Aloha mai kākou,
February invites us to celebrate ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi – not only as a language, but as a living worldview that holds our values, relationships, and ancestral wisdom. When a people’s language shapes how they understand the world, its worth is intrinsic, felt as deeply as it is spoken.
Today, ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi flourishes in ways once unimaginable. From a time when its voice was perilously faint, it has grown steadily stronger, now spoken by many more across generations.
While still carried by a relatively small portion of our lāhui, its resurgence is reason for deep gratitude and enduring hope for what continues to unfold.
OHA remains committed to investing in ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi and standing alongside those leading its perpetuation, honoring the vision and autonomy of educators, families, communities, and haumāna shaping what the language becomes next. The ʻike held within ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi is not fixed in the past; it’s alive, generative, and essential to our collective future.
As we celebrate learners at every stage, we uplift the mānaleo and kūpuna whose courage, patience, and aloha sustained our language through decades when speaking it required quiet resistance and unwavering resolve. Their devotion made today’s renaissance possible. We honor them not only by preserving what they carried, but by allowing it to live fully – spoken, expanded, and entrusted to each new generation.
I’ve been in spaces where ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi flows freely – unburdened, without hesitation. To be immersed in that sound is to feel time bend.
Years ago, in a crowded shopping mall, I heard a toddler crying, frustrated in the tender, unmistakable way of early childhood. Through her tears, she spoke entirely in ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi. Her mother knelt beside her, listening closely, responding with calm reassurance; two voices meeting with care amid the hum and hurry of a world that kept moving.
I lingered there, listening, understanding without fluency. I heard the leo of my ancestors. I heard my tūtū, long passed. I heard a way of being where emotion, language, and aloha moved together, where a child, with only the words available to her in a language not yet widely spoken, could give voice to what her naʻau was feeling and be fully understood. It was sublime, and ever since, I’ve held a quiet hope for a future where not only her mother, but the world itself leans in to hear her, understand her, and be shaped by an ancestral wisdom older than she can fathom, yet already hers.
As you walk your own ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi journey, know this: fluency is not the only measure of belonging. A Kānaka worldview rooted in relationship, humility, and kuleana can be embraced at any stage. Whether you are a speaker, a learner, or still listening from the edges, there is space for you. This resurgence belongs to all of us, as varied and vibrant as the lāhui itself. The invitation is simple and enduring: to step forward with intention, to carry what we can, and to allow ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi to continue shaping who we are becoming.
Mahalo nui,
Summer Lee Haunani Sylva
Interim Chief Administrator
Ka Pouhana Kūikawā
