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By Roberta Uno, Ford Foundation senior program officer and student of hula and Hawaiian language


Roberta Uno, first row, 2nd from right, with purple flower in her hair.

Aloha kākou mai ke kiʻekiʻena o Nūioka a i ka paeʻāina o Hawaiʻi, ua mālie. ʻO au ʻo Roberta Uno. ʻO Māpuana koʻu inoa Hawaiʻi. Ua hānau ʻia au ma Honolulu, ke one o Kakuhihewa kuʻu ʻāina hānau. Ua hānai ʻia au ma Kaleponi akā naʻe, noho a me hana au ma Nūioka i kēia manawa.  He haumana ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi au. ʻO kumu Naʻilima Gaison kaʻu kumu ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi ma lalo o ka polokalamu ʻo Niuolahiki, he polokolamu pūnaewele ia. Mahalo au i ka manawa kūpono e aʻo mai i ka ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi mai kekahi ʻāina ma mao. He kuleana ko kākou e hoʻomau i ka ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi.

Aloha from the heights of New York to the calm of the Hawaiian islands. I’m Roberta Uno – my Hawaiian name is Māpuana. I was born in Honolulu; the land of Kakuhihewa is my beloved birthplace. I was raised in California but I live and work in New York now. I’m a Hawaiian language student. Naʻilima Gaison is my teacher in the Niuolahiki program on the internet. I appreciate the opportunity to learn Hawaiian from so far away. It’s our kuleana to perpetuate the Hawaiian language.

For me, the decision to study Hawaiian language was personal, professional, and political. I’ve always had a strong connection to Hawaiʻi as my birthplace.  My mother and sister both danced hula; I’m a haumana of kumu Vicky Holt Takamine — and as we know language is the core of hula. But living on the continent and especially as far away as New York — even though there is so much aloha for Hawaiʻi, one encounters misperception of the culture and ignorance of contemporary issues.

I decided to learn more so I could make a better case in my work for how arts and culture are central to identity, youth and community development, cultural rights, the environment, etc. When I started to work in arts philanthropy over a decade ago, I saw that heritage-based arts are often marginalized within the mainstream of arts policy and funding — and yet, they provide some of the most integrative and forward-looking models.

Studying Hawaiian language was also a way to support the incredible efforts to perpetuate the language — when we look at the fact that Indigenous languages are dying every day; the revitalization of ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi is a monumental accomplishment.

Early in my life, having been raised in California, I decided to learn Spanish because it’s the de facto second language of America. I’m fluent in Spanish and use it frequently in my work and in New York.  But when I learned that Hawai’i recognizes ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi officially, I was very moved and felt drawn to learn the legislated dual language of my birthplace. On the continent, English-only efforts have been used to create barriers of prejudice. Hawaiʻi’s leadership recognition of ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi, goes way beyond tolerating difference, it speaks to our greater human capacity and potential as a democracy.

It’s not easy studying from so far away and I’ve been grateful to ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi speakers Kainoa Embernate, Kapena Alapai, Kai Andersen, and Manuwai Peters who came to New York to study or work and have shared their ‘ike with us. And I’m so appreciative of Niuolahiki and nā kumu Naʻilima Gaison and ʻAlika McNicoll; technology has created a dedicated learning community and larger ‘ohana.  Even though there are only a handful of Hawaiian speakers and students in New York – we are blessed to be a small pod that’s part of the global reach of Hawaiian culture.