Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 29, Number 7, 1 July 2012 — ʻIke Kūʻokoʻa-- have you done your part? [ARTICLE]

ʻIke Kūʻokoʻa--have you done your part?

By Kau'i Sai-Dudoit and Puakea Nogelmeier

The 'Ike Kū'oko'a initiative was launched Nov. 28, 2011, on Lā Kū'oko'a, Hawaiian Independence Day. Set up to gather an army of volunteers to transcribe 60,000 pages of Hawaiian language newspapers, it is an aggressive and bold attempt to finally accomplish the goal of providing word-searchable text files of this important historical repository of Hawaiian knowledge. Awaiaulu Ine., together with support and resources from its partners, has garnered more than 6,000 volunteers for this effort. And while the initiative has celebrated many successes, the main goal has always been to transcribe the remaining pages - to date there are approximately 15,000 pages in the works, leaving 45,000 still waiting for transcription. There have been many creative efforts: Kamehameha SchoolsKapālama High School students and staff have completed 2,200 pages dedicated to their beloved retiring headmaster, Miehael Chun, and kumu hula Patrick Makuakāne's Hālau Nā Lei Hulu I Ka Wēkiu challenged his haumāna, offering the top four producers a spot in the lineup to represent the hālau promoting Hawaiian Airlines' inaugural flight in New York. These are just two outstanding models of inspired support. In May, in a shining example to Hawai'i businesses and organizations, the Office of Hawaiian Affairs offered an innovative incentive to its staff to lend their personal time to the effort. In a challenge designed to further support the 'Ike Kū'oko'a iniīiative, OHA offered a day off to the top five employee producers, as approved by Ka Pouhana Kamana'opono Crabbe, with this encouragement: "Want to be a part of Hawai'i's future? Want to contribute to a project that will challenge today's ideas and understanding of Hawai'i's history and traditions? ... Let's join the movement and contribute to Hawai'i's future by giving life to our past." With the 'Ike Kū'oko'a transcription project ending July 31, every single page counts. To quote the Kamehameha-Kapālama high students: "We talk about learning our roots, but at the first ehanee to learn our roots, we hesitate." If eaeh of us did a few pages, we could save these roots for ourselves and plaee Hawaiian knowledge in the mainstream. But more importantly, we could ensure access for the future generations of Hawai'i. Have you done your part yet? What are you waiting for? To register, go to awaiaulu.org. ■

Kau 'i Sai-Dudoit is project directorfor Ho 'olaupa 'i and outreach coordinator/project manager of 'Ike Kū 'oko 'a. Puakea Nogehneier is executive director ofAwaiauIu Ine.

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