Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 4, Number 9, 1 September 1987 — Language Immersion Key to Preservation [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Language Immersion Key to Preservation

Similarities Seen in Punana Leo, Mohawk Programs

By Kenny Haina, Editor Ka Wai Ola O OHA A full-blooded native Mohawk Indian nun recently spent three weeks in Hawaii studying the Hawaiian language immersion program established by Punana Leo and taught at three of their schools in Honolulu, Kauai and Maui. In just those three weeks, Sister Dorothy Lazore of the Sisters of St. Ann in Quebec, Canada, learned enough Hawaiian to more than adequately get by. Her visit was sponsored by Punana Leo because she is in the same kind of Mohawk language immersion program at her school where she will become a vice principal when the fall term gets under way.

Her visit here was the result of a meeting last May in Quebec when five members of Punana Leo, headed by Kauanoe Kamana, president, went to study her program. Kamana is also a member of the University of Hawaii Hilo campus Hawaiian Studies faculty with Peter Wilson and Kalena Silva. They liked what they saw and invited her to Hawaii to look over the Punana Leo program and exchange vital data. Kamana was recently oromoted to assistant nrofessor.

Sister Dorothy not oniy eame to Hawaii but she appeared before the State Board of Education, presenting testimony on her program and how mueh in eommon it had with the Punana Leo concept. According to an account of the meeting, her testimony in whieh she outlined her program highly impressed board members. The Board subsequently adopted a proposal to implement the Hawaiian language program in kindergarten and first grade at four and possibly five selected schools in the state, beginning with one eaeh on Oahu, Kauai, Hilo and Maui. This means students at these schools will be taught in Hawaiian. District super-

intendents will implement the program. Kamana had especially high praise for Dr. Herman Aizawa, assistant superintendent in the Office of Instructional Services, whom she termed was very supportive of the Punana Leo language immersion program and who also personally presented the group's proposal to the board.

Sister Dorothy, who returned to Quebec Aug. 11 following a visit earlier in the day to the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, teaches at a school called Karonhianonhnha, whieh means "watcher of the skies." The Indian word for school, she wrote, is Tsi ionterchwaienstahlehwa. Although she is a Catholic nun, she explained that her school is multi-confessional. Students eome from

various religious backgrounds. The teaching is not geared to any one particular religious group. Sister Dorothy reported there will be 14 classes this year from nursery to fifth grade. In the Punana Leo program, it covers ages 2 to 6. As a result of the BOE's action as cited earlier, the program will include grades kindergarten to one.

"Our children only speak English when they eome in at ages 4 and 5. They don't speak Mohawk at all. We are there with our immersion program to teach them in the Mohawk language," Sister Dorothy declared. "Ours is a total immersion program where we teach geography, science, language, arithmetic, health, reading, social studies and other subjects in the Mohawk language," she pointed out. It is to retain, preserve and perpetuate the culture that these immersion programs have been established. "Our problems are the same as yours. We find more of our people not being able to speak the language, especially among the younger generation," Sister Dorothy stated.

Sister Dorothy, who spent the first seven years of her life at St. Catherine's, moved back with her family to the Indian reserve at St. Regis near Cornwall, Ontario. She graduated from high school in Ontario and received her Bachelor of Arts in education from McGill University where she is currently studying for her Master's in early elementary education. She also holds a certificate in languages from the University of Quebec. Her 62-year-old mother, three sisters and two brothers still live on the reserve. One sister is also involved in the immersion program at St. Regis. Her father is deceased. Sister Dorothy, 39, has been a teacher for 17 years. She proudly notes that Karonhianonhnha is the only school on the North American continent with such a total immersion program.

Sister Dorothy Lazore