Read this article in ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi
By Kekaianiani Irwin
To all ʻaʻaliʻi and moho lā makani friends breathing new life into ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi boldly in the face of all challenges, aloha kākou! Access to Hawaiian knowledge is increasing through the Hale Kuamoʻo’s latest project, Laupaʻi aʻe ka ʻIke Kuamoʻo (“Multiplying Ancestral Knowledge”). This initiative helps ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi thrive by developing new pathways for learning and vital Hawaiian medium educational resources for grades 6-12.
The project is fostering students’ direct experience of and contributions to Hawaiian as a living language in a wide range of real-world settings. Some project initiatives include:
- Internships in diverse fields (high school, undergraduate, and graduate levels), such as curating the mānaleo audio resource Kaniʻāina, expanding the Ulukau digital collections, editing project books, and developing a new multimedia monolingual dictionary, Wehi ʻŌlelo.
- Creative Projects such as creating audio e-books, recording and mixing mele, facilitating access and moving artistic responses (kiʻi, mele, videos) to the wondrous mokupuni that is Kahoʻolawe.
- Hands-On Learning in carpentry skills and vocabulary, garden development, and social media design integrating Hawaiian language and culture.
- Bridge Courses for high school and undergraduate students, encouraging continued academic achievement with the motto: “Keep graduating!”
These new contexts for learning were designed to instill the growing insight that, “Aha! The mother language of Hawaiʻi is alive!”
Developing critical high-quality educational resources for Hawaiian language learners, Laupaʻi is addressing shortages of books and curriculum where they are most needed. Collaborations with Hawaiian language experts and ʻŌiwi scientists are resulting in:
- 12 chapter books (over 1,000 pages) for students in grades 6-12
- Curriculum units and vocabulary support (486 pages in January 2025, with more curricula still being developed) to accompany the books.
This sheer volume of work confirms one nuance of the project’s name: lau (400, numerous) paʻi (printed pages).
One big win of the project was a collaboration with experts in the field of conservation science, an area where Hawaiian language and culture play critical roles in preserving our ʻāina aloha. In the summer of 2022, Hale Kuamoʻo participated in the Hawaiʻi Conservation Conference, developing curriculum inspired by important mālama topics discussed at the event.
Working with conservation professionals, we created six curriculum units focusing on: Limu awareness and conservation; Konohiki insights for modern times; Soil Fertility and its role in sustainability; Huli ʻia, strengthening kilo skills through ongoing practice; and Kāhuli tree snails and their ethnoecological significance.
This partnership with the Hawaiʻi Conservation Alliance Foundation resulted in an additional 161 pages of curriculum highlighting the synergy between ʻōiwi science, ʻōlelo, and environmental conservation.
There is more to tell about this project, but not enough space here to share everything. To see, hear, and download these and more resources, visit http://halekuamoo.com and tap on the “Laupaʻi aʻe ka ʻIke Kuamoʻo” link. E hoʻolaupaʻi mau aʻe kākou i ka ʻike kuamoʻo: may all be part of this growing movement to ensure that ancestral knowledge and ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi thrive for future generations.
Robert Kekaianiani Irwin taught at the Hawaiian immersion schools of Pāʻia, Pūʻōhala, and Samuel M. Kamakau for 12 years before joining the development team at the Hale Kuamoʻo Hawaiian Language Center of Ka Haka ʻUla O Keʻelikōlani College of Hawaiian Language in Hilo in 2005.
