During the Hawaiian Monarchy, many Native Hawaiians were bilingual and even multilingual in immigrant languages, including English. In most schools in Hawaiʻi, Hawaiian is placed in the same category as foreign languages in contrast to English, the other official language of Hawaiʻi. The effort to revitalize Hawaiian as has also included a struggle to restore multilingualism to students in Hawaiian medium education while providing a vehicle for Hawaiian to be the primary official language of families that make that choice.

About He ʻŌlelo Ola

He ʻŌlelo Ola, also known as the "Hilo Field Study" of the International Conference on Language Documentation and Conservation (ICLDC) has been held biannually since 2009 in association with ICLDC. ICLDC is traditionally held on the campus of the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa on Oʻahu Island, while He ʻŌlelo Ola is held in a consortium of programs coordinated through the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo on Hawaiʻi Island.

In 2023, He ʻŌlelo Ola and ICLDC were held virtually and sessions recorded and made available for viewing through Mokuola Honua Center for Indigenous Language Excellence. The contents of this recording represent the consortium of entities working together in Hawaiian language revitalization as of March 2023. The consortium is continually growing and adding features and future He ʻŌlelo Ola will include new information and initiatives.

Explore mokuolahonua.com for further information on the Hawaiian language revitalization consortium efforts in Hilo, and to contact He ʻŌlelo Ola organizers.