Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 9, Number 11, 1 November 1992 — Chairman's View [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Chairman's View

Ka 'ikena a ka Luna

(This eolumn reflects the views of the OHA board ehaimnan and does not necessarily represent the official position of the OHA board of trustees.)

by Clayton H.W. Hee Chairman, OHA Board of Trustees

I recently had an opportunity to visit with my former Hawaiian language prof e s s o r , W i 1 1 i a m "Pila" Wilson, at the OHA offices. Pila

presently heads the Hawaiian Studies program at the University of Hawai'i at Hilo, and was in Honolulu to meet with Sen. Daniel Inouye's staff on legislation regarding preservation of Native Ameiiean languages. During his visit he went into great detail about the growth of the various Hawaiian studies and Hawaiian language programs statewide, despite difficulty in obtaining funding support from the state

Department of Education and the University of Hawai'i. Pila and his wife, Kauanoe Kamana, have been a powerful and undeniable force, as they and other Hawaiian educators have committed themselves to teach our people, particularly the youth, Hawaiian language, and by that means, about ourselves and who we are. They have continually argued that by being proficient in Hawaiian, students will become better at other languages, especially English, and better at all other disciplines as well. Kauanoe explained that many people who are not involved in the Hawaiian language immersion programs — Hawaiians included — are under the false impression that the children cannot speak English. She says nothing could be further from the truth, and that the children are doing as well as or better than other Hawaiian public school children academically, and that they are doing very well in English.

Her eoneem follows publication of an article a while back in a Honolulu newspaper that indicated that Hawaiian immersion program children cannot speak English well and will be handicapped in future life in an English-speaking society. She notes, however, "If the real news were out, those with no feeling for Hawaiian language and culture might enroll their children simply for the academie benefits. The Hawaiian community itself should know the truth." The following story of a young Hilo youth, cbosen the top poetry student in the state, makes a powerful case that students of the Hawaiian language immersion program and Punana Leo program — who are taught exclusively in our mother tongue — more than excell in English. Kekua Burgess, son of Kekoa and Terry Burgess, was a fifth-grade student in the Kaiapuni Hawai'i language immersion program at Keaukaha Elementary in Hilo when he won a competition among fourth- through sixth-graders in the public

schools last spring. Kekua won top plaee in the fifth-grade free verse English poetry contest. According to Pila Wilson, "Kekua's accomplishment is more than a personal victory. It is a powerful statement regarding education through the Hawaiian language." Kaiapuni Hawai'i education grew out of the Punana Leo Hawaiian language immersion preschools and is now in five DOE elementary schools. Since he was in second grade at Keaukaha Elementary, Kekua has studied all his school subjects, including English, through the medium of Hawaiian language. English is first introduced in the fifth grade with an hour a day in reading and writing English, taught as a second language. Even though both Hawaiian and English are official languages in Hawai'i, there are those who believe that Hawaiian should not be used as a language of education in the same way as English. continued page 38

Chairman's Views from page 36

Pila explains, "Although Hawaii's publie school system was onee entirely Hawaiian-language based, education in Hawaiian was outlawed when the Hawaiian monarchy was overthrown and only made legal again in 1986. The original poliūeal ban was later justified by contending that Hawaiian culture and education are incompatible — a position that is challenged by the fact that the monarchy's Hawaiian language schools produced a higher literacy rate in Hawai'i than of any Westem nation in the 1800s." Kekua was in the lead Kaiapuni Hawai'i class. Two classmates were designated gifted and talented in English and the others did as well as, or better than, the children in regular English classes.

Pila explains that children from families who speak Hawaiian at home learn English from their community, television and non-Hawaiian-speaking family members. Most children begin to transfer their skills in reading and writing Hawaiian to English on their own by the fourth grade. According to Kekua's father, Kekua entered the program in second grade because his sister was enrolled in the Punana Leo and Kekua also wanted to speak Hawaiian. Kekoa says of his son, "We are very proud of Kekua's English award but prouder still that he is opening the way for our Hawaiian language and our Hawaiian tradition of academic excellenee to live again."