Working with Enumeration Datatypes

I'm using Enumeration Datatypes in my language. But I haven't found a good way to work with them.

If I define a property of an enumeration type, I just can access to it as a string. The is(< >) operation is just available if have direct access to that property. When I pass the property to a method it's just an ordinary string. And I haven't found a way to apply a switch case statement to the property.

I have found the type enummember<> and the operation enum/ /., which allow some enum handling but produces very much code for some primitive operations. Using these constructs lead to the confusing fact that enumerations  differ between values and presentation (named name outside the declaration). I have found out that the value of a property handled as string is (mostly but not always!) the presentation. So what are the values for??

At the moment I would really prefer standard java enumerations, but I haven't fond a way to use them in my language structure.