He Aupuni Palapala
Cover Image: Detail of front page of the January 1, 1862 issue of Ka Nupepa Kuokoa. Photo by David Franzen, ©2009 Bishop Museum Archives. QM 204791.
He Aupuni Palapala: Preserving and Digitizing the Hawaiian Language Newspapers is an ambitious, multi-year collaboration between Bishop Museum and Awaiaulu, supported by the Hawaiʻi Tourism Authority and with contributions from Kamehameha Schools. Its goals are to catalog the existing nūpepa (Hawaiian language newspapers) in public repositories in Hawaiʻi, recording the condition of each page. It will also redigitize and partner with the Office of Hawaiian Affairs Papakilo Database to make word searchable the clearest pages available and to upload them online for free public access.
The Hawaiian language newspapers total more than 100,000 pages of text, encompassing practically all aspects of Hawaiian life, culture, literature, environment, and history—told in the words of Hawaiians of the day.
Aole o’u makemake e paio aku, he makemake ko’u e pololei ka moolelo o ko’u one hanau, aole na ka malihini e ao mai ia’u i ka mooolelo o ko’u lahui, na’u e ao aku i ka moolelo i ka malihini.
[I have no desire to argue, I want the history of my homeland to be accurate; it is not for the foreigner to teach me the history of my people, it is for me to teach it to the foreigner.]
—S. M. Kamakau, “Hooheihei ka Nukahalale…” Ke Au Okoa, 10/16/1865, p. 1
Aole o’u makemake e paio aku, he makemake ko’u e pololei ka moolelo o ko’u one hanau, aole na ka malihini e ao mai ia’u i ka mooolelo o ko’u lahui, na’u e ao aku i ka moolelo i ka malihini.
[I have no desire to argue, I want the history of my homeland to be accurate; it is not for the foreigner to teach me the history of my people, it is for me to teach it to the foreigner.]
—S. M. Kamakau, “Hooheihei ka Nukahalale…” Ke Au Okoa, 10/16/1865, p. 1
Detail of front page of the January 1, 1862 issue of Ka Nupepa Kuokoa. Photo by David Franzen, ©2009 Bishop Museum Archives. QM 204791.
Generous in Death as in Life
John Papa ʻĪʻī is known for his generosity—while alive and beyond.
Ke Kumu Hawaii
Ke Kumu Hawaii was the first newspaper printed in Honolulu. It was published by the Sandwich Island Mission, edited by Reuben Tinker, and ran from November 12, 1834 to May 22, 1839.
Why Hawaiian language newspapers?
Hawaiian language newspapers not only served to spread local and international news across the archipelago and beyond, but likewise they extended greatly the reach of a person’s voice speaking their own language.
A Well-Made House.
A 104-year-old article from Nupepa Kuokoa describes the practices and steps involved in building a house.
More Access
The Library of Congress defines newspapers as: a serial publication, which is mainly designed to be a primary source of written information on current events, local, national, or international in scope. Newspapers contain a broad range of news on all subjects and activities and are not limited to any specific subject matter. Such news is intended either for the general public or for a particular ethnic, cultural, or national group.
Hawaiian Names for Political Candidates.
In the Hawaiian-language newspapers, most political candidates had a Hawaiian name in their advertisements whether their given name was in Hawaiian or another language. This was to appeal to Hawaiian-speaking voters, because ballots were printed in both Hawaiian and English.
News from correspondents afar.
Orramel Hinckley Gulick, or Oramela (Oremela) H. Kulika, as he was known in Hawaiian, was the publisher of the Alaula, a newspaper1 intended to educate children. He is ordained in 1862 and in 1870 was assigned by the American Board to teach in Japan. He leaves Hawaiʻi with his wife Ann Eliza (Clark) on June 23, 1870 aboard the Ekake (Ajax). He writes to his Alaula and the Kuokoa of his impressions along the way.
A hundred years since the passing of King Kamehameha I, 1919.
The commission for the Kamehameha Day celebrations in 1919 strove to make the centenary celebration memorable–but most of all to instill a great aloha within all Hawaiians for the day honoring their nation’s founder –Kamehameha I.
A Fascination with Tarzan.
Edgar Rice Burroughs’ “Tarzan of the Apes” was first serialized in a magazine in 1912. Five years later, it was being translated and serialized in Ka Nupepa Kuokoa.
Bits of News from a Hundred Years Ago.
In many of the Hawaiian language newspapers, there was a column of short news items of all sorts: descriptions of neighborhood parties, the latest weather, fundraiser announcements, and who took whom to court and for what.
Business Advertisements.
Just as advertisements are sought after by newspapers today to help pay expenses, the old Hawaiian language newspapers did so as well back then.
Nūpepa Kākau Lima—Handwritten Newspapers.
When the desire to disseminate news hits you, but managing a press with type filled drawers is just not practical, there remains the option to produce a handwritten newspaper. And indeed there were a good number of Hawaiian language handwritten papers.
Inoa Kapakapa, Pen Names.
While we do not limit our celebration of ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi to the month of February, we will not let go of this opportunity to say, “E ola mau ka ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi!”
King Kalākaua’s voyage around the world. 1881.
The Bicentennial of Printing exhibit on the third floor of Hawaiian Hall is coming down in a couple of weeks. The newspaper pages now on view are the second and third pages of Ka Nupepa Kuokoa, April 23, 1881.
What is lost perhaps can be found, with everyone’s help. 1907–2023.
Hawaiian language newspapers were the most practical means for people of the day to have their words (and sometimes pictures) disseminated all across the Hawaiian Islands and even farther beyond that.
Views of the Eruption, 1907.
Just as the Mauna Loa eruption this past year did not last very long, so too was the 1907 eruption which only lasted about two weeks.
