Hawai'i Official Languages Act Appeal

8/14/2019 Hawai'i Official Languages Act Appeal

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policymaking is necessary in order to prevent the dominant language group from overwhelmingthe minority. While any amount of governmental legislation will not, on its own, guarantee the

preservation of a minority language, we maintain there presently arent enough incentives in thepresent political economy of the State of Hawaii to sustain growth of Hawaiian language, and in

fact, there is concern that the language movement could even collapse if appropriate systemic

changes are not soon implemented.

To address this problem, we started a grassroots campaign to increase the availability of

Hawaiian language public services; it's called Hawai'i Bilingual (or "H2'"). After 10 monthspresence on Facebook almost 1,900 members -- including Aha Pnana Leo, UH faculty, and

three candidates and current holders of Hawaii public office -- who support the right of everyresident of Hawaii to receive public services in the official language of their choice ,

Hawaiian or English. Additionally, the Hawaiian Civic Club of Waimnalo has adopted aresolution that supports implementation of an act of the Legislature to grant every resident of the

State of Hawai'i the ability to receive public services in the official language of their choice. Fourmonths ago, Hawai'i Bilingual initiated a monthly vigil comprised of two components: a vigil of

prayer and fasting that appeals for divine intervention as well as consolidates intention forpositive change along with a vigil of creativity that demonstrates bilingual values in a way that

enjoins the cooperation of the non-Hawaiian speaking cultural community in Honolulu.

It is a sad fact that speakers of Hawaiian today will not find very much in contemporaryHonolulu life to confirm their welcome in a city that once was their cultural capitol. Left both

abandoned by a monolingual militaristic program of 20th

century American development andalienated by todays nihilistic materialism and global economy, many Native Hawaiians have

opted for a life strategy of retreat, of withdrawl from modern urban life, and sought to reconnectwith a traditional agrarian identity and lifestyle rooted in unskeptical nurturing love for the ina,

the land that feeds, drawing sources of inspiration from the narrative of their pre-Westerncontact. Our familial way of relating with others and with our environment is not practiced,

much less appreciated, by most Americans whose worldview tends to be mechanistic and atomic.And the democratic values of shared governance they do profess are not practiced, or are

withdrawn, when it comes to considering Hawaiis host culture. As a result, there are manyamong us who now even advocate for a complete break with American culture through

outright secession from the United States, however, as a whole, we are not yet convinced thatthis is a sustainable solution either.

Globally, it is now a well known fact that since the turn of the 20th

Century many human

and civil rights of native Hawaiians have largely been ignored by American governance.Hawaiians were taught to think that Hawaiian language and culture are inappropriate for a

modern era; their language would be phased out of public life and discourse through acoordinated program of assimilation into American culture, since the majority of the

burgeoning commercial wealth being created through the States industrialization was dominatedby its English-speaking immigrants. Yet it was during the 1970s civil rights and environmental

movements that the ecological values of traditional native Hawaiian culture were rediscovered,and these values even found a professional voice in governances regulatory mission. And over

the last few decades, as an unanticipated result of the success of the Hawaiian languagerevitalization movement, Hawaiian culture has demonstrated its resiliance, in its ability to adapt
http://www.causes.com/h2ohttp://www.causes.com/h2ohttp://www.causes.com/h2ohttp://www.causes.com/h2ohttp://www.ahapunanaleo.org/http://www.ahapunanaleo.org/http://www.ahapunanaleo.org/http://www.ahapunanaleo.org/http://www.scribd.com/doc/19519047/Submitted-HCCWaimanalo-Resolution-for-AHCC-Conventionhttp://www.scribd.com/doc/19519047/Submitted-HCCWaimanalo-Resolution-for-AHCC-Conventionhttp://www.scribd.com/doc/17340383/Vigil-to-End-Hawaiian-Cultural-Genocidehttp://www.scribd.com/doc/19227535/Po-Ilina-Wai-Puke-Papahana-28-Aukake-2009http://www.scribd.com/doc/19227535/Po-Ilina-Wai-Puke-Papahana-28-Aukake-2009http://www.scribd.com/doc/19227535/Po-Ilina-Wai-Puke-Papahana-28-Aukake-2009http://www.scribd.com/doc/17340383/Vigil-to-End-Hawaiian-Cultural-Genocidehttp://www.scribd.com/doc/19519047/Submitted-HCCWaimanalo-Resolution-for-AHCC-Conventionhttp://www.ahapunanaleo.org/http://www.causes.com/h2o


