New $1 coin honors Native Hawaiian scholar, author, composer, hula practioner from Big Island

Mary Kawena Pukui, who was born in Kaʻū in 1895, spent her life working as a Native Hawaiian scholar and educator.

She also was a hula expert and wrote sourcebooks on Hawaiian cultural practices, concepts and beliefs traditionally passed through moʻolelo (orally transmitted stories). And, in 1995, she was even inducted into the Hawaiian Music Hall of Fame as a composer.

Now, her legacy is being honored nationally. She was named by the U.S. Mint as its 2025 Native American $1 coin honoree.

Pelehonuamea Harman, Pukui’s great-granddaughter and the director of Native Hawaiian engagement for the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo, has been involved in the process since 2023 and was able to choose the final artwork with her family.

The coin features Pukui with a hibiscus in her hair, a kukui nut lei, and kukui leaves in her hand, symbolizing Hawaiian knowledge. Alongside her profile is the title of her series of books, “Nānā I Ke Kumu,” which she produced with Queen Liliʻuokalani Children’s Center to document Hawaiian cultural practices and beliefs.

After choosing the art that best depicted Pukui, one of the changes Harman and her family requested from the U.S. Mint was the removal of the English translation for the statement and book title.

“We asked them to take the translation out because we wanted people to delve deeper and encourage people to learn more about our culture,” Harman said. “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.”

In 2023, native Hawaiian Edit Kanakaʻole was honored on a U.S. quarter. Kanakaʻole is described as a key influence in the renaissance of Hawaiian culture and language of the 1970s.

Puki was born two years after the 1893 overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom. She lived through the most transformative time for Hawaiʻi, witnessing rapid change and loss of her culture.

But Pukui also saw that she could use her education in Native Hawaiian language, traditions and history that she gained from her grandmother and mother, a descendant of a long line of kahuna (priests) going back centuries — as well as the teachings she received from her father, who was from a prominent shipping family from Salem, Mass., to bridge gaps in conversations between her neighbors and those who were considered outsiders.

“She navigated through a time of great transition for her people,” Harman said. “She realized that the economic systems, language systems, and customs were all changing or being lost at that time.

“It reminded her how important it was to write these things down as we became more removed from our customs and traditions.”

Over the years, Pukui became 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 Hawaiʻi” and “ʻŌlelo Noʻeau: Hawaiian Proverbs and Poetical Sayings.”

According to Harman, there was negativity attached to Pukui and her writing because stories are traditionally passed down orally.

“When our own people would scold her about writing these things down, she would say she was doing this for her grandchildren because she may not be around to do so,” Harman said. “She would say that all of our children will want to know where they come from and what our stories are.”

To celebrate the release of the coin and honor Pukui, who died in 1986, events are scheduled throughout the year across the state. Harman has been planning the celebrations to honor her great-grandmother, which also coincide with Women’s History Month.

The Moʻokini Library will host a panel discussion and kanikapila (live music) community event on Friday. The panel starts at 3 p.m. at the library. The panelists: Larry Kimura, University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo professor of Hawaiian Language and Hawaiian Studies; cultural historian Kepa Maly; and UH Hilo anthropology alumnus Halena Kapuni-Reynolds, who is an associate curator of Native Hawaiian history and culture at the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian.

The group will discuss the impacts of Pukui’s work on their fields of study, focusing on the differences between Hawaiian and Western methods of studying communities.

At 4:15 p.m., those in attendance are invited to a kanikapila (live music session) on the newly renovated lānai of the dining hall adjacent to the library’s lānai.

UH Hilo faculty, staff and alumni of Ka Haka ʻUla O Keʻelikōlani College of Hawaiian Language will alakaʻi (lead) participants in performing musical compositions by Pukui. Participants are encouraged to bring their musical instruments (ʻukulele, guitars, basses, voices) to join in.

Associate Professor of Hawaiian Language and Hawaiian Studies Kekoa Harman also will bring his Na Mele Hula Kahiko seminar class (KHWS 475) and hālau students from Ke Kula ʻo Nāwahīokalaniʻōpuʻu Iki charter school to offer impromptu hula at this celebratory gathering.

“We hope to make it a celebration of many things,” Pelehonuamea Harman said. “Definitely Mary Kawena Pukui, but also the resiliency and ingenuity of the people of Hawaiʻi in general.”

More information on Friday’s event can be found here.