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Hula is not the only Hawaiian tradition honored at Merrie Monarch this week. The festival is paying tribute to the 40th anniversary of the Hawaiian language revitalization movement. ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi teachers, students and pioneers were in Hilo to perform on hula's biggest stage. HPR's Kuʻuwehi Hiraishi reports.
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Can speaking Pidgin give you an advantage when learning the Hawaiian language? That is the subject of a study by a linguist at the University of British Columbia in Canada. As HPR's Kuʻuwehi Hiraishi reports, the linguist drew inspiration from a similar study comparing Māori and Māori-accented English in Aotearoa.
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A growing demand for Hawaiian language education has prompted communities in Leeward Oʻahu to establish their own immersion school. HPR reporter Kuʻuwehi Hiraishi visited the newest kaiapuni program at Kapolei Middle School. Seventh graders spent the year carving canoes from clay, creating Makahiki dioramas, and studying the phases of the Kumulipo creation chant.
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Nicholas Lum is taking his experience with music and the Hawaiian language to focus on a new approach to mele — one that blends innovation and tradition. He calls this new project Pewa. The Conversation sat down with Lum to talk about his unique vision for Hawaiian music.
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As Hawaiian language immersion schools gain traction in the state, so do the demands for funding. A group of teachers, administrators and community members met over the summer to discuss alternative funding options for the Kaiapuni schools, which exclusively teach in Hawaiian. HPR's Cassie Ordonio reports.
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In Hawaiʻi, the Hilo group Sudden Rush is widely recognized as the first to record nā mele pāleoleo, the combination of hip-hop with native Hawaiian rapping. Sudden Rush was formed in 1993 by Caleb Richards and Shane Veincent, and later added fluent Hawaiian speaker Ke’ala Kawaʻauhau Jr. and producer Rob Onekea.
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A new play at the University of Hawaiʻi envisions an 1890s gathering of Hawaiian intellectuals who explore the intersection between Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar" and Hawaiʻi’s political landscape during the overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom. The Conversation's Russell Subiono spoke to writer-director Iāsono Kaper about his ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi play "Kaisara."
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The growth of Hawaiian language immersion schools has exploded in recent years. Fifty years ago, there were only a handful of Hawaiian language speakers. Now, the community is thriving. With the Center for Oral History, we're sharing how that story stretches from kupuna to keiki.
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This month we are celebrating Mahina ʻŌlelo Month, or Hawaiian Language month. Our stories are all in ‘Ōlelo Hawaiʻi from a collection of interviews with kūpuna who were born in Kona around the turn of the 20th century.
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HPR’s Paige Okamura, the host of our Hawaiian music show Hawaiʻi Kulāiwi, talked with The Green’s Brad Watanabe about how the contest encourages more people to learn the Hawaiian language.