The Hawaiian Language Nearly Died. A Radio Show Sparked Its Revival
The voice was soft and scratchy, as if a bit timid in front of the microphone.
"Ae," she said, meaning "yes" in Hawaiian, when asked a question by a male voice. "Ae hanau ia wau i Honoma'ele." ("Yes, I was born in Honoma'ele," she says.)
That voice of an elderly Hawaiian woman was that of my great-grandmother, Martha Kekauililani Kahanu Iwanaga, speaking her native language on a Honolulu radio program more than 40 years ago. The first time I heard the CD recording, it sent chills down my spine.
I never met my great-grandmother, but hearing her speak in the rounded sounds and lyrical vowels that make up the Hawaiian language was like magic. It was a way to meet her, and, for the first time, I heard people speaking the Hawaiian language to each other.
It was beautiful — musical, even, just like the strums of the
