Controversy of the 1990s
In the 1990s, Kamehameha Schools faced a major crisis. Trustees had been appointed by their status in the past; however, this led to an unstable administration. The majority trustees caused problems to Kamehameha Schools employees and students, which had significant impacts on Hawaiian language development at the school.
"The controversy of the late-nineties wrecked havoc on the Hawaiian language program. Spirits fell. Enrollments fell. Mandates from the majority trustees stipulated the teaching of "classic Hawaiian" only and forbade the use of the pepeke grammar system and the modern dictionary "Mamaka Kaiao.""
"Hawaiian language teachers were defiant in defense of a program that they knew to be successful. They issued a statement saying they would not heed the orders from on high. Several Hawaiian language and culture teachers went on to play prominent roles in the teacher organization Nā Kumu and the founding KSFA, the faculty union."
—Kāwika Eyre, Kamehameha Schools
Extension Education Extinguished
Trustee Lindsey's Go Forward program required the closing of several extension programs in order to build the two new campuses. As a result, 14% of KS workforce was terminated.
"I was shocked, disappointed. There's no question that a lot of Hawaiian kids aren't being served as a result of the elimination of these programs. I think Kamehameha should go beyond serving the best and the brightest. They should serve as many Hawaiian youngsters as they can."
—Charles Toguchi, "Wayfinding through the Storm: Speaking Truth to Power at Kamehameha Schools 1993-1999"
"Mrs. Lindsey was very adamant in saying that it is not our responsibility to help these children. It is the DOE's responsibility to meet these children's educational needs, and we are not in the business of helping the Hawaiian youth at risk."
—George Schnackenberg, "Wayfinding through the Storm: Speaking Truth to Power at Kamehameha Schools 1993-1999"
Hawaiian Cultural Center Suppressed
Kaʻiwakīloumoku Cultural Center was built to make Kamehameha Schools the Hawaiian culture educational center of the world.
"Itʻs our duty and responsibility to make clear that learning is a process that's ongoing, and that our ancient people brought with them a great deal of wisdom that has a place in contemporary society."
—Pinky Thompson, "Wayfinding through the Storm: Speaking Truth to Power at Kamehameha Schools 1993-1999"
Now, Lindsey refused to allow the Cultural Center to advance.
"Not only was [Lokelani Lindsey] trying to diminish the work of the KS community, she was also sending a message that when it came to our culture, Hawaiians didn't deserve a facility of substance; we should just go outside and do our thing under a tree."
—Randie Fong, "Wayfinding through the Storm: Speaking Truth to Power at Kamehameha Schools 1993-1999"
Hawaiian Language Stifled
Even though the immersion schools supported the usage of all Hawaiian words, Lindsey instated a restriction on ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi, and only allowed the usage of "traditional language." She said, "If it wasn't spoken during Pauahi's time, it would not be spoken at Kamehameha Schools."
"Essentially, Trustee Lindsey felt that we were getting away from the traditional language and going off in a direction that eventually, if we stayed on that path, we would lose our roots and our anchors in that most important part of the culture."
—Rockne Freitas, Schools vice president, "Wayfinding through the Storm: Speaking Truth to Power at Kamehameha Schools 1993-1999"
"Hailama Farden explained to me what was happening in Hawaiian language. That was the first I heard of it. I The issue of traditional Hawaiian never came to the full board. Mrs. Lindsey did that all on her own."
—Trustee Oz Stender, "Wayfinding through the Storm: Speaking Truth to Power at Kamehameha Schools 1993-1999"
This then sparked a new problem: what was "traditional language?" As expected of any currently spoken languages, ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi had evolved since the time of Bernice Pauahi Bishop. Even the Pūkuʻi/Elbert Hawaiian dictionary contained words that were not spoken before the overthrow.
"There seemed to be this category called "traditional Hawaiian" that didn't consider the fact that cultures evolve and change…When we look at the volumes of Hawaiian newspapers that were published in the nineteenth century, we're talking about foreign concepts being indigenized, being Hawaiianized, and that was because Hawaiian people were trying to keep up with the rest of the world. And so this is a reflection of a living culture." |
"And on top of that there were contradictions. The language was supposed to be frozen as of Pauahi's time. But then we were told we had to use only words that were in the Pukui-Elbert Dictionary. Well, that dictionary—which is invaluable—was first published in 1957, 70-some years after Pauahi died, and there was a revised edition in 1986, with 3,000 or so new words, including material from the UH-Hilo lexicon committee." |
Not only was she restricting the language, Lindsey also insulted the Hawaiian language teachers' word choices and sentence structures.
"[Teachers at Kamehameha] were really going through stress. Not being able to teach Hawaiian the way they felt Hawaiian should be taught. To be really micromanaged—those are words that I heard from the teachers—in terms of the curriculum that they were using. The choice of the text, even down to the vocabulary."
—Keiki Kawaiʻaeʻa, director, Hale Kuamoʻo, "Wayfinding through the Storm: Speaking Truth to Power at Kamehameha Schools 1993-1999"
"I literally felt that we were under attack—as Hawaiians, from Hawaiians. And that whole sense of being put down again."
—Kalei ʻAʻarona-Lorenzo, Secondary School Hawaiian language teacher, "Wayfinding through the Storm: Speaking Truth to Power at Kamehameha Schools 1993-1999"
Protests
Finally, the teachers decided that enough was enough. Protests began throughout the school.
"It was the Hawaiian language teachers who first stepped forward and went public and put their professional careers on the line by saying, 'We cannot teach under these restrictions—for the good of the students.'"
—Henry Bennett, "Wayfinding through the Storm: Speaking Truth to Power at Kamehameha Schools 1993-1999"
"This was the moment it turned for me. I said to myself, 'This is crazy. There's no working with our administration.' Sure, we had to keep going. Sure, we had to honor our personal commitments to teach our students. But our job now was—we had to get rid of those trustees."
—Kāwika Eyre, "Wayfinding through the Storm: Speaking Truth to Power at Kamehameha Schools 1993-1999"
"Public outcry during the late 1990s campus controversy eventually forced the state Supreme Court to step away from the selection process. Trustees appointments are now handled by a Probate Judge assisted by a Trustee Screening Committee, which consists of members of the public."
—Hawaiʻi News Now, December 4th, 2017