Walk down the hallway at Ke Kula Kaiapuni o Kualapuʻu, and you’ll hear students learning and conversing in Hawaiian, practicing oli and studying math.
Today, Kumu Lokelani Han’s sixth grade class, or Papa ʻEono, is practicing for a Hawaiian language speech competition next week to celebrate Mahina ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi.
In Hawaiian, they talk about the meaning of the words and debate the best rhythm to chant the oli.
Han has been teaching for over 20 years. Growing up on Molokaʻi, she said, there was no Kaiapuni program. Since then, Han said there are now lots of opportunities to learn the language, but she hopes it won’t stop there.
“I think Mahina ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi is a good start, but it shouldn't just be one month out of the year,” Han said. “They need to be constantly bombarded with ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi wherever they go, and not just for that 28, 29 days out of the year. So it is hard, but it's a work of love, because if we didn't love it, we wouldn't be doing it right?”
Her sixth grade students share ʻŌlelo Noʻeau, or Hawaiian proverbs, and how they help guide them.
“Kūlia i ka nu‘u. It means strive for the highest,” said Keaonui. “Pili kēia iaʻu no ka mea he kōkua iaʻu mai ka hāʻawi pio ʻole. I like it so much because it helps me keep going and never give up.”
Kamalanai said his favorite Hawaiian phrase is, “E oni paʻa. To never give up and dig deep.”
"I really like that ʻŌlelo Noʻeau because why give up?” he continued. “If you at least try, then you tried – that’s a good thing. Even if you think you can’t, I think you should still try. I don’t like giving up.”
For Kaiʻani, this ʻŌlelo Noʻeau is full of meaning.
“I mōhala nō ka lehua i ke keʻekeʻehi ʻia e ka ua. The meaning of that is, ‘Lehua blossoms unfold because the rain that treads upon them,’" she explained. "Putting people down doesn’t really get you anywhere, but saying nice things and just being nice, that gets you somewhere.”
Kai‘ani said learning Hawaiian is critical.
“It’s important because it’s our culture and if it dies, no one’s going to know about it.”
Han recalled growing up, her parents only occasionally spoke ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi.
“Every time I remember them speaking Hawaiian, it was because they were trying to hide something from us, and so that was the extent of my knowledge about Hawaiian language,” Han said.
She said her own attitude towards the language changed while she was in high school in the early 1980s.
“I didn't fully embrace ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi until I went to high school and I started dancing hula, and from that, it started opening up a world of like literature and mele and hula and oli, and that was what grabbed me, was being able to look at these texts from, you know, from our kūpuna, and understand what they were talking about.”
The Hawaiian language immersion program was first implemented by the state Department of Education in 1987.
Kualapuʻu Public Conversion Charter School runs Molokaʻi’s elementary-level immersion program, which began in 1993. Punana Leo preschool, along with middle and high school Kaiapuni programs, allow students to continue their Hawaiian language education from pre-K through 12th grade on Molokaʻi, which also has the highest population ratio of Native Hawaiian residents — around 60%.
In celebration of Mahina ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi, immersion students at Kualapuʻu just hosted their annual Hana Keaka, an hour-long performance to help raise money for school and cultural supplies for the Kaiapuni program.
Next week, the Hawaiian speech competition will feature all ages of Molokaʻi residents from preschool keiki to kūpuna. The haumāna of Papa ‘Eono are learning an oli called “He Pule Niu” honoring the coconut, the words of which were printed in a 1897 Hawaiian newspaper. They’re practicing it as a group but will perform it individually.
Han said there’s been an influx of students at Kula Kaiapuni o Kualapuʻu.
“I've noticed that a lot more people want their kids to be in Kaiapuni again,” she said. “They want their children to speak Hawaiian, maybe not so much themselves, but they want the kids to be able to carry on the culture. And we'll take it. We'll take whatever we can get. You want to learn? Great. You want your kids to learn? Great. We'll teach whoever wants to learn – bring them in!”
She said five Molokaʻi Kaiapuni graduates have now returned as kumu.
“Eh, it works, because they're coming back,” Han laughed. “So I'm excited about that. I'm excited to have that new generation come in and continue what our kūpuna started.”
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