Celebrating 35 Years of Hawaiian Language Education

Photo by Jack Kiyonaga

By Jack Kiyonaga, Editor

On April 5, Kualapu’u School’s Hawaiian language immersion students took center stage, honoring the efforts of those who had come before. This year’s annual Hana Keaka Hawaiian theater performance had a special significance, as it celebrated 35 years of Hawaiian language education on Molokai.

“This year we honor our treasured voices, our manaleo, Native Hawaiian speakers of Molokai who were the guiding forces behind the founding of both the Punana Leo Hawaiian language preschool in 1991 and subsequently our Kula Kaiapuni o Kualapuʻu and ʻO Hina i ka Malama, elementary and secondary Hawaiian languages schools on island,” explained Ka’ala Fay Camara, current vice principal at Kualapu’u School and next year’s principal.

The journey to having Hawaiian language education in public schools on Molokai was an arduous path.

“They told us ‘No, you cannot have Hawaiian language in our elementary public school,’” said Camara. But, she explained, “for the pono of our keiki we don’t take no for an answer…We have waited over 100 years for our children to be educated in the language of this land. We will not wait another 100 years.”

The Hana Keaka performance celebrated this history with a dramatic depiction of Hawaiian stories. Kualapu’u School students from kindergarten to sixth grade donned feathers, spears, masks and more to tell the stories of this year’s theme “Kuʻu hoa ʻalo leo i ka laʻi a ka manu,” which means “my companion whose voice of wisdom is likened to the sound of the flocking of birds at the shores of Kaunakakai.”

In an impressive display, the keiki moved through various oli, mele and hula to tell the stories for a sold-out crowd at the Molokai Community Health Center.