Audio & Video Samples - Mary Kawena Pukui
Mary Kawena Pukui, born in Ka'ū, Hawai'i in 1895, was the daughter of Mary Paahana Kanakaole (a Hawaiian woman) and Henry Wiggin (a Caucasian man originally from Massachusetts.) Both sides of her ancestry strongly influenced her life.
Initially raised by her Hawaiian grandmother in traditional ways, Kawena's early interest in ancient customs, hula, and language was supported by both of her parents. Even as a teenager she began gathering and transcribing Hawaiian stories and sayings, a practice she continued for as long as she was physically able to. Around 1928 she began translating Hawaiian writings into English at the Bernice P. Bishop Museum. From that time on, she worked actively at passing on her knowledge both in the Museum and outside it, sometimes in collaborations with others. Her most significant achievement was the co-authoring of the "Hawaiian-English Dictionary" in 1957, which formed the foundation for the continuing revival of the Hawaiian language which began in the 1970s.
Her writings were very extensive, and thousands of pages survive in the collection at Bishop Museum. But Kawena's knowledge was also preserved in hundreds of audiotape recordings from the 1950s and '60s, and even in a few film clips. Several samples included here give an introduction to this remarkable woman and her lifelong work, whose signficance to the survival of Hawaiian culture cannot be overstated.
1. Kawena describes the many uses of the taro plant in Hawaiian culture in a Bishop Museum audiotape, "Taro and Poi", recorded in June, 1958 (HAW 18.3.1).
Mp3 format (108 KB)
2. "Ho'okahi Au, Ho'okahi A`u", a children's counting chant, recorded November 17, 1969 (HAW 10.13). Also released on the Hula Records CD, "Mary Kawena Pukui : No Na Kamali`i". View the transcript.
Mp3 format (214 KB)
3. Kawena performs a seated hula at her home in Honolulu, ca. 1935.
Originally filmed by Vivienne Mader; this sequence from the 1984 film, "Ka Po'e Hula Hawai`i Kahiko (The Hula People of Old Hawai`i)" by Dr. Elizabeth Tatar (who provides voiceover narration) (1984.563.004).
Quicktime format (1.36 MB)
4. Kawena demonstrates the use of Bishop Museum's new audiotape recorder (with Eleanor Williamson) in Hawaiian Hall, Nov. 1954.
Originally filmed for KBMB-TV's "Life of the Land" (1977.182.019).
Quicktime format (1.28 MB)