Nāwahı¯ graduates listen to a welcoming speech at Ka 'Umeke Kā'eo, a Hawaiian immersion charter school in Keaukaha. From left are: 'Aulani Kagawa, 'Iwalani Kūali'i-Kaho'ohanohano, U'ilani Lindsey, Alana Gouveia, Mālie Nāmāhoe, Makana Lewis and his dad Kāwika Lewis. - Photo: T. Ilihia Gionson

Ola ka 'Ōlelo Hawai'i
Hawaiian language immersion program
graduates its 10th high school class

By T. Ilihia Gionson / Ka Wai Ola

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 Nāwahīokalani'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 insurmountable challenges.

Once 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 public 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 public and private schools.”

Michael 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,” Forman 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 monolingualism” and chose not to speak or teach Hawaiian to their children.

The language was forced underground for most of the 20th century until the widespread spiritual, political and cultural revival commonly 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 small group of educators founded the 'Aha Pūnana Leo, an organization dedicated to revitalizing Hawaiian language-and thereby Hawaiian culture-through language immersion preschools. The idea was to establish preschools where young children could interact with native speakers, and later go on to Hawaiian language public schools. But it turned out that there were legal barriers blocking both actions.

“Public 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 community, the two laws banning Hawaiian language immersion 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 Nāwahīokalani'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 come from schools spanning Hawai'i, from the twelve at Nāwahī 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 classmates plan on post-high school pursuits from medical school to animation 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, which 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 performed a hula that dates back to the pre-contact 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.