Jordan Asing has devoted his life to restoring the beauty of the Hawaiian language and culture by teaching and spreading love to others. (Photo by Vasilisa Nesterenko)

By Vasilisa Nesterenko | Staff Writer

Jordan ʻĀina Kahaku Asing is a Hawaiian language teacher at KCC who has dedicated his life to studying Hawaiian culture. After receiving his bachelor’s degree in Hawaiian Language from UH Mānoa in 2013, he has worked for 14 years as a teacher of Hawaiian Language and Culture through the modes of mele and hula.

This semester, Asing, who prefers to be called Kumu Kahaku in the classroom, began teaching college students for the first time, and now he’s ready to share his experiences, challenges, and insights with Kapiʻo News. 

“Unconditional love defines what Aloha is for me,” Asing said. “In our language we say, ‘I ka ‘ōlelo nō ke ola, i ka ‘ōlelo nō ka make,’ which means, ‘In the language there is life, in the language there is death. The tongue and our words have a great effect on people. So it’s very important to share love through what we say.”

Asing was born into a large family with six siblings. As he said, Asing grew up in Papakōlea and Kalāwahine in “very much Hawaiian way,” although it lacked one important element: the language. Neither his mother nor his father spoke Hawaiian; only his great grandparents kept the spoken tradition alive. Although his grandparents were “fortunate enough” to speak ‘Ōlelo Hawai‘i to each other, it was not passed on to them, which resulted in their children and grandchildren not learning the Hawaiian language. Asing said that the reason for that was the fear placed on Hawaiians after the illegal overthrow of the monarchy.

“I heard many stories of our kūpuna, our ancestors, being disciplined at young ages for speaking Hawaiian in schools or out in the public,” he said.

Kumu Kahaku is a Hawaiian language professor at KCC. (Photo by Vasilisa Nesterenko)

That generational pain and loss inspired him to learn his mother language on his own, beginning with ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi at Roosevelt High School. Since then, it has become the passion of his life. It was deeply engaging for him to discover the meanings of the words he had heard that were used actively at home.

“I just knew Hawaiian language was for me,” Asing said. He was the only student in his class who continued through all four years of Hawaiian in high school.

“The other students weren’t as invested as I was,” he said.

Although Asing said that he may not have been the best student during his high school career, learning his mother tongue felt “natural” and enjoyable for him.

However, Asing’s interest in the Hawaiian language was inspired not only by traumatic events. Music awakened a deep love in his heart. As Asing said, although his parents did not speak their mother tongue, Hawaiian Language was prevalent at home through its musical form. His father was a paramedic by day and Hawaiian musician by night. His mother was a student of the hula. Hawaiian music “was fed” to their children, who inherited that passion. During one family gathering, young Asing was captivated by the beauty of his fatherʻs and brothers’ voices.

“I was just like, holy moly! I got a recorder and started recording,” he said. “And I would listen to it over and over again…”

All of these led to Asing choosing to get a degree in Hawaiian Language. He said that he enjoyed studying “anything Hawaiian.” As a student, Asing remembers practicing Hawaiian with his teachers, improving language skills, and, through that process, gaining a deeper understanding of his culture. At the same time, his desire to teach the language to others continued to grow.

“I don’t see me doing anything else unless it’s Hawaiian language and culture related,” Asing said.

Although Asing can’t tell if teaching Hawaiian is “one hundred percent” his calling, there’s no greater joy for him than teaching students. As he said, it was absolutely rewarding to “see the progress and the growths [of the students], each month, each semester, and then at the end of that one year, see what they can accomplish, and what you accomplished for them as a teacher.”

But along with the joy and pleasure of being a teacher, some struggles come. For example, this year it has been challenging for Asing to teach adults for the first time. Compared to his younger students, adults sometimes lack the same energy level, especially during evening classes. However, Asing said that becoming a professor at KCC was something he often considered when he worked here as a student from 2008 to 2010.

“Teaching culture through the Hawaiian language is for me,” Asing said.

I am lucky to be his student myself. He always comes to class with a warm smile and an aloha spirit. I love how Asing dedicates himself to his students and is always ready to help with assignments. It’s impossible not to be inspired by the beauty of island culture when you have a teacher like him.

At the end of our conversation, Asing shared with me his biggest dream, for the Hawaiian language and culture to be fully restored. He will “cry his eyes out” the day he comes into Walmart and hears people speaking Hawaiian casually.

“To walk out of my house and to hear Hawaiian music being played … is a huge fantastic big dream,” he said.

What is in a name?

Names hold deep cultural and spiritual meaning in Hawaiian culture. Each one carries its own value, origin, and story. As a Native Hawaiian, Asing shared the significance and history behind his full name.

He inherited his first name, ʻĀina, from one of his maternal grand-uncles. As Asing said, his mother was that uncle’s favorite niece, which is why he was named after him. The name itself means “land,” or more fully, “the land that feeds us.” It represents the deep spiritual relationship Hawaiian people have with their land.

“We look at the ʻāina, the land, as really like a mother who provides for us,” Asing said. “We take care of the ʻāina, and the ʻāina takes care of us in return.”

Asing’s other name, Kahaku, comes from his paternal grandfather. The word translates as the “lord,” “Creator,” or even “a style of lei making.” However, as Professor Asing noted, Kahaku is a shortened form of a longer name that he wished not to share.

His last name, Asing, has Chinese origins. It comes from his great-great-grandfather, who emigrated from Hong Kong and married a woman of half-Hawaiian and half-Samoan descent.