On the state of the Hawaiian Language, 1920.

PERTAINING TO THE HAWAIIAN LANGUAGE.

Mr. Editor of the Nupepa Kuokoa, Aloha oe:—In the Kuokoa of Friday, May 21, 1920, I saw your thoughts supporting Mr. Coelho on the Hawaiian Language, and about the lack of use of the Hawaiian language in some churches and Hawaiian organizations when they meet; English is what is spoken in meetings; not because Hawaiian is not understood, but because of their great embarrassment in speaking Hawaiian; there is English and it is attractive to speak, yet all the while they understand that it is not appropriate at all to be speaking in English.

It isn’t in some churches and Hawaiian associations that it is not spoken, but in markets, on streets, in homes in which true Hawaiians live, and all around this island of Oahu, only a very tiny fraction of true Hawaiians speak the Hawaiian language; most of the men, women, and children…