He ʻōlelo ola ma ke kenekulia iwakālua: He kālailaina no ka ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi ma ka hoʻonaʻauao (A living language in the 20th century: An analysis of the Hawaiian language in education)

Abstract

ʻO ka ʻōlelo ka mea e hāpai ai i ke ola o ka lāhui kanaka me kona ʻike kūʻokoʻa ma kona ʻaoʻao. I ka makahiki 1896 i hoʻoholo ʻia ai he kānāwai e aʻo ʻia nā kula a pau o Hawaiʻi nei ma ka ʻōlelo Pelekānia wale nō. Ua ʻaui mai nā haumāna kula aupuni ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi ma nā makahiki i hala iho, eia nō naʻe, na i ia kānāwai 57 i hoʻopau loa i ka holomua o ka ʻōlelo ʻōiwi o nei ʻāina no nā hanauna ma hope aku. Ma ka huli ʻana o ke kenekulia ʻumikūmāiwa i hāʻule nui ai ka ʻōlelo makuahine o ko Hawaiʻi Pae ʻĀina nei ma o ka hoʻonaʻauao. Ua piha maila ka hoʻokula ʻia ʻana o nā haumāna me nā ʻano holoi aupuni a Hōʻamerika ma ke Kelikoli. I loko nō o ka ʻaneʻane pau pono o ka ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi ma nā kula, ua ʻonipaʻa ka poʻe ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi i nā 1900 no kona holopono ma ka lana ʻana. Ma nāhi ʻē aʻe i ola ai ka ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi, ʻo ia hoʻi ma nā kula ʻōlelo, kula Sābati, a me ka hoʻokumu ʻana, ʻo ka ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi he papa ʻōlelo ʻē ia i nā 1920. Ua hoʻopaʻa kūikawā kēia i ka ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi, a laila i hoʻokumu ʻia ai he kahua no kona hoʻāla ʻia ʻana ma ka hope o nā 1900. ʻAʻole i noho wale a haʻalele ka poʻe Hawaiʻi i ka ʻōlelo makuahine, ua ola nō naʻe ka ʻōlelo, he ʻōlelo ola o ke kenekulia iwakālua. Ma kēia pepa noiʻi nei i kālele ʻia ai ka mana Hawaiʻi ma o ka nānā ʻana i nā kumuʻike mua, ʻo ia hoʻi ma ka ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi a me ka Pelekānia. Ua kau nui ka manaʻo o kēia noiʻi i ka haʻi pololei ʻana o ka moʻolelo o ka ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi ma hope o ke kānāwai 57 i 1896. ʻO ke kumu o kēia hana noiʻi, ʻo ia hoʻi ka hoʻomaopopo pono ʻana i ka loli o ka ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi a me kona hoʻomau ʻia ʻana ma nā hanauna hou. Ke paio aku nei kēia i nā manaʻo i mahuʻi ʻē ʻia a ka pololei a pololei ʻole paha o nā moʻolelo i hoʻopuka ʻē ʻia no kēia mau wā a kēia kumuhana nei. Nā Huaʻōlelo: ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi, kahua hoʻonaʻauao, noiʻi kumuʻike mua, moʻolelo ʻōlelo, moʻolelo hoʻonaʻauao, kuina moʻolelo Language is imperative to the existence of a people through carrying its distinct epistemology and perspective. In 1896, a policy was enacted that declared English to be the medium of instruction in all the schools of Hawaiʻi. In the preceding years, students in Hawaiian language government schools were deviating, however, Act 57 put a halt to the evolution of the native language of the land for its future generations. At the turn of the nineteenth century, the native tongue of the Hawaiian Islands collapsed in education. Schooling in the Territory was subsequently filled with tactics of denationalization and Americanization. Despite its near extinction in the schools, Hawaiians and Hawaiian language advocates alike were steadfast in the 1900s to ensure it would successfully prevail. The Hawaiian language endured through alternative spaces, such as language schools, Sunday schools, and eventually reintegrating Hawaiian as a language subject in the 1920s. These efforts secured the language in the interim, and also laid the foundation for its revitalization in the latter twentieth century. Hawaiians did not passively neglect the Hawaiian language, but rather it weathered the twentieth century as a living language. This study underscores the significance of Hawaiian agency by examining the primary source repository comprising both Hawaiian and English materials. It prioritizes the accuracy of the accounts of history following Act 57 in 1896 and seeks to precisely analyze the changes that the Hawaiian language sustained in education and how its perpetuation persisted across emerging generations. Furthermore, the research also critically challenges prevailing assumptions and narratives surrounding these eras and topics. Keywords: Hawaiian language, systematic education, primary source research, language history, education history, historical continuity