The shaka sign -- a person's thumb and pinkie extended, the rest
of the fingers in a fist -- is uniquely Hawaiian, a way to say
"right on," "hang loose" or simply hello. But it turns out it's
not the only way islanders have used their hands to communicate.
A research group at the University of Hawaii at Manoa announced
Friday that they had documented -- for the first time -- Hawaii
Sign Language, or HSL, which deaf people across the islands'
diverse ethnic groups have used for decades if not longer. While
there is written evidence dating back to 1821 indicating such a
language existed, beginning in the 1940s it started to get
largely phased out in favor of American Sign Language.
Researchers identified about 40 Hawaiians who still use it --
interviewing 19 of them, plus two adult children, on four
islands for their study. But they are all 80 years of age or
older, making it imperative to act now in order to preserve it
before it's too late. "Researchers are committed to a long term
study of HSL with the goals