The University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo will honor legendary Native Hawaiian scholar Mary Kawena Pukui with a panel and music celebration on Friday, March 28. The event celebrates Women’s History Month and Pukui’s selection as the 2025 honoree for the U.S. Mint’s Native American $1 coin.
Pukui’s great-granddaughter, Pelehonuamea Harman, UH Hilo’s new director of Native Hawaiian engagement is spearheading the special event.
- Related UH News story: Pelehonuamea Harman: Charting UH Hilo’s course in Indigenous learning, June 14, 2024
“This is a celebration for our people,” said Harman. “Hopefully, this coin is a source of inspiration for young people and our people who are spread out all over the planet. We want it to be a conversation starter, a history lesson in the form of a coin for non-Hawaiians and people who don’t know our story.”
ʻŌlelo preserver
Pukui (1895–1986) is best known for preserving ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi (Hawaiian language) and culture.
She is renowned for her groundbreaking work at the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum, where she contributed to foundational resources such as the Hawaiian Dictionary, Native Planters in Old Hawaii and ʻŌlelo Noʻeau: Hawaiian Proverbs and Poetical Sayings.
Her book series Nānā I Ke Kumu, featured on the new coin, explores Hawaiian beliefs and customs.
Memories of Tūtū
The coin’s design was chosen by Pukui’s family and features her with a hibiscus in her hair, wearing a muʻumuʻu and kukui nut lei.
“When we think of our tūtū—I think many Native Hawaiians think of their tūtū—she does have a flower and wears a muʻumuʻu (long dress) and a lei,” said Harman.
One design detail was especially intentional. The book title Nānā I Ke Kumu appears without an English translation.
“We wanted people to delve deeper and think, ‘What language is this? Who is the woman portrayed here and what is her story?’” said Harman.
Kanikapila kākou (Let’s play music)
The UH Hilo event begins with a panel at 3 p.m. at Mookini Library, featuring Hawaiian scholars and curators. Kanikapila will follow at 4:15 p.m. on the library lānai, with UH Hilo faculty, staff and alumni of Ka Haka ʻUla O Keʻelikōlani College of Hawaiian Language such as Kaʻiuokalani Damas, Kainani Kahaunaele, Bruce Torres-Fischer and Kaliko Trapp leading participants in performing musical compositions by Pukui. Hula will also be shared by hālau and Hawaiian language students.
For Harman, the timing of the coin’s release holds extra significance.
“This is the first time in our history when more Hawaiians live outside of the state than reside in Hawaiʻi,” said Harman. “I think especially for those Hawaiians who are all over the world as part of the diaspora, for our people to be honored in this way is really important.”
For more go to UH Hilo Stories.
—By Sophia Kim-O’Sullivan, a graduate student in library science and information at UH Mānoa
