Community Radio
Making Waves
Hawaiian Language On the Air
Ho-ku-le'a sailing (Moloka'i Island).
KWXX DJs Kaimana Barcarse and co-host.
Kaimana Barcarse
F
rom the cannon Kamehameha mounted on his war canoe to the numerous newspapers printed in Hawaiian, to the inclusion of Hawaiian fonts and keyboards on computers straight from the factory, the Hawaiian people have a storied history of utilizing technology for the betterment of our lives. The first informational technology widely used by Hawaiians of years past was the printing press. Prior to the arrival of Captain Cook, the missionaries, and other Westerners, Hawaiian was strictly an oral language. The printing press arrived on Hawaiian shores in 1822 at Hale Pa’i (Literary Print House). By then, the Hawaiian language was already transitioning to a written language; the royal class favored the ability to read and write, and that desire spread among the majority of Hawaiians as well. With the aid of the printing press, stories and cultural knowledge were published in more than 100 newspapers and journals. The articles were published so that the knowledge and language they contained would be preserved, and it is this forward thinking of our chiefs and ancestors that has left us with such a large canon of literature. However, the flourishing of Hawaiian in print was short lived. In 1896, teaching in Hawaiian was banned. A sharp decline in the use of the Hawaiian language ensued for much of the 20th century. The literary scene brightened during the cultural renaissance in the 1970s, when all things Hawaiian were once again in favor and the Hawaiian people began to stand with pride and fight for the rights of their people. Hula, the traditional 20 • ww w. cs. org
Kaimana Barcarse with Lahela Burgess-Camara (L) and Lokelani Brandt (R), guest student DJs/interns.
dance, was practiced with renewed vigor. Hawaiian songs, both new and old, along with slack key guitar, became popular. Natives fought to end the military bombing of the sacred island of Kaho’olawe, and the double-hulled deep-sea voyaging canoe Ho-ku-le'a was conceived, built, and sailed to Tahiti. In spite of these advances, however, Hawaiians remained concerned about the survival of their native tongue. So, nearly a century and a half after the printing press landed on the islands, informational technology was once again utilized to transmit the language to Hawaiians everywhere, this time over the airwaves. In 1972, the radio program Ka Leo Hawai’i (The Hawaiian Voice), was broadcast on KCCN-AM. It was originally conceived as a 30-minute, biweekly program on Sundays, but due to popular demand it was soon extended to a weekly All photos by Kaimana Barcarse