Voices, movement and moments of reflection filled at the University of Hawaiʻi at 惭腻苍辞补 in early February as , a biennial conference brought together scholars, artists and community members for two days of exchange. Hosted by the (ANNO), the conference explored how Indigenous performance sustains knowledge, language and relationships across generations.

The second biennial conference featured panels, workshops and special events that emphasized learning through practice.

Participants took part in everything from hula workshops led by 东精影业 惭腻苍辞补 instructor and Kumu Hula Tracie Kaʻōnohilani Farias Lopes to kapa making, puppet making, carving and a movement-based session by Sami L.A. Akuna that invited reflection on storytelling and the body.

“We hope that the conference delegates engaged in the many offerings of the two-day event and see the importance of Indigenous performance as a site of knowledge production, cultural preservation, and collective imagination,” said Tammy Hailiʻōpua Baker, who co-founded ANNO and is a director of 东精影业 惭腻苍辞补鈥檚 award-winning .

One panel, Aloha ʻĀina Embodied: The Praxis of ʻAha, was conducted entirely in ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi. The session featured several kumu, including Kaliko Baker, an associate professor at ; Kaipu Keala, an assistant professor at , Kaulu Luuwai, an attorney with at William S. Richardson School of Law, and Snowbird Bento, kumu hula of Ka P膩 Hula O Ka Lei Lehua.

Panelists discussed how is expressed through performance and community practice, reflecting on the ways language and movement inform artistic and community-based work.

Celebration and story

The conference concluded with a hoʻolauleʻa, a celebration that combined conversation and creative sharing. Events included a film screening of , directed by Lisette Flanary, professor at 东精影业 惭腻苍辞补 and a preview of a new hana keaka (theatre work) by 东精影业 惭腻苍辞补 Hawaiian theatre graduate student Ikaika Mendez. The production, Lele Wale, reflects on community rebuilding after the Lahaina wildfires, honoring those who were lost, those who survived, and those continuing the work of rebuilding on Maui. Performances run March 4–8 at the Earle Ernst Lab Theatre at Kennedy Theatre.

• Related 东精影业 News story: Lahaina鈥檚 story lives in new hana keaka production, February 5, 2026

Established in 2022 through the 东精影业 惭腻苍辞补 Provost鈥檚 Strategic Investment Initiative, ANNO advances Hawaiian and Indigenous performance through scholarship, curriculum and outreach, supporting ongoing research and creative practice at 东精影业 惭腻苍辞补.

The is celebrating two decades of education, scholarship, and community advocacy on issues affecting Native Hawaiians, Pacific Islanders and Indigenous peoples. The center is part of the at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa.

In recognition of this milestone, Councilmember Esther Kiaʻāina, on behalf of the Honolulu City Council, presented an honorary certificate to Ka Huli Ao at Honolulu Hale. The presentation honored the center鈥檚 enduring contributions to Native Hawaiian legal education and community engagement.

“Ka Huli Ao is grateful to the Honolulu City Council for this tremendous honor, which is a reflection on Chief Justice William S. Richardson鈥檚 enduring legal legacy to Hawaiʻi and our people,” said Kapuaʻala Sproat, director of Ka Huli Ao and professor of law. “Ua Ao Hawaiʻi! In Ka Huli Ao鈥檚 20th year, this guiding theme reminds us that even in our most challenging moments, the path forward is illuminated by Hawaiʻi鈥檚 enduring legal foundations, grounded in loina (customs, principles, laws) and ʻike kuʻuna (ancestral knowledge), which continue to guide us toward the light of tomorrow.”

Founded in 2005 by Professor Melody Kapilialoha MacKenzie through a Native Hawaiian Education Act grant, Ka Huli Ao has become a cornerstone of Native Hawaiian law. The center established the first–ever Native Hawaiian Law Certificate program, published Native Hawaiian Law: A Treatise, provides training to the community and decision makers, operates a post–JD legal fellows program, shapes future leaders and leads the Native Hawaiian Law Clinic that provides direct legal services to our neighbor island communities.

