A row has erupted over plans to erase a reference to Russia from the name of a state park in Hawai'i.
Photo: Change.org
The state wants to change the name of the Russian Fort Elizabeth State Historical Park on Kauai to the name Paʻulaʻula o Hipo.
The site is around a former fort built near the town of Waimea in the early 19th century by a Russian trading company on request of King Kaumauli`i.
The Russian Community Council of the USA has launched a petition to preserve the reference to Russia in the name.
The President of the Congress of Russian Americans, Natalie Sabelnik, said the Hawaiian name could be added to the existing one.
"The Hawaiians did help build the fort but it was not built just by the Hawaiians for King Kaumuali'i. It was built to be the Russian fort."
Natalie Sabelnik said of the three forts built by Russians 200 years ago, just one remains.
The Russian Community Council of the USA suggested adding the native name to the already existing historic one without dropping any parts of the original title.