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and evolve, through its blending of traditional and western technologies and sciences. A glancethrough a few pages ofMmaka Kaiao, A Modern Hawaiian Vocabulary (a companion volume

to theHawaiian Dictionary) published in 2003 by the University of Hawaii, through the work ofthe Kmike Hualelo (Hawaiian Lexicon Committee of the Aha Punana Leo and the Hale

Kuamoo), will easily confirm this fact.

Today speakers of Hawaiian apprehend and interpret complexities of contemporary urbanlife in the Hawaiian language. Hawaiian is now being used to describe and explain advanced

mathematics and physics, political science and finance, urban design and engineering, medicine,theology and law. However, the inertia of regulatory forces that preserve the status quo in the

State Capitol Regions economy shuns any accountability to Hawaiis indigenous language.Indeed, the manufactured products provided in todays marketplaces render the speaker of

Hawaiian incapable of making informed consumer choices, compromising their ability to evenexert control over their own persons and property while in the city. Those who speak only

Hawaiian are not served by various human and regulatory services that their tax dollars pay for.Therefore, we must acknowledge the existence of a de facto apartheid against speakers of

Hawaiian in this city and in most Hawaiian public spaces, with Hawaiian language immersionschools and language classes, many hula halau and perhaps some churches and cattle ranches

excepted.

In spite of official resolutions acknowledging the illegality of the American occupation ofHawaii and the deprivation of Native Hawaiians of their human and civil rights, not enough is

being done through the initiative of Americans and Hawaii residents to effect the restitution oflosses sustained through the last 110 years of cultural genocide. Apparently most Americans are

content to keep this problem swept under the rug. And when Hawaiis immigrants come torealize that theyre contributing to the Native Hawaiians plight, they often feel helpless because

of their own struggles to eke out a living where jobs generally dont pay enough to allow them tolive comfortably, much less participate in civic life. Is it any wonder why so many Native

Hawaiians have opted out of the system? We presume that, until a comprehensive andcoordinated effort to address the cause of abuse of Hawaiian human and civil rights is

implemented, the stultifying feelings of victimization and hopelessness will continue.

Native Hawaiian leaders are present challenged to stem the tide of growing hopelessnessand poverty, to promote positive change at the highest level of governance that leads to new

hope. Therefore, we propose making Hawaiian-English bilingualism a cabinet-level priority inthe State of Hawaii, as it is in Canada and Ireland. By conditioning the official status of the

Hawaiian language in Article 15, Section 4 of the Hawaii State Constitution, there is widespreadfeeling that the Constitution does not recognize Hawaiian language has having equal rights to

those of the English language. Considering the extent of governmental regulation that we mustabide under, if Hawaiians do not call for a systemic change, then those who have dedicated their

educations to Hawaiian will feel unprotected by the law-abiding Hawaiian community and seeksolutions that the various secessionist groups offer.

Building on the success of the Aha Punana Leo and charter immersion school programs,

were infusing some of this enthusiasm into our governance problem by advocating thatregulation, even plans for future economic development happen more literally in Hawaiian
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terms, indeed through the promotion of "official bilingualism." Its what Canada finally did 40years ago to avert Quebecs secession. Ireland adopted their Official Languages Act just a few

years ago, and its now time Hawaii did the same. We cant imagine us proceeding into our 50th

year as a State of questionable legitimacy without following suit. We all know that its really

what the Americans should have done 110 years ago as part of their fiduciary responsibility of

administering governance in Hawaii. This is what Hawaii Bilingual is all about: thatevery citizen of Hawaii shall have the right to receive public services in the official language of their choice, Hawaiian or English. We Native Hawaiians have come to understand that our

lelo (language) is as essential to our ea (life) as is wai (fresh water, which is the root ofour word for value - waiwai). And so as to relate to the dominant culture, thats why we chose

the chemical name for water (H2O) as our acronym H2 for Hawaii 2 lelo (HawaiiBilingual translated in Hawaiian is Hawaii lelo Plua).

