KA LEO HAWAIʻI 1

Reconnection with the voices of our kūpuna is perhaps the single most powerful way to repair our own connection to language and to give it the honor it deserves as we learn and speak it. As we immerse ourselves in their words, sounds, expressions, and ways of speaking, we learn to perpetuate the unique worldview contained in our ʻōlelo makuahine. ʻO ka ʻoi nō ia o nā haʻawina.

It is also a way to share our aloha and mahalo for the ʻohana Hawaiʻi who kept the language alive in their homes and hearts through the years when huge campaigns were being waged to get Hawaiians to "speak American" and give up their language and way of life.

Were it not for these kūpuna who generously shared their voices with the wonderful folks who started Ka Leo Hawaiʻi, there would be very little for second language speakers today in the way of native voices to listen to.

The first era of Ka Leo Hawaiʻi ran from 1972 to 1987 and was hosted by Kumu Larry Kimura and others. Like all the mānaleo clips we developed in the first five years of celebrating Mahina ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi, this week's selections come from the early era of the Ka Leo Hawaiʻi Archive.

Choose a kupuna to listen to:

Elizabeth Kawaʻa
Ka hele ʻana i ka mākeke

Mary Kunāne
Ka hana hala

William Pānui
No Kekūhaupiʻo

Muriel Lupenui
Ka noho ʻana i Mokauea

Sophie Kaina
ʻUala ʻawaʻawa

Edward Kahaʻi
Lawaiʻa puhi ūhā

Myrtle Diaz
Ka mālama maʻi