Kauanoe Kamanā
Born1954 (1954)
Honolulu, Hawaiʻi, United States
NationalityAmerican
Alma materUniversity of Hawaiʻi at Hilo
OccupationHawaiian language educator

Kauanoe Kamanā is a Hawaiian language educator. Since the Hawaiian Renaissance of the 1970s, she has worked towards reestablishing the Hawaiian language in everyday life. Kamanā is cofounder and president of ʻAha Pūnana Leo, an organization of private schools for Hawaiian language immersion instruction. She is also an associate professor at the College of Hawaiian Language at the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo.

Early life and education

Kauanoe Kamanā was born in 1954 in Honolulu and raised in Kalihi, on Oʻahu, and Kalamaʻula, on Molokaʻi.[1][2] When she was growing up, very few people of her generation spoke Hawaiian, and she did not learn conversational Hawaiian in her home.[3]

She attended Kamehameha Schools in Kapālama, studying French and graduating in 1969.[4][5]

Kamanā studied Hawaiian language under Larry Kimura at the University of Hawaiʻi.[6] In 2010 she earned a Ph.D. in Hawaiian and Indigenous Language and Culture Revitalization from the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo.[7] She was the first person of Native Hawaiian ancestry to receive a Ph.D. in that topic from the College of Hawaiian Language.[7] Her Ph.D. dissertation was titled "Mo‘oki‘ina Ho‘oponopono: Ke Ō O Ka ‘Ike Ku‘una Hawai‘i Ma Ke Kula ‘O Nāwahīokalani‘ōpu’u," focusing on traditional Hawaiian conflict resolution as practiced at the Nāwahīokalaniʻōpuʻu school.[7]

Career

Kamanā and her husband, William H. "Pila" Wilson, were part of the group of Hawaiian language educators to found ʻAha Pūnana Leo in 1983 with the goal of reestablishing Hawaiian language and culture in Hawaiʻi.[6] The nonprofit consists of a network of private schools based on a "language nest" model.[8] Their two children were raised with Hawaiian as the sole language of the home and schooling, attending schooling conducted in Hawaiian through high school graduation.[8]

At the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo, Kamanā is an associate professor in the College of Hawaiian Language and program coordinator for Kula Mauli Ola, the Hawaiian Medium Laboratory Schools.[9] Kamanā serves as the president for Ke Kula ʻO Nāwahīokalani’ōpu’u, a Hawaiian immersion laboratory school for prekindergarten to grade 12 students in Kea‘au.[1]

Recognition

In 2020 a panel of experts selected ten influential women from Hawaiʻi as part of the USA Today Women of the Century project; Kamanā was represented on the list for her advocacy work.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Schnell, Lindsay (13 August 2020). "Surfing champion, hula masters, educators and advocates on Hawaii Women of the Century list". USA Today. Retrieved 28 August 2021.
  2. ↑ "Leadership". ʻAha Pūnana Leo. Retrieved 29 August 2021.
  3. ↑ Brollini, Lyndsey (26 February 2020). "Native Hawaiian Language Revitalization with Kauanoe Kamanā and William Wilson". Roots and Stems episode 3 (Podcast). Sealaska Heritage Institute. Retrieved 28 August 2021.
  4. ↑ "Student film on 'ōlelo Hawaiʻi is showcased by the Smithsonian". Kamehameha Schools. 27 July 2020. Retrieved 29 August 2021.
  5. ↑ Viotti, Vicki (28 January 2011). "Kauanoe Kamana". Honolulu Star-Advertiser. Retrieved 29 August 2021.
  6. 1 2 Monastersky, Richard (10 December 2004). "Talking a Language Back From the Brink". Chronicle of Higher Education. Retrieved 29 August 2021.
  7. 1 2 3 "Hilo: First two PhDs awarded at fall commencement". University of Hawaiʻi. 20 December 2010. Retrieved 29 August 2021.
  8. 1 2 Wilson, William H.; Kauanoe, Kauanoe (2019). The Path to Fluency: Lessons in Language Revitalization From Hawaiʻi (PDF) (Report). Native Science Report. Retrieved 29 August 2021.
  9. ↑ "Kula Mauli Ola (Hawaiian Medium Laboratory Schools)". University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo. Retrieved 29 August 2021.
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