The first Native Hawaiian woman to serve as chief of staff for a United States Senator is a 2007 graduate of the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa William S. Richardson School of Law. Born and raised in Hawaiʻi, Coti Haia grew up splitting her time between Mililani and Waimānalo and spending summers on Lānaʻi. She has served in her current role for Sen. Mazie Hirono since 2022.

“There would be days when you walk in the Capitol, it would become mundane, and then one day you’d stop and be like, ‘My gosh, I’m in the Senate, this is crazy,’” said Haia. “I’ve been able to work for Hawaiʻi the entire time, and that’s really important to me.”

Haia graduated from Punahou School and Gonzaga University and worked as deputy prosecuting attorney for the City and County of Honolulu after earning her law degree. She moved to Washington D.C. in 2010 to work for the late U.S Sen. Dan Inouye before moving to Hirono鈥檚 office in 2013 after her election to the Senate.

After a two-year stint as the D.C. Bureau Chief for the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, she returned to Hirono’s office in 2018 as the deputy chief of staff, and was promoted four years later to chief of staff.

Paddling in the same direction

“Every day is something different. Some would say that your responsibility is to put out the biggest fire of the day,” said Haia. “Sometimes the fires can be as big as, ‘Do we have enough copies of a bill to file down on the Senate floor?’ And sometimes they can be significantly more challenging. I like to think of it as helping everyone paddle the canoe in the same direction. And sometimes that means going around an obstacle or through one.”

She does not dwell on her trailblazer status as the first Native Hawaiian woman chief of staff, and possibly the first ever Indigenous woman in that position in the history of the U.S. Senate.

“I think the way it plays out in our office is ensuring a level of diversity,” said Haia. “Senator [Hirono] has the most diverse staff in the Senate, and that’s because we have the opportunity to work with, and represent, such a diverse state. There are colleagues of mine who are from Hawaiʻi Island, Maui, Kauaʻi, all over Hawaiʻi to help us inform the work we do.”

Introduction to D.C. via 东精影业

Her first exposure to Washington D.C. was while she was at 东精影业 through an internship with Sen. Dan Inouye offered through the law school’s Center for Excellence in Native Hawaiian Law.

“It’s not as if I ever planned to come to D.C. to work on policy, but it was through 东精影业 that I was able to do that,” said Haia. “Hawaiʻi has many unique laws specific to our state because of the Native Hawaiian community. The Center for Excellence in Native Hawaiian Law helped put an emphasis on parts of the federal government’s relationship with the native community that you would not learn at other law schools.”

Haia is still in touch with many of her professors, which has been useful with Hirono serving on the Senate Judiciary Committee.

“I can email them whether they are retired or not and ask them for their thoughts,” said Haia, who said it would take all day to list the professors who have had a positive impact on her. “I especially want to shout out Melody MacKenzie, Eric Yamamoto and Hazel Beh. We have a lot of aspiring law students who come to work here and those that are from Hawaiʻi, I strongly encourage them to go to Richardson.”

Encouraging the next generation

She said January 6, 2021, was her worst day since moving to D.C. more than a dozen years ago. On the flip side, there have been victories.

“I’m really a policy person, that’s what I came to the Senate to do, and we’ve had some really big policy wins,” said Haia, who adds that she is also proud of how outspoken Hirono has become in recent years. “She definitely began to use her voice during the Trump administration. Whether you agree with his policies or not, it was very clear that Sen. Hirono was a diametric opposite on pretty much every policy he had.”

Despite being in the seat of power of one of the most powerful countries in the world, one of Haia’s favorite parts of her job is lunch with the office interns.

“What I try to say to them is to not sell yourself short and to know what is important to you,” said Haia. “Be prepared to take an opportunity and to trust that you’ll succeed at it. I never in a million years would have guessed that I would be working in the U.S. Senate and certainly not in this position.”

