diplomatic journey to the mainland United States. Part of this journey included a visit to Washington D.C to attend a state dinner and meet with the president. When Kalakaua returned back to Hawai'i he granted my family with the new last name Wakinekona. Apparently he loved members of my family so much that he decided to give us a new name after his voyage to the mainland. The kicker of the story is that Wakinekona, in English, translates to Washington. For that reason my family has been able to trace our lineage very carefully. The sad thing is that there are not too many Wakinekonas walking around today because of name changes through marriage and death. I never plan on changing my last name and I am sure that my children will be Wakinekona.
Overall, I'm super psyched to be in house sem this quarter. During admit weekend four years ago, I actually stayed in Muwekma! I'm excited to be completing my time here at Sanford in a full circle manner. I've had the opportunity to live in Ujamaa my sophomore year and explore my black identity and now I have the chance to explore my indigenous identity in Muwekma.
At the summer camps I used to attend at Kamehameha they used to have us sing song in which we said, "We are the youth of Hawai'i nei. We are the chosen sons and daughters who are bound together by rich tradition." I've always been proud to be kānaka maoli and felt a sense of purpose in furthering the values of our community & culture. There's power in having so many indigenous peoples living together under one roof and everyday I get to experience the beauty that is Muwekma.
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