HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.C.R. NO.

177

TWENTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2005

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 
   


HOUSE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

 

Supporting the establishment of a new Hawai'inuiakea school of hawaiian knowledge and the merger of the Kamakakuokalani Center for Hawaiian Studies, Hawaiian Language Department, Native Hawaiian Leadership Project, and Native Hawaiian Student Services at the university of hawaii at manoa.

 

 

WHEREAS, in late 1986, 18 distinguished Hawaiian educators completed the Ka'u Task Force Report (Ka'u Report), creating a template for Hawaiian studies at the University of Hawaii at Manoa (UH-Manoa) and calling for the merger of the Hawaiian Studies and Hawaiian Language departments at UH-Manoa; and

WHEREAS, among the activities cited in the Ka'u Report were instruction, research, preservation and development of the Hawaiian language, curriculum development, grant research and writing, and services to recruit Hawaiian students into the university and support their educational endeavors; and

WHEREAS, as of 2005, 19 years after the Ka'u Report was submitted, only some of the activities cited in the report have been implemented at UH-Manoa, and only under separate roofs and under the authority of separate schools; and

WHEREAS, with the 2004 UH-Manoa Strategic Plan calling for the university to become a Hawaiian Place of Learning, the university's Hawaiian educators also want to implement the remaining recommendations of the Ka'u Report; and

WHEREAS, UH-Manoa's Kamakakuokalani Center for Hawaiian Studies, Hawaiian Language Program, Native Hawaiian Leadership Project, Native Hawaiian Student Services, and parts of the College of Education want to join and form a new Hawai'inuiakea School of Hawaiian Knowledge within UH-Manoa; and

WHEREAS, the new school would allow the pooling of fiscal and intellectual resources and create an environment of synergy in which students, faculty, staff, and guests can immerse themselves in Hawaiian and indigenous cultures; and

WHEREAS, for the last four years, representatives of UH- Manoa programs on Hawaiian Studies, Hawaiian Language, the Native Hawaiian Leadership Project, and Native Hawaiian Student Services, along with Hawaiian educators from other departments and schools, have been meeting to discuss how Hawaiian education can be enhanced at the university; and

WHEREAS, the Kamakakuokalani Center for Hawaiian Studies currently provides the most extensive array of Hawaiian courses found anywhere in the world in the fields of traditional culture, history, art, music, politics, resource management, herbal medicine, and Hawaiian science; and

WHEREAS, the Kamakakuokalani Center for Hawaiian Studies offers 38 courses to 1,300 students per semester, taught by seven faculty members, three instructors, and 12 graduate teaching assistants, and hosts 10 graduate research assistants working on the Kia'i Aina Ceded Lands Inventory Project; and

WHEREAS, the UH-Manoa Hawaiian Language department offers 20 courses to 750 students per semester, taught by six faculty members, six instructors, one graduate teaching assistant, and seven lecturers, and hosts research projects on Hawaiian theatre, Hawaiian language newspapers, and Hawaiian Immersion Curriculum development and teacher training; and

WHEREAS, the federally funded Native Hawaiian Leadership Project grants scholarships every year to 500 students attending numerous universities throughout the United States; and

WHEREAS, while there are 400,000 native Hawaiians, only about 3,000 speak Hawaiian, and many more would like to learn to do so; and

WHEREAS, UH-Manoa students have consistently called for the merger of the Hawaiian Studies and Hawaiian Language departments to better serve their needs; and

WHEREAS, the UH-Manoa Graduate Council has just approved the new Master's degree in Hawaiian studies that will offer new courses in five fields: Kukulu Aupuni: Envisioning the Nation; Mo'olelo Oiwi: Native Literature and History; Malama Aina: Living in Harmony with the Land Resource Management; Halau O Laka: Hawaiian Academy of Visual and Performing Arts; and Kumu Kahiki: Comparative Polynesian and Indigenous Studies; with 35 students waiting to enroll; and

WHEREAS, the UH-Manoa Graduate Council has just approved the new Master's degree in Hawaiian Language, which will offer courses in three areas: Kula Kaiapuni: Hawaiian Immersion Curriculum Development and Teacher Training; Kalai'olelo: Hawaiian Linguistics; and Mo'olelo: Hawaiian Literature; with 40 students waiting to enroll; and

WHEREAS, the proposed Hawai'inuiakea School of Hawaiian Knowledge has the full support of the Kuali'i UH-Manoa Native Hawaiian Advisory Council; the Chancellor of UH-Manoa, Dr. Peter Englert; and the Interim President of the University of Hawaii (UH), Dr. David McClain; and

WHEREAS, the Puko'a UH System Native Hawaiian Advisory Council supports growth in programs for Hawaiian studies, Hawaiian language, and Hawaiian student services on all UH campuses; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-third Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2005, the Senate concurring, that this body hereby joins UH-Manoa in its support of a new Hawai'inuiakea School of Hawaiian Knowledge and the merger of UH-Manoa's Kamakakuokalani Center for Hawaiian Studies, Hawaiian Language Department, Native Hawaiian Leadership Project, and Native Hawaiian Student Services; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Governor, the President of the University of Hawaii, and the Chairperson of the Board of Regents of the University of Hawaii.

 

 

 

OFFERED BY:

_____________________________

Report Title:

UH-Manoa; Hawai'inuiakea School of Hawaiian Knowledge