UH Hilo’s Hawaiian language college marks generational milestone
Three generations participated in May graduation ceremonies at the college’s P-12 laboratory school Nāwahīokalaniʻōpuʻu, the largest and most developed Hawaiian immersion and Indigenous language immersion campus in the United States. The celebration was more than a celebration at a particular school. It was a celebration of a milestone for a movement.
The Hawaiian Language Consortium, headquartered at Ka Haka ʻUla O Keʻelikōlani College of Hawaiian language at the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo, marked a major milestone recently.
Forty years have past since the language revitalization movement began in earnest with two strong preschools. Originally a trickle, the movement has grown into a vigorous stream. A testimony to that strength were three generations participating in a graduation ceremony at the college’s laboratory school P-12 Nāwahīokalaniʻōpuʻu, the largest and most developed Hawaiian immersion and Indigenous language immersion campus in the United States.
The movement began with the founding of the non-profit ʻAha Pūnana Leo in 1983. But it took until 1985 to get total Hawaiian medium preschool language nests operating successfully.
Keiki Kawaiʻaeʻa, Alohalani Housman, and Makalapua Alencastre enrolled their children during those early beginnings. The three mothers (now grandmothers) and their children (now proud parents, aunties, and uncles) were at Nāwahīokalaniʻōpuʻu to celebrate the graduation of three members of their families’ third generation in the movement.
Welcoming them to the event was Kauanoe Kamanā, the college’s laboratory school program director. Kauanoe had also welcomed them to the Pūnana Leo when she was that program’s statewide director. She then played a key role in moving teaching through Hawaiian into the public schools.
Finally in 1996, Kauanoe and Nāmaka Rawlins, then CEO of the ʻAha Pūnana Leo, obtained support from the Office of Hawaiian Affairs to purchase the Nāwahīokalaniʻōpuʻu site for a high school for the new Hawaiian language college, where Kauanoe was a founding faculty member.
It had been a long journey for these three grandmothers. They started together as parents at the Pūnana Leo O Honolulu. All three worked in the early years of operating and expanding Hawaiian language. Later they would all move to Hilo to develop the college’s Hawaiian medium teacher training and curriculum development programs.
All would earn their doctorates over the years in association with the work of the consortium of the ʻAha Pūnana Leo, Nāwahīokalaniʻōpuʻu, and the college. Today all three hold important positions moving Hawaiian language education forward.
Kawaiʻaeʻa is the acting vice chancellor for academic affairs at UH Hilo; Housman, formerly teaching Hawaiian at BYU-Hawaiʻi, was recently named dean of culture, language, and performing arts at that university; and Alencastre, now retired from UH Hilo, is chair of the Hawaiʻi Charter School Commission.
Forty years ago, the Pūnana Leo founders conducted a count of all children under 18 who spoke Hawaiian. They came up with a figure of 36. Within that figure were the oldest children of these women. The rest were from Niʻihau.
Now Nāwahī alone was graduating 40 seniors. Ten other high school programs, including one serving Niʻihau children, were graduating 96 more students for a total of 136. Even more amazing, for the 2024-2025 school year, there were 4,313 students statewide from preschool to grade twelve being educated through Hawaiian serving every inhabited island of the state.
The celebration at Nāwahīokalaniʻōpuʻu, was more than a celebration at a particular school. It was a celebration of a milestone for a movement.
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William “Pila” Wilson, a professor of Hawaiian language at UH Hilo, teaches and researches ancient language pathways to and from Hawaiʻi. He is recognized internationally for his work in Hawaiian language revitalization, notably for providing pathways for other Indigenous groups to learn from the highly successful Hawaiian language revitalization work occurring in Hilo.
