Meʻe ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi: Mary Kawena Pukui
Another Hawaiian Language Hero that we celebrate in #MahinaOleloHawaii or #HawaiianLanguageMonth is arguably the hero most loved and celebrated for her contributions to the perpetuations of the Hawaiian Language. As the main scholar reponsible for the most widely used Hawaiian Language Dictionary, as well as the book of Hawaiian Proverbs, “ʻŌlelo Noʻeau”, as well as many more reference volumes - Mary Kawena Pukui was also a songwriter with incomparable mastery of Hawaiian poetry.
We will learn three mele composed by Pukui. Two hula, “Kaʻū Nui” and “Nā Hoa Heʻe Nalu” as well as her very first recorded composition, “Mele Hōʻala no Laʻakea” - a “Wake Up” song for her grandson, Laʻakea.
