LIHUE — Frances Nelson Hali’aalohanokekupuna Frazier known as a legendary Hawaiian language translator, “beloved auntie,” and outspoken writer of “sassy letters to the editor” died on Oct. 19. She was 101. “I liked her spirit,” said Dawn Kawahara, friend and
LIHUE — Frances Nelson Hali’aalohanokekupuna Frazier known as a legendary Hawaiian language translator, “beloved auntie,” and outspoken writer of “sassy letters to the editor” died on Oct. 19. She was 101.
“I liked her spirit,” said Dawn Kawahara, friend and editor of Frazier’s memoir, “Hali‘a of Hawaii, A Legacy of Language.” “She had so much spunk. She was outspoken. She was clear in her principles. She wasn’t a good girl. She didn’t always say yes to everything. I admired that very much.”
Kawahara said Frazier became a good friend during their time together.
“She was very kind and fair in her judgment,” Kawahara said. “Most of all, she was dedicated to her work. She was totally part of her work.”
Frazier was devoted to her husband, said Stephanie Frazier, Frazier’s daughter.
“She was very remarkable in her Hawaiian translation,” she said.
Frazier was particularly fond of two of her award-winning books, “The True Story of Kaluaikoolau,” and “Kamehameha and His Warrior Kekauhaupio,” because they were Hawaiian stories told by Hawaiian people. She was excited she had the opportunity to translate them and explore their nuances, said Reg Gage, Frazier’s friend.
One of the books, “The True Story of Kaluaikoolau,” tells the story of Koolau, a Hawaiian who contracted leprosy in the early 1890s. He was meant to be exiled to a leper colony but because he and his wife Piilani vowed never to be apart from each other, banished themselves to a remote Kalalau Valley with other families affected with leprosy.
When she retired from the archives in 1976, her and her husband Harold came to Kauai and brought land records to Kauai Community College library called the foreign and native testimony, which affects the rights of all Hawaiians.
In 1984, Frazier was designated a Living Treasure by the Kauai Museum. Donna Stewart, consultant, for the Kauai Historical Society said when Frazier was instrumental in procuring land titles for Native Hawaiians between 1968 and 1973 which granted land to people from the 1800s. That’s when the land first became available.
“Frances was able to gather original title deeds from Hawaiians and people are using her information because it’s translated into English,” she said.
Born in Honolulu on July 6, 1914, Frazier graduated from McKinley High School and then went a business college in Honolulu. During the 1950s, she typed for Mrs. Mary Kawena Pukui, who encouraged Frazier to learn the Hawaiian language.
Frazier skillfully learned the Hawaiian language during her time as a typist for Mrs. Kulamanu Williams while she was preparing a book entitled, “Teach Yourself Hawaiian.”
Part Hawaiian, Frazier became so good at the Hawaiian language, the chairman of the Department of the Asian and Pacific Languages at the University of Hawaii permitted her to audit his second and third year courses at the University of Hawaii, meaning she didn’t have to take the first-year course.
“She was a careful researcher,” Gage said. “She was particular about her work.”
A memorial service will take place on Sunday, Nov. 8, at Sun Village beginning at 3 p.m.
