Delegation from UH Hilo’s leading Hawaiian language program inspires Okinawa
A contingent from Ke Kula ʻO Nāwahīokalaniʻōpuʻu — four high school students, three teachers and program leadership from Ka Haka ʻUla O Keʻelikōlani College — traveled to Okinawa to inspire language revitalization.
By Kauanoe Kamanā, Associate Professor of Hawaiian Language at UH Hilo Ka Haka ʻUla O Keʻelikōlani College of Hawaiian Language, and Director of Ke Kula ʻO Nāwahīokalaniʻōpuʻu Lab Public Charter School.
Editor’s note: The original version of this article was first published at AsAmNews, A Library of Congress Preservation Site on April 3, 2026, for a national Asian-Pacific audience. This version of the article posted here, submitted to UH Hilo Stories on April 19, is updated by the author for local Hawaiʻi readers.
UH Hilo Hawaiian language laboratory school shares with Okinawa
Recently a group of us from UH Hilo’s Hawaiian laboratory school, Nāwahīokalaniʻōpuʻu, was hosted in Okinawa. The visit was part of a several year’s long sharing of language and culture revitalization with Okinawa. It was the first time, however, that there had been such a sharing involving Nāwahī students in Okinawa itself. The contingent from Nāwahī consisted of four high school students, three teachers and program leadership from UH Hilo’s Ka Haka ʻUla O Keʻelikōlani Hawaiian Language College. The students were all children of graduates of the school. They speak Hawaiian both at home and at school.
At Nāwahī, the most developed program of its kind in Hawaiʻi, Hawaiian is the sole medium of education and school operations. Students study English — through Hawaiian — from grade 5, in courses much like English language arts courses in state English medium schools. The school also teaches Japanese. Students have been receiving dual credit coursework from UH Hilo beginning in grade 10 since its first graduating class in 1999.
Hawaiʻi and Okinawa share many similarities including histories as independent kingdoms before annexation into larger nations. Language suppression followed annexation to the point that only elders spoke the Indigenous languages. The last generations of elder speakers of Hawaiian were born before 1920 and are largely gone today. There are still many elder speakers of the Okinawan language. Supporters of Okinawan language and culture revitalization were anxious to meet and discuss shared challenges with us.
In the early 1900s, Okinawans immigrated to Hawaiʻi to work on sugar plantations. Many married Native Hawaiians. One of the Nāwahī student delegates descended from such a union. Other connections include local Okinawan community programs meeting at Ka Haka ʻUla as well as local Okinawans and Okinawan citizens enrolled in the Hawaiian language college, including in its Ph.D. program in Indigenous language revitalization. Enrollment in that program program consists primarily of Native Hawaiians, American Indians and Alaska Natives. Our Ph.D. program has contributed to the designation of Ka Haka ʻUla as the lead institution of the federally funded National Native American Language Resource Center.
This school year, there were over 4,400 students immersed in Hawaiian statewide — totaling more than any other Native American language. Nāwahī, located in Keaʻau just south of Hilo on Hawaiʻi Island, has 531 students on its campus and is the largest such program of its kind in the United States. As of yet, there are no Okinawan immersion programs. Nāwahī students presented on the effectiveness of immersion to Okinawan university and community groups as well as before Okinawa’s Governor Tamaki. They were also fortunate to stay in family homes in Yomitan, an Okinawan village known for its cultural preservation.
On their return to Hilo, Nāwahī students shared that they were inspired by the people and moved by the history of Okinawa. The experience broadened their understanding of the importance of further developing Hawaiian language revitalization among both Hawaiians and non-Hawaiians. The language is, after all, central to the identity of our Hawaiʻi, and therefore of all of us.
Kauanoe Kamanā is a founding member of the Aha Pūnana Leo, a nonprofit, family-based organization committed to promoting Hawaiian language revitalization. She is one of the early faculty of Ka Haka ʻUla O Keʻelikōlani College of Hawaiian Language at UH Hilo, the only Indigenous language college in the U.S., and director of Ke Kula ʻO Nāwahīokalaniʻōpuʻu, the internationally renowned preschool-12 Hawaiian-medium laboratory school.
Presentation at Yomitan Museum of History and Folklore
Editor’s note: An article in Japanese was also published in the Okinawa Times about the group’s presentation at Yomitan Museum of History and Folklore, where the panel focused on inspiring the revitalization of Shimakutuba, the region’s Indigenous languages. The article is translated here below by Yumiko Ohara, UH Hilo Associate Professor of Linguistics, who was part of the delegation on the trip and served as moderator for this presentation panel.
Full translation of article:
Revitalization of language, contemplate with Hawaiʻi
The morning edition, March 23, 2026, Okinawa Times.
[Yomitan] In order to contemplate the transmission of Shimakutuba from the perspective of Hawaiian language revitalization process, the Yomitan village board of education organized a symposium titled “Let’s hear about the current situation of the Hawaiian language from the Hawaiians themselves” on February 21.
The symposium was held at the Yomitan Museum of History and Folklore which is located on the grounds of the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Zakimi Castle Ruins. Eight panel members, who are students and teachers from Nāwahīokalaniʻōpuʻu of Hilo [sic], Hawaiʻi, where all the educational content is taught through the Hawaiian language, discussed language revitalization (Reporter Yoshino Taira).
To understand the importance of keep using it
Nāwahī students gave a presentation on the progress of the Hawaiian language revitalization movement while the Yomitan History Compilation Office introduced its initiatives for the preservation and transmission of Shimakutuba. There were about 50 people who are involved in preservation and transmission of Shimakutuba from the village as well as within the prefecture participated and a lively question-and-answer session took place.
Associate Professor Yumiko Ohara from University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo served as the moderator and interpreter.
When asked what would happen if the Hawaiian language were to disappear, the principal of Nāwahī school replied that “It would not vanish as long as we continue to use it. We are currently considering what can be done to pass it on to the next generation”. She stated that what is necessary for language revitalization is “to use the language 100% of the time and to view things from the perspective of that language”, emphasizing the importance of continuing to use it even within a society heavily influenced by English.
For many years, the school has collaborated with the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo to foster an educational environment where students learn and continue to use the Hawaiian language continuously from preschool through university. A student from Nāwahī school remarked “My parents are raising me using the Hawaiian language” and added, “I want to continue using Hawaiian even after graduation whether in my further studies or in my future career.”
The delegation from Hawaiʻi stayed in the prefecture for approximately one week, beginning on the 16th; in addition to visiting the village mayor and other officials, they toured historical sites and war memorials such as Iinukaa and Chibichirigama to learn about the village’s history and culture. Ms. Seira Machida of the Village History Compilation Office who organized the lecture remarked, “As long as the language continue to be used, it will never disappear. We want to take the lead in using it ourselves.”
Susan Enright is a public information specialist for the Office of the Chancellor and editor of UH Hilo Stories.
