Kamehameha School students learning the Hawaiian language, 1944
Cover Image: Masthead of Hoku o Hawaii published on November 15, 1944.
The serial column in which this article appears in Ka Hoku o Hawaii and starts off as “Kou Maua La” and runs from May 12 to November 10, 1943. It is corrected to read “Ko Maua La” from December 4, 1943 to April 25, 1945. The articles are penned by Evelyn Desha under the name Kaimalino. This continued her previous column, “Ko’u La.” Her writing speaks of everyday life with her husband, Stephen L. Desha Jr.
“Ko’u La” by Evelyn Desha, runs from March 24 to April 28, 1943, and is prefaced with this note from the editor:
Mamuli o ka makemake ana o kekahi makuahine Hawaii o na hanauna hou o kakou nei, e loaa ka makaukau ma ke kakau ana i ka kakou olelo Hawaii, ua hoouna maila oia i kekahi mau mea e pili ana i ko laua ola ana ma ka home ame na hana o kela ame keia la…
(Because a Hawaiian mother of the new generations of ours desires to become proficient at writing our Hawaiian language, she has sent in some accounts pertaining to their life at home and their daily activities…)
Image: Portrait of Steven L. Desha Jr., a.k.a. Kiwini ‘Ōpio (11/26/1885–8/4/1957); from Men of Hawaii, vol. 2, by John William Siddall. Honolulu: Honolulu Star-Bulletin, Ltd. 1921. Bishop Museum Archives, SP 224262
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Image: “Ko Maua La.” Hoku o Hawaii, November 15, 1944, p. 1
Our Days
by Kaimalino
KAHALA, Honolulu, October 19, 1944—The Kamehameha School children are learning the Hawaiian language, and the one teaching them is the Rev. Stephen L. Desha. He is teaching two classes: one class on Monday nights with the boys, and another class in the afternoon on Thursdays with the girls. Some of the teachers have joined the class, and Mr. and Mrs. William Taylor, John Desha, and the writer [Evelyn Desha] are in the boys’ class. This class is funny. If the teacher asks, “What are you doing?” There is not one child who can answer, even if they were previously given some answers to this question. Because the children could not respond, the teacher said, “That is perhaps your response, looking about in confusion.” We the people who understood what was said laughed. The majority of the children of ours are seriously lacking knowledge of the Hawaiian language. The children come from homes where only Hawaiian is spoken. One reason for not being able to speak is that our children are ashamed to speak the mother tongue. The way I see it, we should be ashamed to speak English, because that is not our mother tongue. And what’s more, English is difficult, and how many of us can speak English without making some mistakes when we speak. There are a very few.
This post is part of He Aupuni Palapala: Preserving and Digitizing the Hawaiian Language Newspapers, a partnership between Bishop Museum and Awaiaulu with assistance from Kamehameha Schools. Mahalo nui loa to Hawaii Tourism Authority for their support. Learn more about this project here.