Fresh water in West Maui has been mismanaged for more than 180 years, according to many kamaʻāina, Native Hawaiians and community activists, in an issue that has received international attention in the wake of the deadly wildfire that destroyed Lahaina town.

The area from Ukumehame to Honokōhau, known as Maui Komohana, that includes Lahaina, was once flourishing with fresh waterways, loʻi kalo terraces, fishponds, and fields of ʻulu (breadfruit) and ʻuala (sweet potato). Beginning in the mid-19th century, water was diverted for commercial agriculture and eventually to resort hotels, leaving Maui Komohana with insufficient water to cultivate traditional crops and support subsistence lifestyles.

Since 2021, the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa has been assisting Maui Komohana residents in reclaiming their water rights, in a community project through the law school鈥檚 that is also providing law students with invaluable real world experience.

“There鈥檚 an implicit culture in law that says lawyers are the experts. I think the clinic really helped me understand that the experts are the folks in the community,” said Troy Ballard, who first participated as a law school student and is now helping run the clinic as a Post Juris Doctor Fellow. “As lawyers we are meant to serve and co-power and uplift, and this clinic was a unique opportunity to be able to work with experts in the community. I will be forever grateful for the relationships I have built through this opportunity.”

The situation with the return of water rights was exacerbated by the devastating Lahaina fire. An emergency proclamation by Gov. Josh Green that suspended the Water Code, Hawaiʻi Revised Statutes chapter 174C, was lifted one month later. Ever since, the clinic has been back at work helping community members navigate the water use permitting process.

“These permits are vital in helping bring the law to life on the ground and in our communities,” said Kapua Sproat, a 东精影业 professor of law. “What we鈥檝e seen in these communities is that even though the black letter law carries a certain weight, it hasn鈥檛 been respected or implemented or informed water allocations.”

东精影业 law school faculty and students staffing the clinic were in Lahaina in the weeks before the wildfire that leveled the historic town. They met with community members at Waiola Church and were staying at the Nā ʻAikāne o Maui Cultural Center on Front Street. Both of those buildings, along with the vast majority of Lahaina, were destroyed on August 8.

“Nā ʻAikāne o Maui Cultural Center was a hub for the community and a waihona (repository) of priceless work, history and artifacts. Despite their own devastation, the Kapu ʻohana, who stewards that place, rose to serve their community. That is emblematic of the people of this place: selfless, hardworking, and full of aloha,” said Uʻilani Tanigawa Lum, a 东精影业 assistant professor of law and co-director of the Native Hawaiian Rights Clinic.

Seeing the devastation afterwards only strengthened the resolve of everyone involved with Ka Huli Ao Center in helping the multi-generational families who call Maui Komohana home.

“Against the backdrop of a storied history of displacement and mismanagement of water resources, these devastating fires continue to uncover larger and systemic injustices. We are grateful to have the privilege of working with this community because they are some of the most kūpaʻa (steadfast) and strong members who have been fighting this battle for generations,” said Tanigawa Lum.

The University of Hawaiʻi at 惭腻苍辞补 has named Professor Susan K. Serrano as the Fred T. Korematsu Professor of Law and Social Justice.

Awarded in August, the three-year renewable professorship honors the late Fred T. Korematsu, whose courage in the face of racially biased World War II government policies of detaining and imprisoning Japanese Americans inspires advanced studies in civil rights and liberties at the William S. Richardson School of Law and contributes to social justice initiatives in the United States and beyond.

Serrano serves as the law school鈥檚 director of faculty research and associate director of Ka Huli Ao Center for Excellence in Native Hawaiian Law. Her work centers on the impacts of U.S. colonialism on Native Peoples and the peoples of the U.S. territories. She also publishes in the areas of critical race theory, Native Hawaiian law, and civil rights and liberties, and is currently writing about the legacy of the Korematsu coram nobis case.

