The decline of the Hawaiian language is a strong aspect of the historical trauma Native Hawaiians face. While there has been a revitalization of the language, it wasn’t long ago when the Native Hawaiian language was prohibited to be used in school and frowned upon in public.
My grandfather told me a story of him being punished in front of the classroom for speaking Hawaiian during school. And while he was a proud Native Hawaiian man, the silence of his language caused him to lose touch with that integral part of our culture.
I’ve always made attempts to learn Hawaiian. My mom went through the Pūnana Leo community classes and became an instructor. The best attempt I made was taking her class during the summer while home from college. The problem was when I left to go back, there was no accountability or person to practice the lessons from the class.
The Shame
Maybe you felt shame for not being able to speak the language. Or even worse, you were shamed for not knowing the language. It happened to me.
I was at a Hawaiian music festival looking around at one of the vendors when two individuals who spoke Hawaiian asked me where I got my leg tattoo from in Hawaiian. I could only make out a few words to understand the context. After mentioning, “Sulu’ape Keone Nunes,” they continued to speak to me in Hawaiian.
“E kala mai. Sorry. I don’t ‘ōlelo Hawai’i,” I responded. Then they gave the look that burned through me. One turned away, and the other says, “What kind of Hawaiian are you?”
To be honest, those words did hurt and I’m positive many of you may have experienced or felt something similar to that.
Reconnecting with the Language
It’s been a long time since I thought of learning the language again. But now that I have two young boys, it’s made me want to revisit learning the language again.
When my oldest son was 3, he attended a ‘ōlelo Hawai’i program and would come home saying Hawaiian words and phrases I didn’t know. My mom would speak to him in Hawaiian and he’d understand. But after we took him out of the program to attend a different school closer to our home, he slowly began to not recognize the language and it reminded me of my grandfather’s story of losing his connection to the language.
So recently, I’ve made it a priority to begin learning the language and involve my sons in the process. Luckily for social media and the internet, there are so many great resources out there.
ʻAʻa i ka ʻŌlelo! Dare to speak Hawaiian!
A specific resource that triggered this newfound interest in reconnecting with the Hawaiian language was from a collaboration between two Hawaiian instagram accounts; E Hoʻopili Mai with Kumu Kahanuola Solatorio and Actions of Aloha
Not only does E Hoʻopili Mai offer online language classes and resources, but the content they share on Instagram gives Hawaiian words and phrases that you can try to implement during everyday life.
That resource along with Actions of Aloha who are on a mission of “encouraging love, compassion, and kindness in our community” brought out something special. They believe “when we share Aloha, we become connected through respect and empathy,” as they share on their website. Not only does Actions of Aloha share Aloha but they give Aloha as well. 100% of the profits at Actions of Aloha are donated to support local businesses and organizations that embody and promote Aloha. In fact, in 2020 they raised $20,000 half went to Waimea Valley and the other half went to ʻIolani Palace
With the collaboration between the two, they created a deck of cards called, “ʻAʻa i ka ʻŌlelo! Dare to speak Hawaiian!” My kids and I enjoy working with these cards on a daily basis. We like them so much that I made them part of their homeschooling curriculum. AOA shares that “each deck of cards features everyday conversational phrases in both Hawaiian and English” which is very helpful in learning and practicing them with friends and ‘ohana.
Continuing the Gift of Aloha
What made me even happier to support local and bring the Hawaiian language into our home, is that the profit from these deck of cards will be donated to ‘Aha Pūnana Leo who is on a mission “to drive and inspire change to ensure a living Hawaiian language in Hawaiʻi and beyond. ‘Aha Pūnana Leo does work across 12 different locations throughout the Hawaiian islands and offers programs and resources to serve the community.
Mahalo nui to E Hoopili Mai and Actions of Aloha for helping me bring the Hawaiian language into our home.
