Mahina ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi - Kaimana Kawaha
Kamana Kawaha
Kumu ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi no ke kula waena & kula kiʻekiʻe ʻo Ka ʻUmeke Kāʻeo
No ke kula ~ Honohononui-Keaukaha, Waiākea, Hilo Hawaiʻi.
No kuʻu ʻāina hānau ~ Waiau, Piʻihonua, Hilo Hawaiʻi.
ʻO kēia kuleana aʻu e hāpai aʻe nei, ʻo ke kumu kaiapuni hoʻi, ua ili mai nō ia ma luna oʻu mai nā kūpuna mai. I koʻu wā ma ke kulanui o Hawaiʻi ma Mānoa e ʻaʻapo ana i ka ʻōlelo o ka ʻāina, ua hoʻomaopopo akula au he mau kānaka makeʻe ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi kuʻu mau kūpuna ma nā ʻano like ʻole. ʻO ia hoʻi, he mau haku mele kekahi, he mau kumu kula kekahi, a he mau lunamakaʻāinana nō hoʻi kekahi na lāua i paio no ka pono a me ka hoʻihoʻi ʻia o ka ʻōlelo makuahine i loko o nā kula aupuni o ke au i hala. A no ia mau kumu au i hoʻopaʻa ai i ka ʻōlelo a lilo aʻela i kumu kaiapuni e hoʻomau aku ai i kā lākou hana i waiho maila, i ola hou mai ai ka ʻōlelo, ka Lāhui Kanaka Maoli, a me Hawaiʻi Aloha.
This responsibility as a kumu kaiapuni that I am carrying out has been handed down to me from my ancestors. When I was at the University of Hawaii in Mānoa learning the language of the land, I realized that my ancestors had an affinity for the Hawaiian language in many ways. Some were composers, some were school teachers, and some were even representatives in the legislature who fought for the right to and the return of the mother tongue in public schools in the past era. And for those reasons, I learned the language and became a kumu kaiapuni to continue their work so that the language, the Hawaiian people, and Hawai'i Aloha could be revived.
