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Meaning & History
Used by American author Scott O'Dell in his children's novel 'Island of the Blue Dolphins' (1960). Karana is 'secret' name of the main character, a young Native American girl stranded for years on an island off the California coast. She also goes by her 'common' name of WON-A-PA-LEI. O'Dell was inspired by the true story of the Lone Woman of San Nicolas Island, who was the last surviving member of her tribe, the Nicoleño, and left alone on the island for eighteen years in the 19th century.