HR114 • 2026

REQUESTING THE UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII TO ALLOW AN OLELO HAWAII PATHWAY UNDER THE NIIHAU DIALECT.

Active

The official status still shows this bill as active or still awaiting another formal step.

Sponsor: KILA
Last action: 2026-04-09
Official status: Resolution adopted in final form.
Effective date: Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

Using official source text because the generated explanation was unavailable or could not be confirmed against the official bill text.

REQUESTING THE UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII TO ALLOW AN OLELO HAWAII PATHWAY UNDER THE NIIHAU DIALECT.

What This Bill Does

REQUESTING THE UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII TO ALLOW AN OLELO HAWAII PATHWAY UNDER THE NIIHAU DIALECT.
UH; Olelo Hawaii Language Pathway; Niihau Dialect

Limits and Unknowns

This entry is temporarily using official source text because the generated explanation could not be confirmed against the official bill text during the last sync.

Bill History

2026-04-09 H
Resolution adopted in final form.
2026-04-09 H
Adopted with none voting aye with reservations; none voting no (0) and Representative(s) Cochran excused (1).
2026-04-09 H
Reported from JHA (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 1875-26), recommending adoption.
2026-04-07 H
The committee on JHA recommend that the measure be PASSED, UNAMENDED. The votes were as follows: 8 Ayes: Representative(s) Tarnas, Poepoe, Belatti, Hashem, Kahaloa, Takayama, Garcia, Shimizu; Ayes with reservations: none; Noes: none; and 2 Excused: Representative(s) Sayama, Cochran.
2026-04-02 H
Resolution scheduled to be heard by JHA on Tuesday, 04-07-26 2:00PM in conference room 325 VIA VIDEOCONFERENCE.
2026-03-31 H
Report adopted; referred to the committee(s) on JHA with none voting aye with reservations; none voting no (0) and Representative(s) Nakamura, Perruso excused (2).
2026-03-31 H
Reported from HED (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 1571-26), recommending referral to JHA.
2026-03-25 H
The committee on HED recommend that the measure be PASSED, UNAMENDED. The votes were as follows: 7 Ayes: Representative(s) Garrett, Amato, Kapela, Kila, La Chica, Olds, Souza; Ayes with reservations: none; Noes: none; and 3 Excused: Representative(s) Evslin, Woodson, Muraoka.
2026-03-23 H
Resolution scheduled to be heard by HED on Wednesday, 03-25-26 2:30PM in conference room 309 VIA VIDEOCONFERENCE.
2026-03-18 H
Referred to HED, JHA, referral sheet 19
2026-03-16 H
Offered

Official Summary Text

REQUESTING THE UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII TO ALLOW AN OLELO HAWAII PATHWAY UNDER THE NIIHAU DIALECT.
UH; Olelo Hawaii Language Pathway; Niihau Dialect

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text

HR114

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.R. NO.

114

THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2026

STATE OF HAWAII

HOUSE RESOLUTION

requesting the University of Hawaii to allow an Olelo
hawaii pathway under the niihau dialect
.

����
WHEREAS, Olelo
Hawaii is a unique marker of Hawaiian identity and the proud heritage of the
Hawaiian people; and

����
WHEREAS, native
speakers of the Niihau dialect come from a genealogy of continued use of
Hawaiian as their primary language of cognition; and

����
WHEREAS, except
for Niihau, Hawaiian pronunciation among native speakers on all islands
underwent a period of conformance to the English alphabet; and

����
WHEREAS, even
when the medium of education on Niihau eventually shifted to English, families
on the island continued to use Olelo Niihau as their primary language; and

����
WHEREAS, the
isolation of the Niihau community has allowed Olelo Niihau to flourish as its
own dialect, significantly distinct from the Olelo Hawaii commonly found in
immersion schools and mainstream educational settings; and

����
WHEREAS, various
state agencies have continually acknowledged and supported Olelo Niihau as a
dialect distinct from Olelo Hawaii, primarily by providing live interpreters to
facilitate communication between Olelo Niihau speakers and health providers,
schools, and other community institutions; and

����
WHEREAS, the
level of competence which native speakers of Olelo Niihau possess even today is
a testament to the formidable instinct of the Niihua community to preserve
their connection to the Hawaiian language of their ancestors; and

����
WHEREAS, there
is emerging external pressure to integrate newly invented vocabulary and
concepts produced by new speakers of the Hawaiian language on to the Niihau
community; and

����
WHEREAS, pressure
to instill new linguistic characteristics on Niihau youth, whose language has
been learned from their kupuna, risks attrition of Olelo Niihau by
interpolation; and

����
WHEREAS, simultaneously,
Hawaiian language revitalization initiatives have largely moved away from consulting
Niihau community members as language resources; and

����
WHEREAS, Hawaiian
language initiatives from outside of the Niihau community have enjoyed the
support of legislation and policy by this body, while the specific linguistic
needs of the Niihua community have been ignored or dismissed; now, therefore,

����
BE IT
RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Thirty-third Legislature of the
State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2026, that the University of Hawaii is
requested to allow an Olelo Hawaii Pathway concentrating specifically on Olelo
Niihau; and

����
BE IT FURTHER
RESOLVED that a certified copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the
President of the University of Hawaii System.

OFFERED BY:

_____________________________

Report Title:
�

UH;
Olelo Hawaii Language Pathway; Niihau Dialect