Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 25, Number 6, 1 June 2008 — Ola ka ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Ola ka ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi

Hawaiian language immersion program graduates its 10th high school class

By ī. Ilihia Giansan Publicatians Editur Like the many detractors who for years doubted the ability of the Hawaiian language immersion program to nurture the 'ōpio to grow into educated, culturally grounded, bi-lingual citizens of the world, the sun relentlessly pounded upon the twelve graduates of Ke Kula 'o Nāwahlokalani'ōpu'u as they undertook the Ka'i Mo'okū'auhau, an eleven-mile genealogy walk and rite of passage for graduating students. The dozen Hawai'i Island students, along with 32 others at Ke Kula Kaiapuni 'o Ānuenue on O'ahu, will make up the tenth class of graduates from the Hawaiian language immersion program. In an era when the United Nations estimates that over half of the world's languages spoken today are in danger of extinction, the Hawaiian language revitalization movement has overcome seemingly insunnountable challenges. Onee upon a time, ka 'ōlelo Hawai'i was the primary language of the Kingdom of Hawai'i. In the years following the 1893 overthrow, however, the new government pushed hard to eradicate Hawaiian. In 1896, the Republic of Hawai'i Legislature passed into law Act 57 regarding the publie education system. Following the model of United States policy regarding the use of Native American languages in schools, that act decreed, "the English language shall be the medium and basis of instruction in all puhlie and private schools." Miehael L. Forman, professor of linguistics at the University of Hawai'i at Mānoa, said that the act declaring English the one medium of instruction in Hawai'i's schools was "major." "The ban was especially vigorous in the schools. Children were physically and psychologically punished for using the native

tongue," said William Pila Wilson, one of the founders of the 'Aha Pūnana Leo and a professor at Ka Haka 'Ula O Ke'elikōlani, the Hawaiian language college at the University of Hawai'i at Hilo. "America is unique in that it ignores other languages," Fonnan said. "In some places in the world, multilingualism is taken for granted. There's value in speaking more than one language." Unfortunately for the Hawaiian language, many parents bought into the "mystique of monohnguahsm" and chose not to speak or teach Hawahan to their children. The language was forced underground for most of the 20th eentury until the widespread spiritual, polhieal and cultural revival eommonly known as the "Hawaiian Renaissance" began in the 1970s. But even then younger generations weren't speaking the language. By the early '80s it was estimated that fewer than 50 children under age 18 spoke Hawaiian. To get children to speak their ancestors' tongue, and thus ensure the continued life of the language, a smah group of educators founded the 'Aha Pūnana Leo, an organization dedicated to revitalizing Hawaiian language-and thereby Hawahan culture-through language immersion preschools. The idea was to estabhsh preschools where young children could interact with native speakers, and later go on to Hawahan language puhhe schools. But it turned out that there were legal barriers blocking both actions. "Puhlie school education through Hawaiian was still banned by a descendant of the law that had closed the Hawaiian medium schools in 1896," Wilson said. Despite the laws, the first Pūnana Leo preschool opened on Kaua'i in 1984. Similar preschools were opened on O'ahu and in Hilo the following year. However, there was still no Hawaiian language education option beyond preschool. Finally in 1986, following three years of lobbying by parents and

the Hawaiian conununity, the two laws banning Hawaiian language umnersion education were amended. After 90 years, it was again legal to teach through the Hawaiian language. But just because a Hawaiian immersion education program was legally permitted didn't mean that it would be implemented. When it was clear that the state had no plans of its own to establish such a program, the 'Aha Pūnana Leo proposed a pilot program. In 1987, the Board of Education approved the program at Waiau Elementary School in Pearl City, O'ahu and Hilo, Hawai'i's Keaukaha Elementary School. In May, 1999, six students at Ke Kula Kaiapuni o Ānuenue in Palolo, O'ahu and five at Ke Kula 'O Nāwahlokalani'ōpu'u in Kea'au, Hawai'i graduated. These eleven students were the first in over a century to earn high school diplomas that were taught entirely in their mother tongue. This year's total of 64 graduates eome from schools spanning Hawai ' i, from the twelve at N ā wahī to Ku'uleihiwahiwa Kanahele, the lone graduate of Ke Kula Ni'ihau o Kekaha on Kaua'i. "This is a big accomplishment for a program that many thought wouldn't last longer than a year," said Mālie Nāmāhoe, one of the graduating seniors at Nāwahī. She plans on attending Northern Arizona University and pursuing a career in a medical field. Her class-

mates plan on post-high school pursuits from medical school to animahon to journalism. "It feels awesome to be part of the tenth class... It's an honor," said Ke'alohilani Medeiros, a member of Ānuenue's class. "I've been excitedly waiting for this since the third grade." Medeiros will be attending Chaminade University studying forensics. At the end of Nāwahī's graduation week, whieh included the Ka'i Mo'okū'auhau, a baccalaureate service at Hilo's Haili Church and a ceremony at Moku Ola in Hilo Bay, the formal 'Aha Ho'omoloa Kīhei ceremony was held at the school. With the knotting of the kīhei on the students, this phase of their educational journeys was complete. First, though, Nāmāhoe and her 11 classmates proudly rose in unison and perfonned a hula that dates back to the precontact 1700s. It begins: 'Au'a 'ia e Kama e kona moku 'O kona moku e Kama e 'au'a 'ia The prophetic chant warned of a time when Hawaiians would have to struggle to hold on to their heritage. It implores the next generation to hold fast, not to part with tradition, culture, or the language that is rightfully theirs. These graduates have been heeding the message of the chant. Indeed, the Hawaiian language is alive. Ola ka 'Ōlelo Hawai'i. □

HO'ONA'AUAO • EDUCAĪION

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