Courts to provide Hawaiian-language interpreters

The state Judiciary will allow the use of Hawaiian-­language interpreters in courtrooms when participants in legal proceedings “choose to express themselves through the Hawaiian language.”

The new policy was announced Friday, following a widely reported incident in which a Maui district judge issued a bench warrant for a defendant who chose to speak exclusively in Hawaiian in his courtroom.

Samuel Kaleikoa Kaeo, an assistant professor in Hawaiian studies at the University of Hawaii Maui College, appeared Wednesday in Maui District Court on a disorderly conduct charge stemming from his part in an August protest against construction of the Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope on Haleakala.

Kaeo opted to conduct his defense in Hawaiian, prompting Judge Blaine Kobayashi to issue a bench warrant on the grounds that the court was unable to determine whether the defendant, Kaeo, was present.

Kobayashi rescinded the warrant without explanation the following day.

“The Judiciary will provide or permit qualified Hawaiian language interpreters to the extent reasonably possible when parties in courtroom proceedings choose to express themselves through the Hawaiian language,” the Judiciary said in a news release.

Kobayashi’s actions led to protests by Hawaiian-­language proponents across the state Friday.

Scores of people lined King Street fronting the state Supreme Court waving, chanting, singing and reciting the Ka Hakalama, a song to aid students to learn to read Hawaiian.

“Olelo Hawaii is the official language,” said Dorian Cabanting, 36, of Nanakuli. “It is more than just a foreign language, as it’s being treated as such within its own land. It is our mother tongue.”

She added that the community of Native speakers is growing, with “more than 8,000 keiki speaking our language.”

“Many here have a deep-seated love for their language, for our culture and our identity,” said charter school Halau Ku Mana teacher Imai Winchester, who views the judge’s actions as an attack against “my people and all the people of Hawaii.”

“We would like to see the Hawaiian language return as the primary language for our people here, for visitors, for jobs and official positions,” he said.

Fellow teacher Kauikeolani Naniole, 36, was one of five of the first graduating class of the first Hawaii island Hawaiian immersion school. Tears filled her eyes as she recalled the long journey from the first roach-infested classroom, but said, “Our parents never gave up.”

“Our kupuna were punished (for speaking Hawaiian),” she said. “We’re still here. We’re not quieted anymore.”

What happened on Maui is a reminder “there’s still this fight,” she said.

Joanna Howard, 57, of Kalihi said the judge’s action was reminiscent of the past. “It is telling us that we’re invisible, we’re not being taken seriously.”

Eric Keawe, whose mother, musician Auntie Genoa Keawe, pushed in the 1970s for Hawaiian to be taught in public schools, said, “Unfortunately, when (the judge) did that, it felt like we went back 100 years.”

Hawaiian cultural educator Pueo Pata, 42, said, “We’re not wealthy. We don’t own our own homes, but what we do have is our language and our culture. That’s why we are super protective of them.”

To serve as a court interpreter, call 539-4860.