Students, faculty and staff from the , and will travel to Washington, D.C. for this year’s , June 26–July 7.

The UH delegation will be sharing how language has embodied their culture, history, values and world views for centuries and into modern times. Presentations, lectures, “talk stories” and demonstrations cover kalo (taro) pounding, Niʻihau shell lei-making, non-instrument celestial navigation, and music, chant and hula as the oral and visual history books of the Hawaiian Islands.

One theme of the festival is “One World, Many Voices: Endangered Languages and Cultural Heritage” and will feature case studies from around the world exploring the critical ways in which languages embody cultural knowledge, identity, values, and creative expressions, and highlighting the important role that language documentation and revitalization plays in sustaining cultural heritage and traditions.

Leading the delegation is Aaron Salā, assistant professor of Hawaiian music at UH Mānoa. “This year’s ʻOne World, Many Voices’ theme presents an opportunity for us to extol, on a national stage, the efforts of our kūpuna (elders and teachers) who have made it their life’s work to assure not just the survival but also the advancement and flourishing of our language,” said Salā. “In turn, that continued revitalization has solidified a foundation for us to define a distinctive and individual Hawaiian identity for ourselves. This year’s festival is also exciting because we will be able to share with, and learn from, peoples of other cultures whose histories are undoubtedly similar to our own.”

“The University of �鶹��ý is extremely honored to be able to share our own journey in helping to rescue an indigenous language on the verge of dying with the Smithsonian audiences this summer,” said University of �鶹��ý System President M.R.C. Greenwood. “We were the first public university in the nation to institute and offer a master’s degree and later a PhD in an indigenous language—Hawaiian—and today we remain the only place in which all seven community colleges offer an associate of arts degree in Hawaiian studies. UH continues to be a model world-wide for breathing life into a nearly-extinct form of communication and Native Americans and other indigenous peoples travel from around the world to �鶹��ý to learn from us.”

What it took to save Hawaiian

Millions flock to the Hawaiian Islands as tourists every year but few stop to think that it is the only home of what was once a language on the verge of extinction. By the early 1970s Hawaiian was spoken by fewer than 2,000 individuals under the age of 18—a mark by which linguists officially classify a language as dying.

�鶹��ý is one of only two states (Texas being the other) that were once independent nations outside of the United States. �鶹��ý was a kingdom until the monarchy was overthrown, largely at the instigation of American business interests, in 1893. As a territory of the U.S. and later a state (in 1959), Hawaiian culture was stifled in many ways. In 1896 education through the Hawaiian language in both public and private schools was outlawed on the model of U.S. policy towards the use of American Indian languages in education. Teachers were told that speaking Hawaiian with children would result in termination of employment and children were harshly punished for speaking Hawaiian in school.

Amazingly, in the mid-1980s when efforts to revitalize and save Hawaiian as a language were mounted, it was still illegal to speak Hawaiian in the public classrooms statewide. This same law had to be rescinded by the �鶹��ý State Legislature and that took years of lobbying, testifying, and public support before it was finally abolished. This was just one of many battles that continue to be fought.

Today the front lines focus on student assessment, testing and how learning is measured within the context of a language other than English. One of the tenets of the Hawaiian language revitalization movement has been the immersion school approach, starting with pre-kindergarden students. Immersion education makes Hawaiian the first language a child hears on a daily basis, and places pre-schoolers in a learning environment in which Hawaiian is the primary medium of instruction, care, play time and all other functions of child care. This model started with the few native speaking elders, or kupuna that still lived, serving as the first instructors until there were enough young adults fluent in the language to take their place.

The Hawaiian Immersion Education Program (“Nest of Voices”) is celebrating 30 years of active effort to revitalize Hawaiian language, and today operates 22 schools throughout �鶹��ý, promoting a multi-generational approach to language. The program requires the parents of enrolled students to also commit to attending Hawaiian classes and learning to speak the language, if they do not already do so. And UH Mānoa’s College of Education echoes this precept in its teacher training.

—Adapted from a

Members of the hula hālau Unukupukupu have been invited back to the in 2013 after opening the festival last year with a performance on the main stage that thrilled the international audience.

Taupōuri Tangarō and four other members of Unukupukupu will travel to Washington, D.C. this summer and take part in the upcoming 2013 Folklife Festival program, “One World, Many Voices: Endangered Languages and Cultural Heritage.”

As a preview to �鶹��ý’s participation in the 2013 Folklife Festival, the Smithsonian produced a in which Tangarō, a hula professor at �鶹��ý CC, describes the connection between the Native Hawaiian language and hula.

“If there’s a hula dance, there’s words,” Tangarō says in the video. “We can’t dance without narrative. The language is how we communicate to our universe. People think hula is choreography. Hula is first a language that has a choreographical piece to it.”

