Hawaiian woman hits out at ' state bullies' who have told her to trim her 36 LETTER last name because it doesn't fit on ID card
- Janice 'Lokelani' Keihanaikukauakahihuliheekahaunaele managed to get a special ID that fit her entire surname name on it but it expired in May
- The replacement cut her lengthy moniker short
- Her driver's license also trims her last name and leaves off her first and middle name entirely
- When she compalined, she was to revert back to her maiden name or change her last name permanently to make life easier
- The Department of Transportation said it was working to extend its character limit to 40 to resolve the issue
A Hawaiian woman whose last name contains a whopping 36 characters claims officials are bullying her and disrespecting her husband's heritage by shortening it because it doesn't fit on state-issued identification cards.
Over the past 20-years, Janice 'Lokelani' Keihanaikukauakahihuliheekahaunaele has carried two separate IDS - a state ID card and a driver's license.
The driver's license was printed with an abbreviated version of her family name and her first and middle name was completely left off.
However, to counteract this, the Hawaiian Governor's office allowed her special dispensation to accommodate her full name on her state ID, but that expired in May and her problems began when her new one arrived laid out the same as her drivers license.
Her frustrations began when she contacted her local county on Hawaii and asked them what could be done - they suggested she change her last name to make the situation easier on her and them.
'And I went, ‘How disrespectful of the Hawaiian people,' recalled Janice to KHON2.
ID card: Janice 'Lokelani' Keihanaikukauakahihuliheekahaunaele's name has been trimmed in her latest ID card
She said the abbreviated name has caused her problems while traveling and even saw her questioned by police in a traffic stop.
'He looked at it and he goes, "Well, where is your first name?"'
Keihanaikukauakahihuliheekahaunaele said. 'And I said, "Don't blame me. This is your department, this is the county."'
Respect: Janice 'Lokelani' wants to keep her deceased husbands surname which runs to 36 characters
Driver's license: Her driver's license, pictured, was also printed with just an abbreviated version of her family name, and her first and middle name completely absent
Marriage: Janice 'Lokelani' took the name of her late husband, pictured, in 1992
She says the name is important to her because it links her to her husband who passed away.
In an email, dug up by Gawker, to a tool supplier a few years back, Keihanaikukauakahihuliheekahaunaele explains: 'You see, to some people in the world, your name is everything. If I say my name to an elder Hawaiian (kupuna), they know everything about my husband's family going back many generations... just from the name.'
Janice says the name is important to her because it links her to her husband who passed away
Janice claims officials are bullying her and disrespecting her husband's heritage by shortening it because it doesn't fit on state-issued identification cards
She added: 'When the name is sliced up, changed or altered it distorts the intention and meaning that the name represents. Unfortunately, many people have been shamed into hiding their real names because they don't fit in with the dominant culture's lack of respect for the name.'
Following Keihanaikukauakahihuliheekahaunaele's complaint and questioning from Khon, the Department of Transportation said it was working to extend its character limit to 40 'so that issue can be resolved.'
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