A brief history of Hawaiian language newspapers

When American missionaries arrived in 1820, one of their main goals was printing a Hawaiian-language Bible. However, first, an alphabet had to be created. Once the letters were chosen, the missionaries taught reading and writing to members of the court, and then the chiefs sent their people out to teach the citizens. Printing in the Hawaiian language began in 1822. In 1825, the new King, Kauikeaouli Kamehameha III, declared that “‘O ko‘uaupuni, he aupuni palapala ko‘u [My kingdom shall be a kingdom of literacy],” and his support for literacy continued through his reign.

In 1839, the Hawaiian-language Bible was published. And by 1861, it was thought that the literacy rate of the Hawaiian population surpassed that of all other nations except New England and Scotland.

Hawaiian-language newspapers were published from 1834 to 1948. The first newspaper, Ka Lama Hawaiʻi [The Hawaiian Luminary], was printed by the American missionary teachers at Lahainaluna Seminary. All of the newspapers were published by the missionary teachers or the Kingdom until 1861, when two independent newspapers were founded, Ka Hoku o ka Pakipika [The Star of the Pacific] and Ka Nupepa Kuokoa [The Independent Newspaper]. David Kalākaua was an editor of The Hoku, as well as several other newspapers, and was known as “The Editor King.” TheKuokoa was the longest-running newspaper, from 1861 to 1927. Many great different newspapers were published from 1861 until Ka Hoku o Hawaiʻi [The Star of Hawaii], a Hilo newspaper, which was the last Hawaiian language newspaper; publication ceased in 1948. During the 114 years in which more than 100 different newspapers were published, around 125,000 pages were printed, of which 75,000 are available online at www.nupepa.org and www.papakilodatabase.com.

Ke kāwili ‘ana i loko o nā ha‘awina he wahimo‘olelo no nā nūpepa‘ōlelo Hawai‘i

I ka hiki ‘ana mai o nā mikanele ‘Amelika i ka makahiki 1820, ‘o kekahi pahuhopu nui o lākou ke pa‘i ‘ana i ka Paipala i loko o ka ‘ōlelo Hawai‘i. Eia na‘e, ‘o ka hana mua ke kūkulu ‘ana i ka pī‘āpā. Ke koho ‘ia nā leka i ho‘okomo ai, a‘o a‘ela nā mikanele i ka palapala i nā aloali‘i, a laila, ho‘ouna akula nā ali‘i i ka po‘e o nā aloali‘i i mea e a‘o ai i nā maka‘āinana. Ho‘omaka ‘ia ke pa‘i ‘ana i loko o ka ‘ōlelo Hawai‘i i ka 1822. I ka 1825, kūkala a‘ela ka Mō‘ī hou, ‘o Kauikeaouli Kamehameha III, “‘O ko‘u aupuni, he aupuni palapala ko‘u,” a mau nō kāna paipai ‘ana i ka palapala i loko o kona wā noho ali‘i. I ka 1839, ho‘opuka ‘ia ka Paipala ‘ōlelo Hawai‘i. A i ka 1861, mana‘o ‘ia, ‘oi aku ka nui o nā kanaka i ‘ike i ka palapala ma mua o ko nā aupuni ‘ē a‘e a pau, koe ‘o ‘Enelani Hou lāua ‘o Kekokia.

Ua ho‘opuka ‘ia nā nūpepa ‘ōlelo Hawai‘i mai ka makahiki 1834 a hiki i ka 1948. Pa‘i ‘ia ka nūpepa mua, ‘o Ka Lama Hawaii, e nā kumu mikanele ‘Amelika ma ke Kulanui ‘o Lahainaluna. Ho‘opuka ‘ia a‘ela nā nūpepa a pau e nā kumu mikanele a ke Aupuni paha a hiki i ka 1861, ‘o ka makahiki ho‘i i ho‘okumu ‘ia ai ‘elua mau nūpepa kū‘oko‘a, ‘o Ka Hoku o ka Pakipika lāua ‘o Ka Nupepa Kuokoa. ‘O Kāwika Kalākaua kekahi luna ho‘oponopono o kaHoku, me kekahi mau nūpepa ‘ē a‘e, a pēlā i kapa ‘ia ai kona inoa ‘o “Ka Mō‘ī Luna Ho‘oponopono.” A ‘o ke Kuokoa, ‘o ia nō ka nūpepa i ‘oi loa aku ai ka lō‘ihi o ka pa‘i ‘ana, mai ka 1861 a hiki i ka makahiki 1927. He lau nā nūpepa like ‘ole i ho‘opuka ‘ia mai ka 1861 aku, a hiki i Ka Hoku o Hawaiʻi, he nūpepa o Hilo, a ‘o ia nō ka nūpepa ‘ōlelo Hawai‘i hope loa; pau ka ho‘opuka ‘ana i ka 1948. I loko o nā makahiki he 114 i ho‘opuka ‘ia ai nā nūpepa he 100 a ‘oi, ma kahi o ka 125,000 nā ‘ao‘ao i pa‘i ‘ia. A ma waena o ia mau ‘ao‘ao, he 75,000 ka nui i loa‘a ma ka pūnaewele ma www.nupepa.org a me www.papakilodatabase.com.

• Database
  • JIMAR 2011 Searchable translations of 4,000+ Hawaiian newspaper articles
  • Papakilo Database
• Hawaiian language websites
  • Nupepa.org
  • Voices of Eden: A History of Hawaiian Language Studies by Albert J. Shutz
  • Ulukau.org – The Hawaiian Electronic Library
  • Wehewehe.org – Online Hawaiian Dictionary
• Digital book: Science for Children (O ke akamai no na kamalii)
  • Abbott, J. (1837). O ke akeakamai no na kamalii. Lahainaluna.
• Videos