View the video on the .

Second year of UH participation in Folklife Festival

Last year, the University of �鶹��ý was among 20 public land-grant universities featured in the 2012 Smithsonian Folklife Festival program, “Campus and Community.” Dozens of faculty, staff, students and supporting community members affiliated with �鶹��ýtraveled to the festival and shared Native Hawaiian culture with the attendees.

The Smithsonian is funding Unukupukupu’s trip this year, and Tangarō said it was a thrill to be invited back.

“It is a privilege to demonstrate the role hula plays in the reacquisition of Hawaiian language as well as the significant role language plays in hula,” Tangarō said. “Hula is mostly known throughout the world as the exotic dance of �鶹��ý so it’s advantageous to step onto a national platform and speak to the other aspects of hula that are largely underrepresented if they are represented at all.”

— Article contributed by �鶹��ý Community College External Relations Coordinator Thatcher Moats

The wrapped up the 10 day with an impromptu closing ceremony that came more than an hour ahead of schedule.

Weather forecasts predicting thundershowers and hail in the area forced the premature closure. That didn’t dampen the spirits of the UH contingent.

The festival was a triumph for the 80-member delegation from the University of �鶹��ý System.

UH Mānoa’s Tuahine Troupe performed at The Kennedy Center and �鶹��ý Community College’s .

The delegation endured 100 degree temperatures to proudly with more than a million eager visitors from around the world.

The visitors learned about hula, taro pounding and farming, aquaponics, lomi lomi and Hawaiian health and healing, lauhala weaving and non-instrument navigation.

The visitors will never forget their experiences, but neither will their teachers.

A thunderstorm during the first week of the festival toppled the UH exhibit tent and wreaked havoc on the festival site but delegates were resilient. After a day of , stronger than ever.

Participants say they will never forget the cultural exchanges, the people they met from all over the world, and the pride they felt in reaching and touching so many people through the Hawaiian culture.

The university’s participation in the Smithsonian Folklife Festival was made possible, in part by, the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, �鶹��ý Convention Center and the University of �鶹��ý Foundation.

Smithsonian Folklife Festival

The University of �鶹��ý will be among 20 public land-grant universities to be featured in the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in Washington D.C. from June 27 to July 8, 2012.

The festival celebrates the 150th anniversary of the signing of the Morrill Act, which paved the way for higher education for rural and working class Americans.

The University of �鶹��ý exhibits will feature traditional Hawaiian health and healing practices, a mini taro patch, non-instrument navigation, medicinal herb and organic farming and much more. �鶹��ý Community College’s halau Unukupukupu and the University of �鶹��ý at Mānoa’s Tuahine Troup will also perform.

The Tuahine Troupe from at the University of �鶹��ý at Mānoa, performed at The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington D.C. on Friday, July 6, 2012.

The performance on the Kennedy Center’s Millennium Stage was part of the 2012 Smithsonian Folklife Festival.

The has welcomed hundreds of thousands of visitors to its exhibit tents during this year’s .

Visitors have tried hula, lauhala weaving and taro pounding. They also learned about navigating by the stars, lomi lomi, aquaponics and taro patches.

The exhibit, however, has been about more than the University of �鶹��ý. It has been about the community working together.

UH Mānoa alumnus Rick Barboza co-owns , one of the largest Native Hawaiian plant nurseries in �鶹��ý. The company transported the taro patch exhibit and aquaponics plants free of charge.

“We brought over nine boxes of plants—it was a six-foot-tall pallet of plants and there was a lot of plants that we were able to bring up,” said Barboza. “Now we got a loʻi. Now we got a nice aquaponics system that features some native plants and Polynesian introduced plants,” said Barboza.

Hui Kū Maoli Ola also transported decorative plants used for UH exhibits and presentations.

“It was good, it helped to spruce up the place and really provide a sense of place for all the Hawaiians that are here,” said Barboza.

brought some of its young people to the Folklife Festival to showcase its Farmwork to Higher Education Program, which allows young people to work part-time on the farm in exchange for a monthly stipend and a scholarship to Leeward Community College.

Derrick Kiyabu of Maʻo Farms says there challenges and opportunities in Waiʻanae. “What we want to do is increase and equalize access to higher education out there.”

And it’s working. The youngsters from Maʻo Farms are troopers and handling the summer heat well as they proudly share their knowledge of agriculture with more than a million visitors at the Folklife Festival.

Kiyabu says he brought the five young people to D.C. to “show people what we’re about.” He also wanted them to “get out of �鶹��ý and see that people all across the nation are interested in what we are doing.”

Smithsonian Folklife Festival

The University of �鶹��ý will be among 20 public land-grant universities to be featured in the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in Washington D.C. from June 27 to July 8, 2012.

