UH Mānoa Hawaiian language Kumu Alicia Rozet and her students expressed hope in the efforts to reclaim and revitalize the Hawaiian language at the annual ʻOnipaʻa Peace March commemorating the 132nd anniversary of the illegal overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom on January 17.
Rozet, a kumu of 14 years at UH, attended the march with some of her students and said the overthrow that occurred over a century ago continues to have damaging and lasting impacts on the Hawaiian community—most notably on its language.
“It silenced us,” said Haliʻa Char, a UH Mānoa Hawaiian language student who marched with Kumu Rozet.
“It was designed to oppress kānaka,” said Mahinalani Cavalieri, a UH Mānoa student and former student of Rozet who attended the march, which began at the Maunaʻala Mausoleum and finished at ʻIolani Palace, where speeches, musical performances and hula took place.
According to the state Department of Education’s website on the history of Hawaiian education, three years after the overthrow in 1893, all teaching and learning through Hawaiian language mediums were banned in Hawaiʻi. The Hawaiian language would not be taught or learned in any official capacity until the Hawaiian Renaissance in the 1960s and 1970s.
The ban on Hawaiian lasted for 80 years or nearly four generations, leading to a serious loss of the language, and current ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi speakers say Hawaiian is far too significant to let die.
Rozet said ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi is a reminder of the significance and vitality of Hawaiʻi, which has been distorted by tourism, foreign investments in the state, and a lack of physical lands left for Hawaiians.
“ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi is a way that people can claim Hawaiʻi back again,” Rozet said after the march during events at ʻIolani Palace. “If you hear ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi, you’re reminded that you’re in Hawaiʻi. If that wasn’t the case, we could be anywhere.”
While she and her UH students said they share a deep responsibility and obligation to keep the Hawaiian language alive, they also said revitalization efforts shouldn’t lie solely with the Hawaiian people.
“It’s important that non-Hawaiians like myself make it a point to learn Hawaiian language and Hawaiian culture,” Rozet said. “I cannot take back the past, but I can be a positive influence in the future.”
They said responsibility also lies with the educational institutions to encourage, if not mandate Hawaiian language courses.
“I think that every single school, no matter if you are a religious, Western affiliated school, you need to take ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi,” Char said. “Put it in all the educational systems.”
While there were many significant moments of the day, ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi was well on display during and after the march in chants, speeches, and songs. Through all the events, Rozet and her students said the anniversary was an important reminder of the devastating loss of language for decades after the overthrow.
Though Rozet, Char, and Cavalieri acknowledge that there are real challenges ahead, all share in the same optimism for the future of the language that they say is vital to the survival and success of the Hawaiian culture and community.
“I believe that challenges will arise and obstacles will come forth in anything we pursue in any endeavor,” Cavalieri said. “But yet, I feel that we as a people, as a lāhui, as a nation, have the resilience and the lessons from our ancestors to holomua, to move forward.”
On Jan. 17, 1993, at the ʻOnipaʻa Peace March commemorating the 100th anniversary of the overthrow, the late Kumu Haunani Kay Trask famously delivered her “I am not an American” speech that would challenge the influence of America in Hawaiʻi. Thirty-two years later, many say progress has been made, but there’s still so much work to be done to bring back a language that’s been in serious danger posed by events 132 years ago.
“It’s the way that we live. Without language, there is no life,” Char said. “It’s like taking your breath out of your own soul.”
