Making Waves
Written by Olivia Throssell
“I ka ‘ōlelo nō ke ola, i ka ‘ōlelo nō ka make.”—‘Olelo no’eau
“In language there is life, in language there is death.”—Old proverb
Junior Chelsie U’i Kuali’i is a Hawaiian Studies major and Communication major concentrating on broadcast journalism here at the University of Hawaii at Hilo (UH Hilo).
A native of the Hawaiian Islands, Kuali’i wants to keep her culture alive for her future children to enjoy; she hopes to achieve this through Hawaiian language broadcasting. In her second year at UH Hilo, she joined the hosts of KWXX, a local radio station. She directed a three-hour Hawaiian Language segment entitled “Alana I Kai Kikina,” or “rising in the eastern sea.”
The university offers the program to second year students and above who are studying Hawaiian in an attempt to bond students with their culture. During the segments, students may talk about any Big Island site, its history, and its importance. For example, a segment on Waipio Valley may discuss the valley’s sacredness and feature stories about the night marchers that roam it.
Whilst participating in a fellowship with Indigenous Rights Radio, a Massachusetts-based station, Kuali’i hopes to use this experience to broadcast her own shows in her native language. "I want to to surround others in the beauty of the Hawaiian culture." IRR deliberates cultural survival issues occurring across the globe. “At IRR, I am not considered an intern, I am a fellow,” the senior asserted, “because we all work as one and are united together. Kind of like a family.”
Chelsie Kuali’i at Kahakaula, the Hawaiian language school. Photo courtesy of Chelsie Kuali’i.
Since she had not really taken any courses that could help her succeed at IRR, she reached out to Kaimana Barcarse, the KWXX organizer who helped her get the fellowship. Over the summer, he helped Kuali’i understand the different programs she would use, such as one called Audacity. She cleaned up interviews, removing utterances like um and readying them for live broadcast.
Kuali’i currently takes Hawaiian Language-Keelikolani 453: Hawaiian Phonetics and Phonology, a course taught solely in Hawaiian. This course helps students understand the sound system and stylistic and regional variations of Hawaiian using Audacity. The senior’s prior knowledge with the program has helped her become successful in this course.
Eventually, she hopes to be able to identify um's and ah’s in wavelengths, like many of her peers can at IRR. Kuali’i spends much of her time at Kahakaula, the UH Hilo Hawaiian language center. Kahakaula is more of a lifestyle approach, a cultural practice. Its courses, unlike others where a student can leave without thinking deeply about content, are rooted in traditional Hawaiian culture and ideas.
“When I leave Kahakaula, I feel ready to immerse myself deeper into learning more about who I am and my culture,” the senior explained. “This is why broadcasting and studying Hawaiian Language is important to me. I hope to lead my people by example and bring awareness to the importance of staying connected to your culture. It's a beautiful thing when people are surrounded by the language every day and immersing themselves in their culture.”
For more information on IRR, please go to their website.