The festival celebrates the 150th anniversary of the signing of the Morrill Act, which paved the way for higher education for rural and working class Americans.

The University of �鶹��ý exhibits will feature traditional Hawaiian health and healing practices, a mini taro patch, non-instrument navigation, medicinal herb and organic farming and much more. �鶹��ý Community College’s halau Unukupukupu and the University of �鶹��ý at Mānoa’s Tuahine Troup will also perform.

The fourth of July brought crowds of people to the exhibits at the . Wall to wall people enjoyed the Hawaiian culture and many say their interest in visiting the islands has been renewed for many different reasons.

“I like the down to earth culture and respect they have for the earth and crafts,” said exhibit visitor John Sackett. “It ties in with the earth and everything they create from it.”

“I saw everybody in a circle as a community weaving bracelets and I was attracted to that, I wanted to be part of that. As soon as I asked to be a part of it, they were wanting me to come in,” said exhibit visitor Meaghan Tine. “That was special. I liked that a lot.”

Kurt Dewhurst, campus and community curator of the Smithsonian Institution said the University of �鶹��ý’s exhibits are not only promoting the university as the leading indigenous serving institution but also serves as an authentic marketing vehicle.

“The Hawaiian program is clearly one of the most popular programs and most interesting because of the depths of the presentations and the great aloha spirit of all the participants,” said Dewhurst.

Dewhurst said he’s certain that �鶹��ý will see a boost in tourism because of the university’s participation in the Folklife Festival, which sees more than a million visitors annually.

“We know from visitor studies and also follow up research that travel and tourism offices did see a real bump,” Dewhurst said. “People say that the first time they saw that was at the festival and they always wanted to make a trip.”

Visitors are getting hands-on experience— weaving lauhala bracelets, pounding taro and learning the hula and how to play the ukulele.

These moments are priceless for these visitors who are experiencing a piece of �鶹��ý without getting on a plane.

“I think what’s nice about the festival is you get beyond the kind of surface level of the story that people see through marketing and they actually meet Hawaiian people,” Dewhurst said. “To meet people and share their traditions in such honest and genuine ways is a very powerful, teachable moment,” Dewhurst said.

Smithsonian Folklife Festival

The University of �鶹��ý will be among 20 public land-grant universities to be featured in the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in Washington D.C. from June 27 to July 8, 2012.

The festival celebrates the 150th anniversary of the signing of the Morrill Act, which paved the way for higher education for rural and working class Americans.

The University of �鶹��ý exhibits will feature traditional Hawaiian health and healing practices, a mini taro patch, non-instrument navigation, medicinal herb and organic farming and much more. �鶹��ý Community College’s halau Unukupukupu and the University of �鶹��ý at Mānoa’s Tuahine Troup will also perform.

The contingent is having a far-reaching effect at the . Visitors from Europe, South Africa and around the globe are experiencing Hawaiian crafts—from feather lei making to lauhala weaving. They’re learning about woodcarving and makahiki games.

The 1.5 million people coming through the 10-day festival are also pounding taro and making poi. They’re learning about Hawaiian health and healing through lomi lomi or Hawaiian massage.

Members of hula hālau Unukupukupu are holding hula workshops to share their knowledge of the traditional dance.

Professor Trina Nahm-Mijo said she is the oldest hālau member performing at the festival, and this experience was on her bucket list.

“I’m having the time of my life performing for hundreds of people and teaching people from around the world about our traditional dances and the Hawaiian culture,” Nahm-Mijo said.

Hālau members are also busy teaching visitors how to make a Hawaiian musical instrument called ʻūkēkē out of balsam wood and fishing wire.

Teenagers were especially interested in making an instrument of their own.

“It makes a very soft sound. And in �鶹��ý, if somebody comes really close to you to hear that soft sound, it’s really kind of intimate. So that’s why they consider it a love call,” said ʻūkēkē workshop instructor Alohilani Adachi-Jose, of �鶹��ý Community College in Hilo.

Washington, D.C. resident Stephon Vandergrift, 15, said it was fairly simple to make the instrument and play it.

“It’s not hard, It’s just movement of the hands. They say it helps you get women �鶹��ý,” said Vandergrift.

Vandergrift was overwhelmed by the attention from his ʻūkēkē; instructors and joined them in an impromptu song that attracted a crowd. But the shy 15-year-old took in all the attention… and the Hawaiian culture.

Smithsonian Folklife Festival

The University of �鶹��ý will be among 20 public land-grant universities to be featured in the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in Washington D.C. from June 27 to July 8, 2012.

The festival celebrates the 150th anniversary of the signing of the Morrill Act, which paved the way for higher education for rural and working class Americans.

