Hawaiian language enjoying revival in its homeland (fwd)

[phil cash cash]

Hawaiian language enjoying revival in its homeland

By: RON STATON - Associated Press
http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2005/03/13/special_reports/books/15_35_323_12_05.txt

HONOLULU -- "E heluhelu kakou," Nako'olani Warrington tells her third
graders -- let's read together.

But there's no need to translate at Ke Kula Kaipuni o Anuenue, a public
immersion school where all instruction for the 350 students is in the
Hawaiian language.

The school represents a turnaround for the native language in the
islands, which appeared 20 years ago to be fading away.

A 1983 survey estimated that only 1,500 people remained in Hawaii who
could speak it, most of them elderly. Today there are probably 6,000 to
8,000 Hawaiian language speakers throughout the state, most of them
under the age of 30, said Kalena Silva, professor of Hawaiian studies
at the University of Hawaii-Hilo.

Everyone knows a little bit of Hawaiian, even visiting mainlanders.
"Aloha" has become an almost universally recognized greeting and
expression of love. "Mahalo" often subs for "thank you."

But there's less understanding of the state motto -- "Ua mau ke ea o ka
aina i ka pono" (the life of the land is preserved in righteousness) --
or the name of the state fish -- humuhumunukunukuapua'a.

"Before, people would hear me speaking Hawaiian to someone and ask what
language I was speaking," said Leilani Basham, coordinator of the
Hawaiian language program at the University of Hawaii's flagship Manoa
campus. "I don't get that anymore."

Hawaiian is recognized, along with English, in the state Constitution as
an official state language. Lawmakers were trying this year to build on
that status by requiring that Hawaiian be used on government signs and
in government documents.

Silva remembers that when he joined the UH-Hilo faculty 20 years ago,
only 10 students were majoring in Hawaiian studies and Hawaiian
language. Now, there are more than 100, he said, including some from
the mainland and from Germany and Japan. Hawaiian language enrollment
also has increased at the university's Manoa campus in Honolulu.

Silva, who also is director of UH-Hilo's Ka Haka 'Ula Ke'eliikolani
College of Hawaiian Language, attributes the greater interest in
learning Hawaiian to community efforts. Those efforts began in the
early 1980s with parents and Hawaiian language instructors who wanted
to make sure the language remained strong on Niihau, a privately owned
island populated exclusively by Native Hawaiians.

As a result, Hawaiian is the only indigenous language in the United
States that showed growth in the 2000 census, said Verlieann Leimomi
Malina-Wright, vice principal of Anuenue school. About 200,000 of
Hawaii's 1.2 million people are of Native Hawaiian ancestry.

The university's Hilo campus now has a doctoral program in indigenous
language and culture, while the Manoa program has received preliminary
approval to offer a master's degree in the language. All sophomore,
junior and senior courses in Hilo's Hawaiian studies major are taught
in Hawaiian.

Hilo also has provided curricula and materials for the public school
immersion programs, where elementary and secondary students receive all
instruction in the Hawaiian language.

The immersion program began in 1987 with about 16 students at two sites
in Honolulu and Hilo.

"We now have 19 sites, not including four public charter immersion
schools," said Keoni Inciong, the state Department of Education's
specialist for the Hawaiian language immersion program.

Instruction from kindergarten through fourth grade is in Hawaiian, with
English introduced in fifth grade, Inciong said. And while some
secondary texts are in English, instruction is in Hawaiian, Inciong
said.

Most of the students are of Hawaiian ancestry, but it's not a
requirement, and the majority come from English-speaking homes, he
said.

"When we started in 1987, the main focus was on perpetuating the
Hawaiian language," Inciong said. "Now we have the equal goal of a
quality education, with emphasis on culture, traditions and values."

Thirty-eight students have graduated from Anuenue school, said
Malina-Wright. At least half have gone to college -- including all of
last year's class -- and have done well, she said. While some continue
with Hawaiian studies, "our first college graduate was an English major
who hopes to become a screenwriter," she said.

Silva and Basham hope that understanding of the language will increase.

"Our vision is that eventually Hawaiian become a language of a large
bilingual population. We believe that everyone in Hawaii has a
responsibility to the native language," said Silva.

Hawaiian is already spoken in the islands in a variety of ways.

Island ceremonies usually include a chant or prayer in Hawaiian, and
Hawaiian music with lyrics in the native language are making people
more aware. The new Hawaiian music category for the Grammy awards
requires the majority of vocal songs that are entered be sung in the
Hawaiian language.

The Honolulu Star-Bulletin publishes a weekly Sunday column in Hawaiian,
and The Honolulu Advertiser uses the proper diacritical markings in
Hawaiian names and phrases. A Honolulu radio station broadcasts a daily
newscast in Hawaiian and a "Hawaiian word of the day" segment.

Most U.S. colleges recognize Hawaiian and allow it to fulfill students'
language requirements, Basham said.

State Sen. J. Kalani English, who is of part-Hawaiian ancestry and
speaks Hawaiian, also wants the language used more extensively. He
introduced a bill that would require state and county governments to
print letterheads and documents in both English and Hawaiian, with
Hawaiian listed first.

Another bill this session would have required all state and county signs
to be in Hawaiian as well as English. That was the idea of Daniel
Anthony, a Hawaiian language student from Honolulu who persuaded his
aunt, state Rep. Maile Shimabukuro, to sponsor the measure.

"It would mean a lot to use the language I love every day," said
Anthony.

On the Net:

Ka Haka 'Ula Ke'eliikolani College:
http://www.olelo.hawaii.edu/dual/orgs/keelikolani/