So lets take a look what an Official Language Act would contribute to the cultivation of

Hawaiis two official languages, Hawaiian and English. In principle, the Hawaii OfficialLanguages Act will establish:

Equality of status and equal rights and privileges as to the use of official languages in all

institutions of the Legislature and government of the State;

Full and equal access to the Legislature and legislative proceedings, to the laws of the Stateand to courts established by the State government and Federal government in the State in

both official languages;

Guarantees relating to the right of any member of the public to communicate with, and toreceive available services from, any institution of the Legislature or government of the

State government and Federal government in the State in either official language;

Officers and employees of either institutions and public bodies of the State and Federalgovernments or governments of the State and Federal republic should have equal

opportunities to use the official language of their choice while working together inpursuing the goals of those institutions and public bodies;

English-speaking residents of Hawaii and Hawaiian-speaking residents of Hawaii should,

without regard to their ethnic origin or first language learned, have equal opportunities toobtain employment in the institutions of the State Legislature or governments of the State

and Federal republic;

The State Legislature is committed to achieving, with due regard to the principle of selectionof personnel according to merit, full participation of English-speaking and Hawaiian-

speaking residents of Hawaii in its institutions;

The State Legislature is committed to enhancing the vitality and supporting the developmentof English and Hawaiian linguistic minority communities, as an integral part of the two

official language communities of the State, and to fostering full recognition and use ofHawaiian and English in the Hawaiian Islands;


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The State Legilature is committed to cooperating with County and Municipal governments

and their institutions and public bodies to support the development of Hawaiian andEnglish linguistic minority communities, to provide services in both Hawaiian and

English languages, to respect the constitutional guarantees of minority language

educational rights and to enhance opportunities for all to learn both Hawaiian and Englishlanguages;

The State Legislature is committed to enhancing the bilingual character of the State CapitolRegion and to encouraging the business community, labor organizations and voluntary

organizations in the State to foster the recognition and use of Hawaiian and Englishlanguages;

The State Legislature recognizes the importance of preserving and enhancing the use of

languages other than Hawaiian and English while strengthening the status and use of theofficial languages;

and in purpose, the Official Languages Act would:

Ensure respect for English and Hawaiian as the official languages of the State and ensure

equality of status and equal rights and privileges as to their use in all governmentalinstitutions, in particular with respect to their use in the Legislative proceedings, in

legislative and other instruments, in the administration of justice, in communicating withor providing services to the public and in carrying out the work of State, County and

municipal institutions;

Support the development of Hawaiian and English linguistic minority communities andgenerally advance the equality of status and use of the Hawaiian and English languages

within the Hawaiian Islands; and

Set out the powers, duties and functions of governmental institutions and publc bodies withrespect to the official languages of the State, including the establishment of an Office of

the Commissioner of Official Languages (and to define its functions),

Provide for the publication by a Commissioner of Official Languages of certain informationrelevant to the purposes of this Act and related matters.

The Hawaiian Civic Club of Waimanalo recently adopted a resolution to present at

Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs November 2009 Convention in support of the StateLegislature's adoption of an Official Languages Act for Hawaii. You may also download a

working draft of the resolution which contains additional hyperlinks and supporting appendices.

If you are interested in working together toward realizing a bilingually functioningHawaiian society, then we would like to speak with you at your earliest convenience, so please

email us at [email protected]!
http://www.scribd.com/doc/19519047/Submitted-HCCWaimanalo-Resolution-for-AHCC-Conventionhttp://www.scribd.com/doc/19519047/Submitted-HCCWaimanalo-Resolution-for-AHCC-Conventionhttp://www.scribd.com/doc/19432080/ResolutionWithHyperlinksAppendicesmailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]://www.scribd.com/doc/19432080/ResolutionWithHyperlinksAppendiceshttp://www.scribd.com/doc/19519047/Submitted-HCCWaimanalo-Resolution-for-AHCC-Convention

Hawai'i Official Languages Act Appeal

Documents

Transcript of Hawai'i Official Languages Act Appeal