The University of �鶹��ý exhibits will feature traditional Hawaiian health and healing practices, a mini taro patch, non-instrument navigation, medicinal herb and organic farming and much more. �鶹��ý Community College’s halau Unukupukupu and the University of �鶹��ý at Mānoa’s Tuahine Troup will also perform.

The resilient contingent worked together Sunday morning, July 1 to pick up the pieces and prepare for the re-opening of the .

The Smithsonian Institution shut down the festival on Saturday, June 30 after a severe thunderstorm toppled the UH exhibit tent.

“We have a good bunch of people and the camaraderie is real positive, so we all worked together and we can get things done pretty fast,” said UH Extension Agent Glenn Teves.

“Everybody’s going around making sure that everybody’s okay. People have been showing us a lot of aloha and making sure that we’re all right,” said Rick Barboza, UH alumnus and owner of plant nursery .

UH was lucky—there wasn’t any damage to equipment and exhibits under the tent and only minor damage to the thatched hut and aquaponics system.

Elsewhere, exhibits were flattened. Washington and Oregon State found their tents were gone with the wind and their exhibits scattered across the National Mall.

Tent contractors worked through Saturday, and by Sunday the fallen tents were resurrected and it was business as usual.

“We set up a washing station and we had to scrub every surface that we had. Some of them were ripped, some of them have chunks out of them, but we reassembled and we were actually up and running on time this morning,” said Kathy Barnard, .

Crowds were thick as they visited the UH exhibits to learned about makahiki games, woodcarving, Native Hawaiian plants and hula.

A major storm was a minor setback for 20 public land-grant universities proudly showcasing their cultures and specialties once again.

“I think the whole community pulled together and it’s a beautiful day and there’s a great vibe going on and a lot of people coming through,” Barnard said.

Smithsonian Folklife Festival

The University of �鶹��ý will be among 20 public land-grant universities to be featured in the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in Washington D.C. from June 27 to July 8, 2012.

The festival celebrates the 150th anniversary of the signing of the Morrill Act, which paved the way for higher education for rural and working class Americans.

The University of �鶹��ý exhibits will feature traditional Hawaiian health and healing practices, a mini taro patch, non-instrument navigation, medicinal herb and organic farming and much more. �鶹��ý Community College’s halau Unukupukupu and the University of �鶹��ý at Mānoa’s Tuahine Troup will also perform.

Despite a weather advisory and temperatures hovering between 102 and 105 degrees on Friday, the went on as scheduled.

faculty member and author Maya Soetoro-Ng braved the heat to visit colleagues and UH exhibits on The National Mall where she said more than a million visitors will learn about the importance of the preservation of tradition and the power of harnessing indigenous culture.

“I also think it’s terrific that the university is having this opportunity to share and collaborate with other institutions and to have conversations of import and I think that the connections that are being forged here will probably be lasting,” Soetoro-Ng said.

University of �鶹��ý delegates are having many opportunities to exchange cultural experiences with other public land-grant universities and colleges that are being featured in the festival.

UH students took part in a healing ritual at the exhibit where traditional healers Tonita Gonzales and Rita Navarrete Perez led the group in asking for health, wisdom, illumination of heart, strength and spirit.

UH students and other participants held drums and bells and other instruments and rattled them during the ritual.

UH health and healing experts received healing treatments from New Mexico’s healers, who in turn received lomi lomi treatments from UH experts.

New Mexico’s healers presented, Keola Chan of UH Mānoa John A. Burns School of Medicine’s , with a ceremonial headband and sash that are said to protect the healer’s energy.

“To me, it was about reconnecting as a people, bonding once again those relationships that we traditionally had when our ancestors used to sail,” said Chan.

In turn, Chan offered Navarrete Perez traditional Hawaiian ʻawa, which she accepted with gratitude.

“How important for us it is to share our sacred medicine from your beautiful country. And I feel the responsibility to share this experience to the people that come close to me in my life,” said Navarrete Perez, a traditional healer working with the University of New Mexico exhibit.

Experiences like this is what the festival is all about.

“Hopefully, the relationships, the two way flows will lead to other interesting projects of culture awareness and sharing and collaboration in the future,” Soetoro-Ng said.

Smithsonian Folklife Festival

The University of �鶹��ý will be among 20 public land-grant universities to be featured in the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in Washington D.C. from June 27 to July 8, 2012.

The festival celebrates the 150th anniversary of the signing of the Morrill Act, which paved the way for higher education for rural and working class Americans.

The University of �鶹��ý exhibits will feature traditional Hawaiian health and healing practices, a mini taro patch, non-instrument navigation, medicinal herb and organic farming and much more. �鶹��ý Community College’s halau Unukupukupu and the University of �鶹��ý at Mānoa’s Tuahine Troup will also perform.