Three years after the illegal annexation of Hawai'i, Sanford B. Dole, President of the Republic of Hawaiʻi signs Act 57, banning the Hawaiian language in schools
June 8, 1896
From KA PAPA ʻŌLELO HAWAIʻI:
On March 8, 1879, a Hawaiian language newspaper, Ka Nūpepa Kūʻokoʻa, printed the following:
... he au olelo haole keia imua o kakou. Ke hoike mai nei na hailona he nui wale i ka oiaio o keia ... E lilo ana ka olelo haole i olelo makuahine no keia pae aina. E lilo ana ka olelo Hawaii i mea poina a e pani ia no ka olelo Enelani ma kona wahi (... an English speaking era is ahead of us. There are numerous predictors attesting to this truth ... English will become a mother tongue for this archipelago. The Hawaiian language will become a forgotten language and English will substitute in its place).
"Act 57, Sec. 30 of the 1896 Laws of the Republic of Hawaiʻi mandated that English become the only medium of instruction throughout Hawaiʻi and prohibited the use of the Hawaiian language in schools" (Office of Hawaiian Affairs).
Despite this attempt at cultural genocide, resistance held strong for 90 years. Native Hawaiian's insisted the state constitution be amended in 1978 to add ʻōlelo Hawai'i as an official language. Due to pressure, the linguicidal law was repealed in 1986. Today there are 25 Hawaiian language immersion schools throughout the islands that serve 2,000 K-12 students, not including K-12 public and private schools teaching Hawaiian language as an elective. 18,000 people say they speak Hawaiian as well as English at home.
Despite this attempt at cultural genocide, resistance held strong for 90 years. Native Hawaiian's insisted the state constitution be amended in 1978 to add ʻōlelo Hawai'i as an official language. Due to pressure, the linguicidal law was repealed in 1986. Today there are 25 Hawaiian language immersion schools throughout the islands that serve 2,000 K-12 students, not including K-12 public and private schools teaching Hawaiian language as an elective. 18,000 people say they speak Hawaiian as well as English at home.