“As we celebrate 250 years of America, it’s critical that we tell their stories, stories that are central to this country and truly define our communities.”
~Watch Senator Hirono’s Remarks HERE~
WASHINGTON, D.C. –U.S. Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI,) took to the Senate floor to celebrate Mahina Olelo Hawaii, Hawaiian Language Month. Ahead of the nation’s 250th anniversary, Hirono celebrated Native language revitalization, highlighting the importance of Native communities in telling the story of our nation’s history.
"Celebrating the survival and revitalization of these indigenous languages helps to preserve and strengthen the cultural diversity of our communities,” Senator Hirono said.
February marks Mahina Olelo Hawaii, Hawaiian Language month, and celebrates the cultural importance of Hawaiian language revitalization both in Hawaii and across the mainland. As the United States prepares to celebrate its 250th anniversary, Hirono stressed the critical role diverse communities, including Native Hawaiians, have played in shaping America. In her speech, Senator Hirono outlined the history of Olelo Hawaii following the colonization of the Hawaiian Islands by English-speaking westerners:
“After the illegal overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom in 1893, a law was enacted effectively banning the teaching of Olelo Hawaii across the islands. As a result, the use of Olelo Hawaii sharply declined, and the language came close to extinction. Thankfully, cultural practitioners, educators, and community members like Mary Kawena Pukui, author of the Hawaiian dictionary, kept the language alive until interest in learning Hawaiian increased during the Hawaiian cultural renaissance in the 1970s.”
Oleo Hawaii was recognized as the official language of the State of Hawaii in 1978. Since then, Olelo Hawaii has been reintroduced to the public education system and Hawaiian language schools have been established across the state. In 2023, the State of Hawaii officially designated February as Mahina Olelo Hawaii.
“The designation of February as Mahina Olelo Hawaii serves as a testament to the resilience of the Native Hawaiian community and the importance of Hawaiian history and culture,” said Senator Hirono.
“As we celebrate our country’s 250th anniversary, we reaffirm our commitment to upholding and fostering that diversity, to protecting the culture of communities that were here before us, and to ensuring the stories of our country, and the Americans who make it so great, are told in full.”
The full transcript of Senator Hirono’s speech is available below. Video of Senator Hirono’s floor speech is available here.
M. President, this year marks the 250th anniversary of America’s founding. This year should be a celebration of our nation and all those who have helped make it what it is. The story of our nation is a story of diversity, of people of different races, religions, and national origins coming together to build something bigger than any one of us. That story should be told in its totality.
But we have a regime that fears diversity and is trying to erase it from our history.
From directing the National Park Service to remove aspects of American history from exhibits, such as slavery, to targeting immigrant communities across the country, to its all-out war on diversity and inclusion, Trump’s regime is attempting to rewrite history and create a white America that never existed in the first place. The native peoples were here first.
This country would not be what it is today, without the social, economic, and cultural contributions, and many sacrifices of historically marginalized, but important, communities.
As we celebrate 250 years of America, it’s critical that we tell their stories, stories that are central to this country and truly define our communities. One such story is the revitalization of Native languages, including the Hawaiian language.
Since 2023, February has been recognized by the State of Hawaii as Mahina Olelo Hawaii, or Hawaiian Language Month. Following the colonization of the Hawaiian Islands by English-speaking westerners, the Hawaiian language, also known as Olelo Hawaii, was nearly driven to extinction.
After the illegal overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom in 1893, a law was enacted effectively banning the teaching of Olelo Hawaii across the islands. As a result, the use of Olelo Hawaii sharply declined, and the language came close to extinction.
Thankfully, cultural practitioners, educators, and community members like Mary Kawena Pukui, author of the Hawaiian dictionary, kept the language alive until interest in learning Hawaiian increased during the Hawaiian cultural renaissance in the 1970s.
In 1978, Olelo Hawaii was finally recognized as an official language of the State of Hawaii. Since then, Olelo Hawaii has been reintroduced to the public education system and Hawaiian language immersion schools have been established across the state, to continue to revitalize and protect this important aspect of Hawaiian culture.
The designation of February as Mahina Olelo Hawaii serves as a testament to the resilience of the Native Hawaiian community and the importance of Hawaiian history and culture. Indigenous languages are an important part of our country’s history and fabric.
A curriculum similar to what is used at our Hawaiian immersion schools has also been used by other indigenous groups to foster and revive their own languages. In 2016, a group of Hawaiian educators from Aha Punana Leo immersion school in Hawaii traveled to the Midwest and mentored a language institute of the Ojibwe (OW-JEEB-WAY) tribe. There, the group shared their methodology and curricula to support the institute’s program and help preserve the Ojibwe language.
Celebrating the survival and revitalization of these indigenous languages helps to preserve and strengthen the cultural diversity of our communities. Because while much has changed since the founding of our nation, the throughline of America has always been our diversity.
Trump and Republicans can continue to tell their cherry-picked version of American history. But they can’t erase the truth of our diversity.
As we celebrate our country’s 250th anniversary, we reaffirm our commitment to upholding and fostering that diversity, to protecting the culture of communities that were here before us, and to ensuring the stories of our country, and the Americans who make it so great, are told in full.
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