“I have only one favor to ask of people: to take care of their stories.”
When Mary Kawena Puku’i was born, her grandmother named her the Puna Hele, the one who would carry their Hawaiian tradition and culture into the future. Not an easy task, since she was born in 1895 – the year Hawaii was overthrown and annexed by the United States! But she rose to the task, working tirelessly her entire life to record Hawaiian language and culture…with magnificent and inspiring results! Katie interviews Dr. Eve Okura Koller.
You can find an annotated bibliography of all of Puku’i’s works here. Many of her books are available on Bookshop and Amazon.
Enjoy these documentaries on Mary Kawena Puku’i – one from PBS here and one from the Hawaii Council for the Humanities here.
Read fascinating articles on: “How Hawaiians saved their language” from the Library of Congress, “Celebrating Mary Kawena Puku’i” from Kamehameha Schools, and a biography from the Mary Kawena Puku’i Preservation Society (including a wonderful photo of Mary with her grandmother).
Listen to the Smithsonian Collection of traditional Hawaiian music here, and here’s a whole host of old recordings in the Hawaiian language. Or watch an authentic Hula performance from Hilo Community College, citing Mary Kawena Puku’i as an expert source.
Dr. Eve Okura Koller holds a Ph.D. in Linguistics from the University of Hawai’i at Manoa. Her research has taken her to places such as New Zealand, the Akwesasne Mohawk Reservation, and Finland. Her publications include the Open Handbook of Linguistic Data Management (MIT Press) and Language Nests (Oxford University Press). She is from Hilo, Hawai’i.
Music featured in this episode included:
“Hilo” performed by the Irene West Royal Hawaiians
“Hawaiian waltz medley” performed by Pale Lua and David Kaili
“Kaowe ake kai” and “Akahi hoi” performed by the Toots Paka Hawaiian Company
“Tomi tomi” and “Hawaii ponoi” (the Hawaiian National Anthem) performed by A. Kiwala, S.M. Kiwale, Benjamin Waiaiole, Walter Kolomoku, and W.B.J. Aeko.
“Ukulele Beach” by Doug Maxwell
“Hulu Ukulele” by Chris Haugen
“Aloha oe” performed by E. K. Rose
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