Grandma? Nope. Only Tūtū for me! Guest Post by Tori Eldridge

After receiving the blessed news of an approaching grandbaby, I—like every expecting grandparent—faced the all-important decision of what to be called. With a multicultural and international family like mine, the decision required thoughtful consideration and care.
My daughter-in-law is Chinese from Hong Kong, so my assumption was that our wee one would call me Ah-ma or Maa-maa‚—common choices for a paternal grandmother in Cantonese—or Nāinai, the grandma name used in Mandarin. This would have been fine by me since I’m almost half Chinese.

But I’m also Native Hawaiian, born and raised.

Much to my surprise and insurmountable joy, my son and daughter-in-law decided to name our granddaughter Moana after the empowering heroine in the Disney movie they both loved! And since they would be honoring my Native Hawaiian heritage, I knew only Tūtū would do.
 
Not only would Moana and any future grandchildren call me by the affectionate Hawaiian name for grandma, I would consciously and lovingly share our Hawaiian heritage with them.
 
The only wrinkle? Moana was born in Shanghai!
 
How could I possibly share my aloha for Hawai‘i with her when China, during the pandemic, would not let me in?
 
Fortunately, they moved back to Portland, Oregon, before her second birthday. Unfortunately, I was still living thousands of miles away in Los Angeles. Not only was I still separated from her, I had been separated for decades from my ancestral roots.
 
Writing Kaua‘i Storm gave me a way to reconnect with my homeland and heritage—and, by extension, my granddaughter and new grandson, Nahele—in a deep and meaningful way. It was also paramount that I dive below the cultural surface that is more commonly revealed and write about Hawaiians in Hawai‘i as well as those of us who have moved away and might try to come home.
 
As with my protagonist, Ranger Makalani Pahukula, I left the islands to attend college and pursue a career, which for me involved performing on Broadway, television, and film. Makalani, on the other hand, became a law enforcement ranger at Oregon’s Crater Lake National Park. As with many people who move away from their home town, state, or country, we both became a little out of step with what was happening back home.
 
The challenges of returning home and feeling out of place are universal and play a major theme in Kaua‘i Storm.
 
The experiences for Hawaiian diaspora are especially nuanced and fascinating since Hawai‘i is a formerly sovereign nation with its own kānaka maoli (true people), ‘ōlelo Hawai‘i (Hawaiian language), and a rich history with valuable traditions that our conquerors sought to subdue. We may be considered the fiftieth state, but unlike the other forty-nine, our origin story, ancestry, and struggles are unique.
 
If I was going to write a novel set in Hawai‘i, it had to be written from a Native Hawaiian’s ancestry and point of view—Makalani’s and my own.
 
One way in which I did this was to give Makalani her own “Tūtū” who could serve as the family’s cultural touchstone and remind Makalani where she comes from and the values by which she should live. I gave Makalani’s Tūtū the knowledge I wanted to possess and the empowering influence I hoped to be.
 
Now, to my endless joy, my husband and I live in Portland, Oregon where I can greet my mo‘opuna (grandchildren) with “Kakahiaka nō!” —Good morning! — and remind them that Tūtū loves them, “Aloha o Tūtū iā ‘olua.”

Needless to say, writing this new book series about Makalani and her multigenerational ‘ohana has enriched my life and influenced my role as Tūtū in my grandchildren’s lives.
 

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Tori Eldridge is the bestselling author of the newly re-released Lily Wong mystery thriller series—The Ninja Daughter, The Ninja’s Blade, The Ninja Betrayed, and The Ninja’s Oath—as well as a two-time Anthony Award nominee, Lefty and Macavity Awards finalist, and winner of the 2021 Crimson Scribe Award for Best Book of the Year. Born and raised in Honolulu—of Hawaiian, Chinese, and Norwegian descent—she lived in New York and Los Angeles before settling in Portland, Oregon, where her mo‘opuna live. Kaua‘i Storm is the first of her new Ranger Makalani Pahukula Mysteries.