Winds of Change Steep Through Gallaudet

The Hawai'ian words were not

as strong as they used to be

before the white man came.

The Hawai'ian words couldn't

hurt or heal they way they used to,

and often these days they couldn't

explain what was happening

around the world. The white man's

ways are like a great ocean,

lapping at the Hawai'ian shores.

--Anonymous

Deaf people in general are a speech community steep in language oppression and deception, and no where is that more exemplified than at Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C., the world's only academy exclusively for the Deaf. Known for the strict hearing people's ways the recent campus events move at a glacial pace to question whether American Sign Language (ASL) has an equal academic status as its language counterpart, namely, English, for graduation requirement.

This year, however, the university administration and board have invited some monumental changes including the Sorenson Language and Communication Center project and a somewhat controversial deception, which allows the university to capitalize on ignorance of our general society about the language and communication manifestation of the Deaf, requiring ASL, period.

A lesson from Hawai'i may be worthwhile learned to allow change to happen: On June 26, 1803, King Kamehameha saw horses--a stallion and a mare--for the first time. They were gifts to King Kamehameha from the American trader Richard J. Cleveland who recorded in his journal that these horses swan ashore from his ship, Lelie Byrd.

The Hawai'ian villagers who saw these horses called them "giant pigs with long, slender legs upon which balanced a graceful body bearing an arched neck and a small, tossing head." The Hawai'ians found that these horses were taller than two men and stronger than King Kamehameha.

What a contrast King Kamehameha and Richard Cleveland made! The trader was "covered all over with dark cloth, even his arms and legs are wrapped up tightly." Facing him, and towering over him stood King Kamehameha, dressed in his loincloth and a brilliant golden feather cloak "which glossed against his dark skin and hung from his powerful shoulder to the ground."

The beautiful animal is called horse, brought from the white man's land for the king. King Kamehameha learned how to ride the horse by guiding it by means of the rope looped around the horse's nose. The Hawai'ian watched how the horse and the king moved royally around, the horse stepping proudly, his head dipping majestic rhythm, the king sitting straight.

No problem? Well, suddenly the horse's forelegs rose high in the air. With a yell of surprise, King Kamehameha slid off the horse's back and landed on the ground. No one dared to laugh. White men ran to help the king to his feet, since none of the Hawai'ians were permitted to touch the king.

Proud to have learned how to ride the horse, King Kamehameha desired to have his people to learn all about the horses. Today, not all Hawai'ians ride a horse, and they say: "The rider bends too much to the wind of the white man."

Morale: There are certain Deaf people bending too much to the wind of the hearing people.