Hawaiʻi builds a sign language rooted in its own Indigenous tongue

Started in 2024 by University of Hawaiʻi student Kekai Kaaumoana-Cummings — the first deaf person in UH Mānoa’s Hawaiian Language Department — ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi Kuhi Lima develops hand signs grounded in ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi and Native Hawaiian culture, not American Sign Language, which has no cultural connection to the islands.