Hawaiian Language Revival

[Stop_the_War]

Hawaiian rates as the nation’s only
growing indigenous tongue

"E heluhelu kakou," Nako'olani Warrington tells her third-graders -- let's read together.

But there's no need to translate at Ke Kula Kaipuni o Anuenue, a public immersion school where all instruction for the 350 students is in the Hawaiian language.

The school represents a turnaround for the native language in the islands, which 20 years ago appeared to be fading away.

A 1983 survey estimated that only 1,500 people remained in Hawaii who could speak it, most of them elderly. Today there are probably 6,000 to 8,000 Hawaiian-language speakers throughout the state, most of them under the age of 30, said Kalena Silva, professor of Hawaiian studies at the University of Hawaii-Hilo.

"Before, people would hear me speaking Hawaiian to someone and ask what language I was speaking," said Leilani Basham, coordinator of the Hawaiian language program at the University of Hawaii's flagship Manoa campus. "I don't get that anymore."

http://starbulletin.com/2005/03/14/news/story7.html

[Stop_the_War]

1. kick

[Stop_the_War]

2. kick

[MuseRider]

3. This is wonderful news.

A beautiful language and one I could never even come close to learning (I tried with a tape). I am happy to see them begin to take back their culture. Mahalo. :)

[Stop_the_War]

4. Aloha!

:)

[Stanchetalarooni]

5. Ono! Ono!

Good! Good!

[KamaAina]

12. Ono means good as in delicious

Good as in excellent is maika'i!

[Maeve]

6. If we lose a language, we lose a part of ourselves

Maith thu, a Hawaii! :beer:

[NEOBuckeye]

7. Interesting. This may be just one step towards reclaiming their heritage.

I can see a much longer trend playing out where they eventually regain their independence from the US. The way the Republicans are fucking up the Federal Government, they won't be the only state to do so.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

8. I spent two summer sessions at the University of Hawaii

in 1977 and in 1991.

I could see the turnaround even in that short time. As I said to a former classmate who now teaches at UH, the Hawaiians must have realized that their language was the only one in that multi-ethnic state that didn't have an "old country" like Japan, China, or even Samoa.

The student newspaper had a daily column in Hawaiian by 1991, and when I attended an alternative, environmentally-oriented Fourth of July celebration on campus, some of the speakers gave speeches in Hawaiian. I didn't understand a word, but I loved the sound.

[MuseRider]

10. I saw evidence of that turnaround

when we were there almost 3 years ago. My husband and I desperately wanted to buy some land and move there. We found some real opposition and understood every bit of it. We decided that it would not be a good move because of that so we are staying put here. I hope they are successful, it is such a mess what we (and others) have done to their land and ancient sites.

[illflem]

9. You certainly can't beat the Hawaiian name of the state fish

the Humuhumunukunukuapua

[KamaAina]

11. Hawaiian language resources online

and no, our Internet hookup does not consist of two coconut shells and some twine, so stop saying that! :-)

http://www.geocities.com/TheTropics/Shores/6794/ (for all you haumana (students) out there)

http://www.olelo.hawaii.edu/ (the definitive resource at UH-Hilo, the world capital of Hawaiian language study)

http://www.mapuana.com/Hawaiian_language.htm (a few basic words and phrases; includes the long-awaited defintion of kama'aina :-) )

Aloha auinala kakou, E DU! (Good afternoon to all, DU!)

[lazarus]

19. maybe not

but why do you have interstate highways? :evilgrin:

[KamaAina]

21. So Bush** can slap tolls on 'em, of course

why else? :-)

[TahitiNut]

26. A Hawaiian PC would be nice. Small keyboard.

:silly:

[Stef]

29. Years ago...

While I was studying college. I found out that Hawai'i's Internet access was consisted of microwave transmission at 9600 bps.

Can you imagine that? That was in 1992.

I'm sure it's just fine.

I have a dear college friend that I haven't spoken for almost 9 years that is from Honolulu. I would love to contact him again. I'm sure the family name is just as common there (He's Japanese-American ) as it is common in Smith around here. :)

(And yes, I can honestly blame him for my sushi addiction)

[allalone]

13. I love this

it's a beautiful language. I picked up a little while there. can we revive "power to the people"?

[Cha]

14. ALOHA!

"It is a philosophy, a way of living, a code of life, not in any physical form, but an intangible substance. Vital to life, Aloha is the spirit of God in Man. As life's essence, Aloha is everywhere. It is the magnificence in every person, as well as in the `âina, i.e., the environs which is the air, the land, the sky, and the sea.

A is for AKAHAI, meaning kindness, to be expressed with a feeling of tenderness.
L is for LÔKAHI, meaning unity, to be expressed with a feeling of harmony.
O is for `OLU`OLU, meaning agreeable, to be expressed with a feeling of pleasantness.
H stands for HA`AHA`A, meaning humility, to be expressed with a feeling of modesty.
A stands for AHONUI, meaning patient, to be applied with perseverance. ~ Pîlahi Pâkî"

More Cool Hawaiian Langauge at..
http://www.geocities.com/~olelo/workshop.htm

[yorkiemommie1]

15. aloha

yay for my alma mater!

