Recently there were two articles in the Washington Post that I want to point
out. On the Editorial page from March 31, 1994, Peter Vidito refers to a
half-page article of March 14th, entitiled "Speaking Old and Saving Sounds
to Keep Native Tongues Alive", by John Schwartz. He says:
'Their insidious disappearance over the past century is a national shame.
Unfortunately media coverage has done little to stir public debate or concern'.
Mr. Vidito, as a lifelong resident of Hawaii, felt offended that there was
no mention made of the Hawaiian language in Mr. Schwartz's article. In fact
the map of Hawaii wasn't even included.
'Mr. Schwartz even had the temerity to quote Hawaii Sen. Daniel Inouye!
To omit Hawaiian from any serious discussion of the "endangered list" of
indigenous languages in the U.S. seemed a painful affront, but was simply just
an oversite. An excellent example of the fight to save our nation's legacies
from extension would have been to mention the successful efforts of the Univ.
of Hawaii and the Kamehameha Schools promotion of Hawaiian language among
native children'.
Peace
Glenn H. Welker
2822 Atlanta Drive
Silver Spring, MD 20906
(301) 320-7214 (W)
(301) 949-1639 (H)
InterNet Address:gwelker@mail.lmi.org