Posted on: Monday, December 23, 2002

Hawaiian arts degree conferred

Associated Press

HILO, Hawai'i — A professor at the University of Hawai'iiHilo has become the second person to earn an advanced degree in Hawaiian arts and literature.

Larry Kimura, who has taught Hawaiian language and culture at the university since the early 1970s, was awarded the degree at commencement Saturday.

His thesis, "The Poetry of the First Part of the Ancient Hawaiian Epic Hi'iakaikapoliopele as Recorded by Joseph M. Poepoe: A Structural Analysis with Emphasis on Devices Linking Paired Utterances," is written in Hawaiian.

"In the Western world ... , in order to get in the front door, you need to have these credentials," explained Kimura, 56. "Maybe you could say I've been entering through the back and side doors. You want to come through the front door."

Since 1993, he also has served as secretary-general of the 13-nation Polynesian Languages Forum.

Last spring, Kaua'i native Hiapo Perreira, assistant professor of Hawaiian language and literature at UH-Hilo's College of Hawaiian Language, became the first to receive a master's in Hawaiian arts and literature.

Also graduating was Kanani Kawai'ae'a, who received a bachelor's degree in Hawaiian and is the first in the state to complete K-12 education entirely in Hawaiian.