[chlamor]

16. That's Awesome

:kick:

[IndianaGreen]

17. It is time to right a historical wrong and return Hawaii to the native...

Hawaiians, and if they so choose, they can have their own sovereign nation.

The descendants of the white missionaries should be sent packing back to whatever hell hole their ancestors came from!

[DELUSIONAL]

20. I second IndianGreen's sentiment!

[KamaAina]

22. Right a historical wrong? Most certainly. But whom to send packing?

Many in these islands are of mixed missionary and Hawaiian descent. Can they stay six months out of the year?

More to the point, what about us more recent newcomers? I left my "hell hole" not five years ago and am not the leasdt bit anxious to return. Yet, I support a "nation within a nation" model of Hawaiian sovereignty, while many fifth-generation kama'aina of non-Hawaiian (generally haole) descent bitterly oppose any such status (unless it includes them, as descendants of Hawaiian subjects, of course; unsurprisingly, these people are nearly always repukes). So, which of us gets to stay and, as the state Office of Hawaiian Affairs puts it, "raise a beloved nation" (ho'oulu lahui aloha)?

[IndianaGreen]

23. That's for you and other Hawaiians to decide

but independence from the US is a necessary step. Of course, you also should sent the US Navy back to San Diego where it belongs.

Now, speaking of Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands...

[KamaAina]

24. I am not (native) Hawaiian but haole

in local usage, the term "Hawaiian" refers to someone of native Hawaiian Polynesian ancestry.

It'd probably work out pretty smoothly, for the most part, as those we would most like to leave would be jamming the airport departure counters at the first hint of independence. The sticking point would be the longtime haole residents, who still sometimes act as if they owned the place.

Then there are the immigrants and descendants of immigrants from all over Asia and the Pacific: Japan, China, the Philippines, Samoa and more -- some of whom have also married into Hawaiian families... very, very complicated, indeed; then again, the Chinese and some Japanese originally emigrated to an independent Hawai'i in the first place!

Pau hana (end of work) time for me. Mahalo (thank you) for your interest.

[Stop_the_War]

31. I disagree that people should be "sent back"....

There are many different ethnic groups in Hawaii and they are all part of Hawaii.

I do support the idea of Hawaiian independence.

[candle_bright]

32. I disagree

I'm 4th generation from Hawaii and my family worked very hard for what they have. They were not missionaries either. Like hell we should pack up what is OUR home and leave.

I live in Texas now, but I still own property in HI, where I too was born and raised. Hawaii will always be my home, and nothing can change that. Put yourself in my shoes for a minute, and imagine how you would feel if it was Indiana we were talking about here and many generations of YOUR family being told to get lost and leave everything you own behind.

And sorry, Hawaii could not thrive if it broke off from the U.S. I used to support the sovereignty movement until a few years ago. It just is very unrealistic, more of a utopian ideal.

[chlamor]

18. World's Languages are Fast Disappearing

Hundreds of languages have gone the way of the do-do bird, and thousands more are in the precarious position of the spotted owl. Many more cannot even be mourned, since, like countless species, they have evolved and vanished without leaving any record of their existence.

According to Unesco’s Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger of Disappearing, a language is considered endangered when it is no longer spoken by children, moribund when only a handful of elderly speakers are left, and extinct when it is no longer spoken. The numbers vary by source, but even the most optimistic estimates are alarming, with half of the world’s languages struggling to survive. Some sources declare 5,000 of the 6,000 total in some state of endangerment.

The motivations for language preservation range from the obvious to the delightfully esoteric. Language embodies the spectrum of human vision, and its varieties provide unparalleled insights into the diversity of human experience and perception, while the consistencies expose the unchanging kernel across cultures.

http://www.globalpolicy.org/globaliz/cultural/2002/0425fast.htm

[The Sushi Bandit]

25. Kick this!

Mahalo

[Stef]

30. Come. we drink.

Let's sit in our lanai, and toast to the Kahuna. Ae, we'll do that.

[Quetzal]

27. It truly is a remarkable sight to see

Ever since the Hawaiian renissance of the 1970s, Hawaiian culture, language, and art has been on ascendency phase.

Believe it or not, it was mainly the kupuna that spoke Hawaiian prior to the 1970s. I heard stories from my parents that the Hawaiian speaking kupuna never bothered to teach their children "ka oleleo hawaii". Perhaps it was the shame associated with being Hawaiian - after all, Hawaiians were looked down upon as an ethnic group, even though they were original indengenous inhabitants of the 'aina.

There were no Hawaiian immersion schools until 1981 - when the first school opened for children who were interested in learning ka olelo hawaii. However, when applying to start up the institution, the organizers found out that they were restricted by law to open a such a school. The law was one of the many little devils that the annexationists forcibly slipped into state law.

The educational model was similar to the one that was used in Aotearoa (New Zeland) with the indigenous Maori population. From what I understand, they are ten years ahead in relation to where Kanaka Maoli (Native Hawaiians) are.

[artemisia1]

28. kick

Some good anti-globalization news...