The Hawaiian language was once on the verge of extinction. In 1984, there were less than 50 children that could speak fluently. It was then that the Hawaiian language revitalization movement began through the establishment of preschools that used immersion Hawaiian language-medium education.
Today, Hawaiian language is an official language of the state of Hawaiʻi and Hawaiian language-medium education is present from preschool to Ph.D., an enormous accomplishment that has taken several decades. At the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo, the doctorate program in Hawaiian and Indigenous Language and Culture Revitalization is the first doctorate in the United States conducted in an Indigenous language and the first doctorate in the world to revitalize an Indigenous language.
To support the normalization of Hawaiian language and to accomplish the stewardship goals of Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument, the Mokupāpapa Discovery Center in Hilo provides bilingual interpretation for the growing number of Hawaiian language speakers.
E ola ka ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi - The Hawaiian language shall live.
(Photo: Jamie Makasobe. Image description: A Native Hawaiian cultural practitioner sounds the pū, a conch shell trumpet, in front of the ocean.)
