THE SENATE
S.C.R. NO.
202
THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2026
S.D. 1
STATE OF HAWAII
SENATE CONCURRENT
RESOLUTION
requesting the University of Hawaii to consider offering Olelo Hawaii micro-credentials focusing on the Niihau dialect.
WHEREAS, Olelo Hawaii is a unique marker of Hawaiian identity and the proud heritage of the Hawaiian people; and
WHEREAS, native speakers of the Niihau dialect come from a genealogy of continued use of Hawaiian as their primary language of cognition; and
WHEREAS, except for Niihau, Hawaiian pronunciation among native speakers on all islands underwent a period of conformance to the English alphabet; and
WHEREAS, even when the medium of education on Niihau eventually shifted to English, families on the island continued to use Olelo Niihau as their primary language; and
WHEREAS, the isolation of the Niihau community has allowed Olelo Niihau to flourish as its own dialect, significantly distinct from the Olelo Hawaii commonly found in immersion schools and mainstream educational settings; and
WHEREAS, various state agencies have continually acknowledged and supported Olelo Niihau as a dialect distinct from Olelo Hawaii, primarily by providing live interpreters to facilitate communication between Olelo Niihau speakers and health care providers, schools, and other community institutions; and
WHEREAS, the level of competence that native speakers of Olelo Niihau possess even today is a testament to the formidable instinct of the Niihau community to preserve their connection to the Hawaiian language of their ancestors; and
WHEREAS, there is emerging external pressure to integrate newly invented vocabulary and concepts produced by new speakers of the Hawaiian language on to the Niihau community; and
WHEREAS, pressure to instill new linguistic characteristics on Niihau youth, whose language has been learned from their kupuna, risks attrition of Olelo Niihau by interpolation; and
WHEREAS, simultaneously, Hawaiian language revitalization initiatives have largely moved away from consulting Niihau community members as language resources; and
WHEREAS, Hawaiian language initiatives from outside of the Niihau community have enjoyed the support of legislation and policy by this body, while the specific linguistic needs of the Niihau community have been ignored or dismissed; now, therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Thirty-third Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2026, the House of Representatives concurring, that the University of Hawaii is requested to consider offering Olelo Hawaii micro‑credentials focusing on the Niihau dialect; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a certified copy of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the President of the University of Hawaii System.
Report Title:
UH; Olelo Hawaii Language Pathway; Niihau Dialect