Hawaiian language celebrated at event on Bachman Hall lawn

University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
Contact:
Lillie Andrews, (808) 220-3359
Assistant Specialist, School of Hawaiian Knowledge
Posted: Sep 23, 2015

Hawaiʻi’s native language was spoken across the lawn fronting Bachman Hall on Friday, September 18, at the annual Lā Launa Pū event sponsored by the Kawaihuelani Center for Hawaiian Language, a department of UH Mānoa's Hawaiʻinuiākea School for Hawaiian Knowledge.

Hawaiian language students from 101 through 402 level classes spent the morning conversing in Hawaiian, listening to Hawaiian music, and speaking with Kawaihuelani’s beloved Niʻihau-born native-speaking kupuna, Lolena Nicholas. The Hui Aloha ʻĀina Tuahine Hawaiian language club is seeking to grow its membership and, in fact, signed up 15 new members at the event.

The large lawn at the corner of Dole Street and University Avenue is formally known as the John Henry Wise Field in honor of UH Mānoa’s native Hawaiian standout football player and one of the first Hawaiian language faculty members who taught classes beginning in 1925.

For more information, visit: http://manoa.hawaii.edu/hshk/kawaihuelani/