A major hurricane struck the islands of Â鶹´«Ã½ and Maui on August 9, 1871, causing widespread destruction from Hilo to Lahaina. A by two scientists, a Hawaiian language expert, and an educator from the revealed how historical Hawaiian-language newspapers expand knowledge of this and other natural disasters of the past.

What they found in the translations was a timeline of the 1871 storm hitting—Waipiʻo, then Kohala, then on to Maui—and detailed descriptions about the resulting destruction. The existence of such a powerful hurricane, uncovered in the historical record, more clearly defines the hurricane risk faced by the people of Â鶹´«Ã½ today.

The largest native-language cache in the Western Hemisphere

Following the introduction of the English language by missionaries and the collaborative effort with literate Hawaiians to create a written Hawaiian language, literacy rates in the islands rose from near zero in 1820 to 90–95 percent by midcentury. From 1834 to 1948 more than 100 independent newspapers were printed in Hawaiian. This newspaper archive comprises more than a million typescript pages of text—the largest native-language cache in the Western Hemisphere.

A team led by , professor of at UH ²ÑÄå²Ô´Ç²¹, director of the UH (IHLRT) and co-author of this study, has worked for years to convert Hawaiian-language newspapers to a word-searchable digital format that is publicly available. The IHLRT is associated with the UH ‘s , one of six centers of excellence administered by Â鶹´«Ã½ Sea Grant.

The archive as a treasure trove of data

and , professors in the UH ²ÑÄå²Ô´Ç²¹ School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology (SOEST), partnered with Nogelmeier and his graduate students to extend translation research, looking specifically for geophysical stories, including the hurricane of 1871. They produced a digital database of more than 4,000 articles related to meteorology and geology.

“Puakea’s vision has helped conserve Hawaiian language of the past and is opening a window on the historical record that has been long overlooked in Â鶹´«Ã½,” said Businger, lead author of the study and professor of in SOEST. “The goal of the ongoing work is to extend our understanding of geoscience back into historical, post-contact and pre-contact times to project and prepare for future events.”

Incorporating the translations into K–12 education

The translated articles are also being used in place- and culture-based geoscience education and curriculum development. With support from the National Science Foundation, Businger, Nogelmeier and Pauline Chinn, professor in the UH ²ÑÄå²Ô´Ç²¹ and co-author of the study, searched 1870–1900 Hawaiian-language newspapers for articles relating to floods, droughts and storms—enabling detection of El-Nino-La Nina patterns and expanding the IHLRT database of articles on ʻÄå¾±²Ô²¹ (land)-based phenomena, specifically as a resource for teachers and public.

“Incorporating articles into place-based K–12 STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) lessons provides students with historical knowledge of ecological, cultural and economic changes as Â鶹´«Ã½ entered the global economy,” said Chinn. “We find students, especially those identifying as Native Hawaiian, are more interested in future courses and careers related to STEM, Hawaiian language and culture after these lessons. We are hopeful that knowing the past can help us to understand where we are now and provide pathways for the future.”

—By Marcie Grabowski

The (IHLRT) presents Ka Wā Ma Mua, Ka Wā Ma Hope (Using the Past to Inform the Present and Future) on October 18, 4 p.m. at the University of

at Mānoa’s Hawaiian and Pacific Collections, Room 501.

This presentation will explore the wealth of knowledge held in the Hawaiian language newspapers, highlight some of IHLRT’s current projects and graduate student research, look at upcoming projects and discuss how these collaborations are reconnecting students, faculty and staff to historical Hawaiian perspectives.

Speakers will include , , and Kamealoha Forrest.

More on the Institute of Hawaiian Language Research and Translation

IHLRT is a collaborative research unit providing access and research capacity to the extensive Hawaiian language repository for all fields of study. A major focus of IHLRT’s work is accessing the newly-digitized Hawaiian language newspapers of the last two centuries. While facilitating research, IHLRT provides professional training and learning experiences to a new generation of translation leaders and scholars in all fields related to

, its people and its history.

UH News video

, June 26, 2016

—By Cindy Knapman

Prior to the 1820’s and 1830’s, Native Hawaiians passed down stories, songs and cultural traditions orally from generation to generation. Beginning in 1834, the discussions and news began to be chronicled in more than 100 different Hawaiian language newspapers that ran for more than 114 years and produced nearly one million letter-sized pages of text.

In an effort to make this invaluable resource available and accessible to the general public, NOAA’s (ONMS/PIR) awarded NOAA Internal Funding to the Hawaiian language organization in partnership with the in 2015. Specifically, the project, Ka Wā Ma Mua, Ka Wā Ma Hope (Using the Past to Inform the Future: English Translation of Hawaiian Language Newspaper Accounts of Unusual Weather Events), focused on newspaper articles that highlighted weather and climate change in Â鶹´«Ã½.

With support from PAIFF, Â鶹´«Ã½ Sea Grant that displays the original Hawaiian newspaper article and also the English language transcription. At this time there is no other academic resource available to the public that includes both the Hawaiian language text and the English transcription. Support of this online Hawaiian newspaper article archive led in part to the establishment of the new .

• Related UH News:

“As part of a growing effort to reconnect historical knowledge, Ka Wā Ma Mua, Ka Wā Ma Hope provides an important bridge, introducing the extensive Hawaiian-language repository to researchers and scholars in many new fields,” said Professor of the UH Mānoa . “The new research that this kind of access will inspire will make knowledge and experience from the past into new tools to use as we plan for the present and future.”

More about the project

The project was a collaboration among ONMS/PIR, Â鶹´«Ã½ Sea Grant, , , ±á²¹·É²¹¾±ʻ¾±²Ô³Ü¾±Äå°ì±ð²¹ School of Hawaiian Knowledge, UH Mānoa , and Awaiaulu. Funding was also provided, in part, by the .

Preserve America Initiative Internal Funding, now in its 12th year, supports strategies that represent current and emerging issues facing our nation and NOAA, including climate change and adaptation, cultural engagement, and historical ecology, all themes embodied in this project.

—By Cindy Knapman

Related video

“Mahi ʻIke Â鶹´«Ã½: Cultivate Hawaiian Knowledge” is the motto of the new (IHLRT) at the University of Â鶹´«Ã½ at Mānoa. The new institute is led by , a professor of Hawaiian language, and is an invaluable resource for anyone in the state and beyond to find and utilize historical Hawaiian knowledge.

There exists a large repository of Hawaiian language material which documents Â鶹´«Ã½ from ancient times through most of the 20th century. One of the largest sources of information is the cache of newspapers published in Hawaiian for over a century, and a signature project of IHLRT is the research and translation of these historical materials.

Between 1834 and 1948 more than 100 Hawaiian language newspapers were published, equal to over one million letter-sized typescript pages. For over ten years the University of Â鶹´«Ã½ has been collaborating with the and , a local nonprofit organization, to locate and translate information and make it widely accessible. To date only a tiny fraction of the material has been translated, and a treasury of text which illuminates Â鶹´«Ã½’s past remains untapped and inaccessible.

Training the next generation

The new institute will also provide professional training and prepare the next generation of translation leaders and scholars in all fields related to Â鶹´«Ã½, its people, its culture and its history. Faculty and students from any of the University of Â鶹´«Ã½ campuses can participate in research projects.

“Historical Hawaiian material has long been beyond reach for scholars and speakers alike, a tragedy of knowledge lying dormant” said Nogelmeier. “The new institute can change that, generating access and resource people to reconnect historical knowledge for today and the future.”

—By Cindy Knapman