If you have ever been to Aulani, A Disney Resort & Spa, you’ll see the culture and beauty that is all around. Disney Parks Blog shared how they are celebrating the Hawaiian language.
What's Happening:
- Aulani, A Disney Resort & Spa cast member Kuanoni Kaniaupio-Crozier shares how The ʻŌlelo Room, the resort’s lounge dedicated to the Hawaiian language.
- Along the walls, you can see wooden shadow boxes with sculptures of various items, people, and animals, labeled with their Hawaiian language word.
- Castle – kākela. Dolphin – naiʻa. Mouse –ʻiole. "This is where it comes alive," Kuanoni murmurs. "This space represents so much progress in our effort to keep ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi going."
- Ōlelo Hawaiʻi is the Hawaiian language and was once illegal to use but is now being used proudly in their native land.
- February marks Mahina ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi, Hawaiian language month, and Aulani Resort is celebrating with events to increase awareness and appreciation for the language among guests, the cast, and the community.
- There will be Hawaiian stories, also known as moʻolelo, in the lobby, a demonstration on how native Hawaiians interpreted the various phases of the moon, and a community showing of the movie Moana in ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi, all geared toward spreading knowledge of the language and encouraging its use in everyday life.
- The Hawaiian monarchy was overthrown in 1898 by American forces, and ōlelo Hawaiʻi was banned.
- English was the only language allowed in schools and public places.
- By the 1960s, only around 2,000 people spoke Hawaiian.
- The Hawaiian culture and traditions resurged in the 1960s and 1970s, and in 1978, the Hawai‘i Constitutional Convention restored Hawaiian as an official language.
- Hawaiian immersion schools were established, which allowed the restoration of ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi in communities across the islands.
- The U.S. Census Bureau says there were an estimated 18,000 Hawaiian speakers as of 2015. 21 of them are cast members at Aulani Resort
What They're Saying:
- Kuanoni Is a bartender at The ʻŌlelo Room and just like every other cast member who works there speaks Hawaiian. "My personal journey with ōlelo Hawaiʻi started at home," Kuanoni said. "My parents both spoke Hawaiian, and it was the primary language of our family. There wasnʻt a choice about whether to learn it or not – and I’m better for it. My entire world revolved around Hawaiian knowledge in some way. By day, I was going to an immersion charter school and working a loʻi (taro patch) with my dad. In the evenings I was dancing hula, and on Sunday I was attending church in ōlelo Hawaiʻi."
- "Personally, I feel that Mahina ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi celebrates and reaffirms that our language lives on today, and more importantly, it honors those kūpuna (elders) who have taken part in passing ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi to all of us despite the adversity they faced."
- "I’m excited to celebrate and to share this message within our company," he said. "Our cast events are always my favorite because they create lasting change here at Aulani Resort that will continue to make an impact."