The campaign to typescript more than 60,000 pages of Hawaiian language newspapers kicked off on Monday, November 28, coinciding with Lā Kūʻokoʻa – the Hawaiian Independence day. Led by Kauʻi Sai-Dudoit and Dr. Puakea Nogelmeier, the ʻIke Kūʻokoʻa project is seeking volunteers to assist with making the large collection of newspapers published between 1834 and 1948 searchable. The goal is to have these 60,000 pages type scripted by Lā Hoʻihoʻi Ea on July 31, 2012. If you are interested in assisting with the project, visit the Awaiaulu website.
About the Hawaiian language newspapers
Over 125,000 pages of Hawaiian-language newspapers were printed in more than a hundred different papers from 1834 to 1948. They equal a million or more typescript pages of text – perhaps the largest native-languagecache in the western world. They became an intentional repository of knowledge, opinion and historical progress as Hawaiʻi moved through kingdom, constitutional monarchy, republic and territory, yet only 2% of that repository has been integrated into our English-speaking world today. ‘Ike Kū’oko’a is a dynamic move to change that percentage and to open up this resource for general access today.