In addition, Serrano is an Executive Editor of Native Hawaiian Law: A Treatise (MacKenzie, Serrano & Sproat eds., 2015). Her publications have appeared in the California Law Review, Harvard Civil Rights–Civil Liberties Law Review, Michigan Law Review, William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal, Centro Journal, and Amerasia Journal, among others. She joined the William S. Richardson School of Law faculty in 2006.

A legal career devoted to civil rights

Prior to joining the law school, Serrano devoted her legal career to civil rights and social justice advocacy as a Staff Attorney at the Asian Law Caucus in San Francisco, California; served as the founding Research Director of the Equal Justice Society; and was the Thurgood Marshall Fellow at the Lawyers鈥� Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area. She is a 1998 graduate of the William S. Richardson School of Law. Along with 东精影业 惭腻苍辞补 Law Professor Emeritus Eric Yamamoto, who served as the inaugural Korematsu Professor, Serrano inspires law students through a rigorous Scholar Advocates program, designed both to generate and to translate cutting-edge justice theories for front-line practice.

William S. Richardson Law School Dean Camille Nelson said that naming Serrano the Korematsu Professor of Law and Social Justice continues and broadens Fred Korematsu鈥檚 persistent fight for civil rights and racial equality.

“Susan Serrano鈥檚 deep commitment to civil rights and social justice shines through in her scholarship, advocacy, teaching, and contributions to the law school and broader community,” said Nelson. “We are grateful for the generosity of the Kosasa family and the Korematsu family for enabling the law school to honor Fred Korematsu鈥檚 remarkable legacy.”

The Fred T. Korematsu Professorship

The Fred T. Korematsu family has chosen only two educational institutions throughout the country to use the Korematsu name to continue the work of exposing social injustice and of fostering redress for historic injustice. The family determined that the only Fred T. Korematsu Professorship in the country should be housed at the William S. Richardson School of Law, to be held by a faculty member there.

The purpose of the Korematsu Professorship is to enable its holder to speak, write, and teach with special authority on matters of civil and human rights and social justice; to train promising law students as collaborators on academic and community-based social justice projects; to engage social justice scholars and practitioners locally, nationally, and internationally; and to extend the professorship holder鈥檚 social justice work and influence into new realms of intellectual and practical significance. It is made possible through a generous gift from Sidney and Minnie Kosasa, founders of the ABC Store chain in Hawaiʻi.

The Kosasa gift to the Korematsu Professorship honors the strength, courage, and resilience of those who prevailed over the injustices and indignities suffered by Americans of Japanese ancestry during World War II.

The William S. Richardson School of Law will continue its effort to elevate the Korematsu Professorship to a fully-endowed Fred T. Korematsu Chair in Law and Social Justice so that future generations of scholar advocates may be inspired to continue the work for social justice.

. More information on the history of the Korematsu professorship .

University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa student Meleana “Mana” Shim was among 10 law students across the country named “2022 Law Students of the Year” in National Jurist preLaw magazine.

The Student of the Year honor is an annual feature in the magazine鈥檚 spring issue which recognizes talented, exceptional law students with a dedication to their community. Shim was selected from approximately 200 American Bar Association-accredited law schools nationwide.

The third-year law student and retired professional soccer player is committed to activism, athletics, mental health and public service.

Professor Dina Shek said, “Mana is both unafraid and self-aware, and she is a constant and supportive student, classmate and ally.”

Shim has courageously spoken out against sexual misconduct in the National Women鈥檚 Soccer League, working towards policy changes and using her voice to raise awareness to ensure a safer environment for athletes, advocating for change within the league nationally as well as locally in 贬补飞补颈ʻ颈鈥攁濒濒 while a full-time law student.

• Related 东精影业 News story: 东精影业 law student, former pro soccer player speaks on sexual misconduct in league, October 19, 2021

Molly Levinson, advisor to the U.S. Women鈥檚 National Team players, recognized Shim鈥檚 courage in speaking out publicly. “Mana Shim embodies the qualities of an extraordinary advocate, trusted counselor, visionary leader and courageous change maker. Behind the scenes, she has made even more of a difference, dedicating her time, energy and numerous talents to a wholesale re-making of league leadership, culture, policies and procedures. It is both comforting and inspiring to know that she is the future of the law,” Levinson said.

