Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 38, Number 2, 1 February 2021 — Aloha mai kākou, [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Aloha mai kākou,

NORMALIZING HAWAIIAN LAN G U AG E

My mother was a mānaleo, a native speaker of Hawaiian. When we visited my grandparcnts" house, it was normal for her and my grandparents to chat in Hawaiian - especially when they were discussing things they didn't want me to hear or understand. That was a fairly eommon experience for many Hawaiians who are now in their 50s or older; 'ōlelo Hawai'i was not taught to them by their parents or grandparents. Our kūpuna cannot be faulted for not sharing the language. In 1896, three years after the overthrow of the kingdom, Hawaiian language was banned from schools. Thereafter, children speaking Hawaiian in school were beaten and punished. That generation, and the one that followed, learned to equate their 'ōlelo makuahine with condemnation and pain. By the 1970s only a few hundred native speakers remained. But thanks to the tireless efforts of kūpuna and a new generation of language advocates, today there are more than 20,000 speakers. The breadth of speakers throughout the pae'āina is complemented by its depth; 'ōiwi from kūpuna to keiki are now fluent in Hawaiian.

Hawaiian language medium education settings, from PreK to post-high,

are found across the pae'āina; and speakers actively engage in goveri ment, health, social services and business sectors in transactional, transformational and "normalized" ways.

By presenting this issue of Ka Wai Ola in both Hawaiian and English, we hope to contribute to the normalization of 'ōlelo Hawai'i and its total integration into the strengthening of our 'ohana, perpetuation of our mo'omeheu and stewardship of our 'āina. E ola mau ka 'ōlelo Hawai'i. ■

Sylvia M. Hussey, Ed.D. Chief Executive 0fficer