Echoes of the past: Spoken-language digital repository created for Hawaiian language

Participants pose for a group shot Monday during the He Olelo Ola Hilo Field Study conference, Lono Ae I Na Leo Kupuna - Hearing Ancestral Voices at University of Hawaii at Hilo.

HOLLYN JOHNSON/Tribune-Herald Director of KH'UOK College Keiki Kawai'ae'a (center) and other faculty and staff welcome participants of theHe 'Ōlelo Ola Hilo Field Study conference, Lono A'e I Na Leo Kupuna - Hearing Ancestral Voices with ho'okipa Monday at University of Hawaii at Hilo.

Nakamakanikolonahe Obrero gives lei to participants of the He Olelo Ola Hilo Field Study conference. (Photos by HOLLYN JOHNSON/Tribune-Herald)

Director of KH’UOK College Keiki Kawai’ae’a speaks about the launch of Kani’aina, “Voices of the Land,” Monday during the He Olelo Ola Hilo Field Study conference, Lono Ae I Na Leo Kupuna - Hearing Ancestral Voices at University of Hawaii at Hilo. (HOLLYN JOHNSON/Tribune-Herald)

HILO — The voices of Hawaii’s past will be preserved for the Hawaiian language’s future, thanks to the launch last week of a new spoken-language digital repository.