More on Shim

Shim鈥檚 exceptional dedication showed in her work with the Office of the Public Defender along with her work ethic, commitment and compassion for clients.

She has been an active member of the 东精影业 law school鈥檚 Mental Health Committee, speaking on LGBTQ+ and mental health issues, and continuing to work toward change and awareness. Shim also engaged in mental health community outreach as a volunteer for the Institute of Human Services.

The inaugural student member of the 东精影业 law school鈥檚 wellness committee, Shim is also co-president of Lawyers Against Sexual Violence and the , an academic center that promotes education, scholarship, community outreach and collaboration on issues of law, culture and justice for Native Hawaiians and other Pacific and Indigenous peoples. She was awarded the Advocates for Public Interest Law grant and worked for the Hawaiʻi Land Trust.

Shim was a member of the 东精影业 law school鈥檚 inaugural Island Leadership Lab seminar, an immersive leadership experience focused on training next-generation leaders for success; the initiative was launched by UH law school Dean Camille Nelson.

Nelson said, “I am inspired by Mana鈥檚 courageous leadership. Her integrity and bravery are carving a better path for those in similar situations, and those seeking to effect transformative justice-seeking change in myriad spaces and places. I am grateful for her empathy, dedication and tireless advocacy.”

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For centuries, Kauaʻi loʻi kalo (wetland kalo) farmers have depended on a traditional Native Hawaiian irrigation system that borrows water from Waiʻoli Stream. Since 2019, more than 30 students and faculty at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa’s through its Native Hawaiian and Environmental Law Clinics have partnered with the farmers of the Waiʻoli Valley Taro Hui (Hui) to help secure a long-term water lease for their ancient use of water.

During recovery efforts from the devastating Kauaʻi flooding of 2018, the farmers were informed that the ʻāina they had stewarded for generations was now zoned as state conservation land, which triggered a maze of permitting and other authorizations. In Waiʻoli, on the island鈥檚 north shore, the farmers provide important flood mitigation for the surrounding area of Hanalei with expertise on how the water flows and how the entire ecosystem works, offering significant environmental benefits.

东精影业 law students’ involvement included establishing a nonprofit that incorporated the taro farmers; securing a right of entry and easement to access state lands for their water use and to do regular clearing and maintenance of the river; a revocable permit for water use; a watershed management plan; an environmental assessment; a cultural impact assessment; amending the interim instream flow standard; and completing beneficiary consultation with the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands.

Students have also worked closely with the Hui to testify at the Hawaiʻi State Legislature, the Board of Land and Natural Resources, and the Commission on Water Resource Management.

“In our law school classes, we learn about many different areas of law but rarely have opportunities to actually engage with people experiencing the legal process on the ground,” said MJ Palau-McDonald, a third year 东精影业 law student. “I’ve undoubtedly learned a lot about legal permitting under the water code while working with the Hui, but the experience of building client relationships has been the most meaningful to me. Working with the Hui has shown me what it looks like to help co-power communities by translating their ancestral practices into legal jargon that is cognizable to government agencies.”

Real-world training for law students

As a kupa (native) of Kauaʻi, Professor Kapua Sproat, director of , was already familiar with hardships of the farmers of the Waiʻoli Valley Taro Hui, and helped facilitate the clinic. Clinical experience like the law school鈥檚 Native Hawaiian and Environmental Law clinics are a requirement for students to graduate and provide important real-world training. At the same time, they provide free legal services to community’s with significant needs.

• Related 东精影业 News story: Law student named pro bono hero for assisting Kauaʻi taro farmers, May 11, 2021

“Opportunities like this are critical for Richardson law students because they expose us to the ways in which the law can be a barrier to justice for those who are the intended beneficiaries of the law,” said Kauluponookaleilehua Luʻuwai, a 东精影业 law school alumna and attorney who participated in the clinic as a student. “It also teaches us that working for clients whose legal goals align with our personal values makes the difficult work extremely rewarding and further places a kuleana (privilege and responsibility) on us as future attorneys to remember these lessons of service as we move into our careers. I believe this is the precise kind of lawyer Chief Justice Richardson envisioned when he founded our institution.”

