This Senate resolution designates February 2025 as "Hawaiian Language Month" or "ʻOlelo Hawaiʻi Month." It states the Senate's commitment to preserving, protecting, and promoting the use, practice, and development of the Hawaiian language in line with the Native American Languages Act. It also urges people and groups to celebrate the month with appropriate activities and programs.
The resolution text describes the Hawaiian language as the Native language of Native Hawaiians, who settled the islands as early as 300 A.D. and founded the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi. It says the language was once widely spoken and that high literacy existed in the Kingdom before the overthrow in 1893. The text notes a 1896 law by the Republic of Hawaiʻi that effectively banned Hawaiian-language instruction in schools, which the resolution says led to near extinction by the 1980s when fewer than 50 fluent speakers under 18 remained.
The resolution recounts a grassroots revitalization since the 1960s, mentioning Aha Pūnana Leo immersion preschools, the Hawaiʻi State Department of Education immersion program, and University of Hawaiʻi language programs. It also cites state and federal milestones: the State of Hawaiʻi recognizing ʻOlelo Hawaiʻi in its 1978 constitution, lifting the school-teaching ban in 1986, the Native American Languages Act of 1990, and the 2022 Native American Language Resource Center Act and a related Department of Education grant to the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo.
The resolution is a formal Senate designation and an expression of support. It encourages people and groups to celebrate and support the Hawaiian language with events and programs. The text does not itself create new programs, legal rights, or funding.
The resolution does not include funding or authorize spending. No publicly available information.
Supporters present the designation as a way to recognize the history of ʻOlelo Hawaiʻi, honor community-led revitalization efforts, and encourage continued preservation and use. The resolution points to past and ongoing programs and legal steps at the state and federal level that aim to support Hawaiian-language recovery and education.
No publicly available information.