Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 7, Number 6, 1 June 1990 — Hawaiian language bill inspires national change [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Hawaiian language bill inspires national change

A measure authored by Senator Daniel K. Inouye to "establish as a national policy the right of Native Americans to "preserve, practice and develop their indigenous languages" has unanimously passed the U.S. Senate. The measure is now before the House for consideration. The measure would encourage the adoption of policies like that of Hawai'i. The Hawai'i Legislature adopted a resolution in 1987 requesting the state Department of Education to establish Hawaiian language classes in elementary schools and create pilot Hawaiian language immersion programs. Based on this resolution, the state now allows children to be instructed in the Hawaiian language. "Testing shows that Native Hawaiian children schooled in Hawaiian language immersion programs generally speak and understand English at last as well as their non-Hawaiian speaking Native Hawaiian counterparts. Additionally, Hawaiianspeaking children tend to be more outgoing and self-confident than their counterparts, and have higher self-esteem," noted Sen. Inouye. "This legislation is an acknowledgement that indigenous Americans have a right to practice their cultures and choose their own lifestyles,"

said Sen. Inouye, chairman of the Select Committee on Indian Affairs. "It was onee the unwritten policy of the U.S. government to reprimand children for speaking their own languages in school. They were made to feel like foreigners in fheir classrooms, and worse, in their own homelands." The measure would direct the President to ensure that federal departments and agencies recognize Native Hawaiian languages in their policies. The act would not create new federal programs or prohibit the teaching or use of English to Native Americans, said Inouye. The legislation is based on resolutions adopted at the Eighth Annual International Native Americans Language Issues Institute, held in 1988 in Tempe, Arizona, whieh urged the enactment of this policy by the United States.

He 'io au, 'a'ohe lala kau'ole. (I am a hawk, there is no branch on whieh I cannot perch.) I ean go anywhere I want; I am chief. From " ' Olelo No'eau" (Hawaiian Prouerbs and Poetical Sayings) by Mary Kawena Pukui, 1983 Publication 71, Bishop Museum Press, Honolulu, Hawai'i. »

Halau Mohala llima, with kumu hula Mapuana de Silva. will give two concerts, hula kahiko and huia auana, on Saturday, June 9, at 8 p.m. and Sunday, June 10 at 3 p.m. at the Mamiya Theatre on the St. Louis/Chaminade campus. The halau recently performed at Disneyland and won prizes at the Merrie Monarch Festival. Tickets are $9 adults, $8 students and seniors, S3 children under 1 2. For information eall 537-2152.