Students who have taken the clinic continue to show up and testify for the farmers at various venues for the long-term water lease. Their work goes beyond bringing farmers back from devastation. It is an example of taking proactive steps to support important cultural practices such as loʻi kalo farming in Hawaiʻi.

“Given the pandemic, we鈥檙e more aware of food security and being able to sustain ourselves in Hawaiʻi,” said Uʻilani Tanigawa Lum, an attorney and Post-J.D. Fellow who first took the clinic as a law student and now helps to co-teach it. “Kalo farming is one of the core practices of Kānaka Maoli (Native Hawaiians). It goes beyond simply farming for food. Kalo is our elder brother and enables an important cultural practice, it is a foundational value of aloha ʻāina (to take care of the land). Creating spaces and supporting farmers is key to maintaining our way of life in Hawaiʻi and the cultural knowledge that makes this place so special.”

This work brings to life 东精影业 Mānoa鈥檚 goal of (PDF), (PDF) and (PDF), three of four goals identified in the (PDF), updated in December 2020.

Growing up in 碍补耻补ʻ颈鈥檚 lush green valleys around Hanalei, helping out in family taro fields as a child, and thriving in the rich culture that binds the island鈥檚 north shore community together was the upbringing of University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa student Devin Forrest.

So when the devastating floods of 2018 hit Kauaʻi farmers鈥攄estroying crops and traditional water flow—he knew he had to help.

贵辞谤谤别蝉迟鈥檚 pro bono help—both before and after he was accepted to the 东精影业 law school—has been recognized nationally in the spring 2021 issue of the National Jurist magazine. Forrest is one of four pro bono heroes profiled from law schools across the country for the hundreds of hours of free legal assistance they provided in their communities.

“After the floods, the farmers found that where the water comes from was state land and they would need an easement but needed research on how old the system was,” said Forrest. “They had always cleaned it and always managed it. Forever. It wasn鈥檛 until it was destroyed that they needed help with the water.”

Validating taro farmers鈥� rights

With a masters degree in ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi (Hawaiian language) from , and family members still deeply involved in taro farming, Forrest volunteered his expertise to translate old documents to validate the rights of the farmers to have access to the water supply. His translations in spring 2019 helped lay the legal groundwork for an easement and water lease that would give them perpetual future access to their loʻi kalo irrigation system.

Those documents show that the close-knit families historically cultivated taro on approximately 100 acres in the northern valleys, and have been working this land using traditional methods for hundreds of years.

“You can鈥檛 get exact dates but you can estimate from when the chiefs were ruling,” said Forrest. “The farming areas were being used, and an irrigation system created. We don鈥檛 know the exact date, but we know there was farming in that area at least in 1500.”

Providing hundreds of pro bono hours

Professor Kapua Sproat, director of at the 东精影业 law school, was already offering legal assistance to her home community on Kauaʻi and the farmers of the Waiʻoli Valley Taro Hui in particular, and she helped facilitate 贵辞谤谤别蝉迟鈥檚 involvement.

Forrest has continued to provide hundreds more hours of help as part of his clinical work at Richardson law school. That help has been invaluable, said Sproat.

“Devin鈥檚 efforts epitomize what we seek to do at Ka Huli Ao. Through our law clinics, for example, we bring together students, community and decisionmakers to work in partnership on behalf of our natural resources and our Indigenous culture and lifeways that are dependent upon them,” said Sproat. “This is the best case scenario where ʻŌiwi (Native Hawaiians) like Devin and me can take Western knowledge and legal skills in particular home to the communities where we were raised to ensure that our cultural practices can survive the transition to a modern era. This has been transformative for Devin and the rest of the clinicians, and we are incredibly proud of what we have been able to accomplish together.”

