Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 11, Number 7, 1 July 1994 — We must carry on the language for kūpuna and keiki alike [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

We must carry on the language for kūpuna and keiki alike

by Clayton H.W. Hee Chairman, OHA Board of Trustees Trustee, O'ahu "Hawaiian language reawakens" was the headline story of the May 19 Honolulu Advertiser. The article started by saying, "Onee

endangered, the Hawaiian language is flourishing today, fed by a growing interest in Hawaiian culture and sovereignty." I'm sure we all remember as youngsters when our kūpuna spoke to eaeh other in

Hawauan: how they used our language when they did not want us to know what was being said, and how they communicated with eaeh other every Sunday in church in our language. I remember being confused when they spoke, and as a result chose not to pay attention but rather to find friends and go play. But it was them, our kūpuna, who by sheer accident, in speaking the Hawaiian language, implanted in eaeh of us the understanding that we are special and we are different; that we are Hawaiian and by that, we are a sovereign people, a people defined by our language. Look how we've grown! The

Advertiser reported, "In the early 1980s there were estimated to be fewer than 2,000 people who could speak Hawaiian fluently." From our days as youngsters when being Hawaiian was "shame," when schools did not offer to teach our language, and

when it was said that Hawaiians were lazy and only good at playing music ... look at us now. Our language is a part of nearly every school, private and public; we are a part of the DOE and, as the Advertiser reported, "Hawai'i

is the site of the only full-day indigenous language educational preschool program in the nation — Pūnana Leo." That is not to say everything is good, fine and perfect. No. We have a very long bumpy road to travel, but the road is less bumpy than before. And it is because of you. We are because of your dedication to us. With eaeh kūpuna that passes, we sever forever the strands that bind us together as Hawaiians. We must do all we ean to carry and care for the legacy taught to us by our kūpuna and Hawaiian conferences like the one recently sponsored by OHA are vital to that process. As Hawaiians, we owe it to our

parents and grandparents; and as importantly, we owe it to our children. We owe it to people like David Malo, Samuel Kamakau and Kawena Pūku'i. We owe it to Unele Harry Mitchell, Aunty Emma De Fries, Unele Sam Lono, Aunty Edith Kanaka'ole, Aunty Mary Lee, Papa Henry Auwae and the rest of the kūpuna who showed us that to be Hawaiian was pono. We owe it to Walter Ritte, George Helm, Kimo Mitchell, Parley Kanaka'ole, Judy Napoleon, Richard Sawyer, Joyce Kainoa, Emmett Aluli, Frenchy DeSoto, and the thousands who dared to be Hawaiian when it was neither popular nor in vogue. As many of you know, the return of Kaho'olawe — the deed to whieh was translated entirely in Hawaiian by Puakea Nogelmeier and Ipolani Vaughan — is symbolic of a reawakening of our identity. Now, more than ever before, we assert who we are because it is right. Let there be no doubt that we are Hawaiian, and we are sovereign. Our language tells us so. E lanakila kākou. I ho'okahi pu'uwai me ka lōkahi. Let us move forward with one heart, strengthened by unity." (The preceding remarks are based on a speech by OHA Chairman Hee to the Hawaiian Language Conference.)