Obama Calls Grandma Toots
President Obama called his grandma Toots. A name taken from Tutu or Kuku, affectionately uttered by Hawaiians and other islanders – even today – to mean grandma, as Barry intended. Or, grandpa. It’s one of the clues that Barak, Jr. had become part of Hawai`i’s cultural ways from living in Hawai`i at an early age, and being raised by grand folks in a Honolulu apartment.
By the way, kuku or tutu isn’t an ancient word of endearment. It’s “apparently a new word as it has not been noted in legends and chants,” says the Hawaiian Dictionary, which I say buy. (M.K. Pukui, S.H. Elbert, U.H. Press, 1986). Hawai’i keeps morphing doesn’t it?
To be correct, the term “kupuna,” to mean grandmother or grandfather, is best used in a formal sense.
There are other “Hawaiiana” reasons to read Dreams from my Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance (Three Rivers Press, 1995/2004). Obama also writes of the stress of living with Hawai’i folks – especially his classmates at Punahou High School. It’s his story of a half Black kid, with direct African roots no less, having mid-Western values from his mom and grandparents. Plus, he’s living among the islands’ ethnically mixed people, also with roots from other exotic places. Yet, he wades through it nicely, don’t you think? It explains the president’s broadest, friendliest smile and shaka-sign.
It’s true what Michelle says about her hubby: To understand Obama you need to know Hawai’i.
Tags: Hawaiian Stories
October 5th, 2009 at 10:21 am
Thank you, Thomas! So refreshing after all the birther nonsense that's been spewed about lately. I wondered about the Toots nickname when I first heard Obama use it. I love the way language evolves. It's exciting to look at where we've been and where we are now.
October 5th, 2009 at 4:49 pm
I never knew that "tutu" wasn't an original Hawaiian word! As Michael notes, the evolution of language is incredible.
By the way, though, Obama's nickname for his grandmother was "Toot" (without the "s"). His relationship with her and other elements of his formative years in Hawaii are covered in local journalism veterans Stu Glauberman and Jerry Burris' book, "The Dream Begins: How Hawai'i Shaped Barack Obama."
http://www.hawaiireaders.com/blog/2009/09/22/the-dream-begins/
October 6th, 2009 at 9:58 am
Thanks, Watermark Publishing. The fun (not always the devil) is often in the details. It's easy to take for granted how this island culture shapes our lives, to overlook how much it changes us, but Barack Obama, after all these years, has not forgotten.
So much to learn about this island culture. In January I will have lived here 30 years, including the first five on Maui, where much of what I needed to learn had to do with language and how it reveals culture. I taught English at Maui High and Baldwin in those years, but I was a student in disguise, and I believe I learned more than any of my students. I remember one journalism student at Baldwin who has been one of my best teachers--Lee Cataluna.
October 6th, 2009 at 3:36 pm
That's the beauty of the craft of writing, isn't it? No matter how much you've achieved, there's still always room to learn from others!
October 6th, 2009 at 4:06 pm
Yep, language does evolve. That's the nature of us humans. We're a wonderfully, colorfully articulate species are we? Tom
October 6th, 2009 at 4:09 pm
Learning...we're all about that aren't we? Thanks for the "Toot" instead of "Toots" correction. I agree, Hawaii helped shape Obama. I giggle everytime I see him on National TV expressing himself as locals do.
October 6th, 2009 at 4:20 pm
Eh Lee. You do the same thing. I.e., your writing and speech patterns reveal where you -- WE -- come from. And it's good fun how we talk to each other, and move our bodies, and joke around (did you see how Obama tease ("kid") his wife on the t.v?....that's Hawaii); also, how we say howzit, and all that stuff. Indeed, Obama comes out of that unique Hawaii way of communicating.
October 6th, 2009 at 4:25 pm
Language, spoken and written is beautiful as you say. And, I want to be in the same "room" as it rises and spreads to the next level.