东精影业 law Dean Camille Nelson is also proud of what students like Forrest offer in passion, energy and expertise to their communities as part of the clinic and pro bono programs at the 东精影业 law school.

“It is always inspiring to see the impact of what you have been learning in action. Devin鈥檚 efforts demonstrate the transformative potential of experiential learning, and Ka Huli Ao is also to be thanked for guiding this opportunity,” said Nelson. “Devin鈥檚 ability to combine his experience, education, and passion exemplifies the tremendous impact Richardson lawyers have throughout Hawaiʻi, and beyond.”

This work is an example of 东精影业 Mānoa鈥檚 goal of (PDF), and 东精影业 Mānoa鈥檚 goal of (PDF), two of four goals identified in the (PDF), updated in December 2020.

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–By Beverly Creamer

The Asian-Pacific Law and Policy Journal at the University of Hawaiʻi will feature a significant first; a scholarly legal article written entirely in Hawaiian for a modern day law journal. The article discusses the role of ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi (Hawaiian language), as specified in the Hawaiʻi Constitution.

Sabrina Kamakakaulani Gramberg, a 东精影业 law school alumna, who currently is a Post-JD Fellow at , wrote “Piliʻōlelo: E Ahona Kānaka I Ke Oʻa Kānāwai.” The article advocates for a statutory infrastructure for Hawaiian language rights. Gramberg鈥檚 proposal supports Hawaiian language usage in translation and translators throughout all government programs and services.

“I鈥檓 hopeful that this work will show folks that Hawaiian, like any language, can be used as a language of the courts, the legislature, and the executive branch,” said Gramberg.

Her long-term vision is to return Hawaiian as a language to establish laws and policies in Hawaiʻi, rather than being solely used to translate legal documents from the English language. The article provides a brief history of the policies, laws and government actions that pushed ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi out of those roles, and the efforts of kūpuna (elder) to carry forth the language for succeeding generations.

东精影业 law school Dean Avi Soifer stated, “Language is incredibly important in our everyday lives, and the revival of the Hawaiian language should not be kept out of our legal institutions.”

“Tracing the history of government actions that forced 贬补飞补颈ʻ颈鈥檚 language shift would require folks to confront an uncomfortable history of racism, disease and social pressures,” Gramberg explained. “Put simply, these layered events and experiences over decades resulted in a drastic decline in Hawaiian language speakers and kanaka ʻōiwi (Native Hawaiians) themselves.”

The article seeks to distinguish the rights of Hawaiian language speakers in Hawaiʻi from minority language rights; it explains the constitutional ways in which Hawaiian language speakers are protected. It also addresses the question of why people do not primarily speak the language in Hawaiʻi.

As an official—yet critically endangered—language, Gramberg explains, a statutory infrastructure for Hawaiian language access would support revitalization efforts and would provide long-awaited mechanisms to obtain translation and interpretation services statewide.

“The next time someone wishes to express themselves in Hawaiian at any government proceeding, my hope is that our elected officials will have already laid out the path for them to do so,” Gramberg added.

—By Sarah Hendrix

Hawaiʻi Business magazine selected ’s Avis Poai as one of the “20 for the Next 20.” Poai serves as director of archives, legal history and student outreach at the ’s .

Poai was honored for her extensive work on , a bilingual website containing Hawaiian kingdom legal and historical materials. In November 2018, Punawaiola received an international award for archives excellence from the .

She has also been recognized for her outreach work with charter and immersion schools.

Each spring, Hawaiʻi Business honors 20 members of the community who have shown leadership in a wide variety of important areas, and who have the potential to continue their important work over the next two decades.

“She’s doing great things for not only our lahui, our Hawaiian community, but making digitized documents available and searchable,” Kale Hannahs, digital archivist for the , told the magazine. “It’s a huge advantage, and it helps our mission in further educating the general community on the history of Hawaiʻi.”

—By Beverly Creamer

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