One could argue that the modern Hawaiian immersion movement began with one young couple, their two young children and a conviction that the children's cultural birthright should not be withheld because of an antiquated law.
Kauanoe Kamana and William (Pila) Wilson had been teaching Hawaiian language at the college level, with Wilson, Honolulu-raised with family roots in Kansas, using Hawaiian exclusively in his upper-level classrooms. But what the couple wanted to do was revolutionary: to establish a Hawaiian-only preschool program.
Kamana and Wilson, who spoke Hawaiian at home, got the idea from a successful Maori language program in New Zealand. Cobbling together small grants and tuition payments, the couple joined other Hawaiian language teachers in establishing 'Aha Punana Leo Inc.
But a problem lingered: Because of an 1896 ban on using Hawaiian for public school education, establishing a Hawaiian-only education program was considered illegal.
The program went ahead even as a three-year legislative battle ensued. The restriction was eventually removed, and the teachers composed texts and formulated curriculums to meet state requirements. Still, the state Department of Education would not implement the program, resulting in a public school boycott by Punana Leo families in Hilo.
With the help of state Sen. Clayton Hee, a pilot program was eventually approved, and by 1992, the way was cleared for Punana Leo, with programs then expanded all the way through high school, to operate as intended.
In 1987, the DOE established Ka Papahana Kaiapuni Hawai'i, a Hawaiian language immersion program serving students from kindergarten through grade 12. The program operates at 19 sites statewide, with an estimated 1,500 students.
The success of the Hawaiian immersion programs has filtered upward to UH campuses in Manoa and Hilo, where advanced-degree programs have been developed.
