Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 27, Number 4, 1 April 2010 — HOT OFF THE 19TH CENTURY-PRESSES! [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

HOT OFF THE 19TH CENTURY-PRESSES!

By Kau'i Sai-Dudoit "Even the palest ink is better than the best memory." — Chinese proverb

Sadly, many cultures throughout the world have nothing left to pieee together their past but trinkets, fading memories or perhaps a few elders whose memories are waning. By 1824, Hawaiian ali'i not only embraced literacy; they made edicts for their people to learn reading and writing. Within 12 years, 40 percent of the population were in schools while one-third of the population were considered literate. The literacy rate of Hawaiians by the mid-1800s far surpassed that of Europe and the United States. Eager for knowledge and the newest form of communication, 200 issues of the first Hawai-

ian language newspaper, Ka Lama Hawaii, were distributed in 1834 and began a trend that would last for 1 14 years through more than a hundred different publications. Through these newspapers we ean read the perspectives of not just one writer but have the advantage of comparing the varying views of a myriad of writers, both native and foreign, on numerous topics. In the midst of changing political and eul-

tural landscapes, the writers and editors of the Hawaiian language newspapers frequently called for readers to share their knowledge in the papers and use this medium as their national archive. In the very first newspaper, Ka Lama Hawaii, on May 9, 1834, Chief Mataio Kekuanaoa writes, "...Malia paha o pau oukou i ka hala e aku, nalo wale loa ka olelo kumu o Hawaii nei mai ka mole mai. A i ole e pai ia la ea! he hoailona ia no ka na lii

malama i ka mea kahiko. ( . . . You may all pass away and the source language of Hawaii, from its very taproot, will disappear completely. To avoid that let it be printed! as a sign of the chief's eoneem for the things of old.) In the coming months we will share articles from the Hawaiian language newspapers that are as relevant and insightful today as the day they were written. ■ Ho'olaupa'i: Hcrwaiian Language Nev,'spaper Project is a coīīaborative partnership among the Bishop Museum, Awaiauīulne., Aīu Like ine. and Haīe Kuamo 'o to utiīize moeīem technoīogy to preser\>e and provide access to the voluminous writings in the Hcrwcnian īanguage nen>spapersforfree access at nupepa. org. Kau 'i Sai-Dudoit has been the Project Manager ofHo 'oīaupa'i since 2002.

Ho'olaupa'i <

Starting this month, Ka Wai Ola welcomes a new monthly eolumn by the Ho'olaupa'i: Hawaiian Language Newspaper Proiect. Presented by Kau

Sai-Dudoit and Puakea Nogelmeier, the eolumn will offer insight, translations

and original articles from the

A archives of scores of Hawaiian Wl language newspapers, whieh ' J were widely read and wildy r popular for more than a eentury beginning in 1834. Today they serve as a national archives for the Hawaiian people.

[%I4 www.oha.org/kwo

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