"Kawena Puku`i, at her birth in 1895, was given by her haole father to his own Hawaiian mother-in-law… Kawena had the opportunity to master Hawaiian and to learn something of the old culture, and she has been ever thankful for her father's generosity and tolerance… Mary Kawena Puku`i, a Hawaiian language expert, and Elbert created the Hawaiian Dictionary in 1957. The Dictionary is considered the "bible" in today's Hawaiian cultural and language rejuvenation. "Puku`i was the source, and Elbert the vehicle who helped bring the source forward… "

Aunty Kawena's was a true labor of The Aloha Spirit. Never a wealthy woman in the material sense, she was incredibly waiwai (rich and bountiful) in Hawaiian knowledge and life experiences. She did not hoard any of what she knew. She shared with an open heart filled with Aloha. She was, and still is, respected, revered, and beloved by her pupils and her people.

Aunty Kawena was a tremendously sharing person. She must be delighted with this medium of communication and education, the Internet. Not only does the Internet allow unlimited exposure of her work, it furthers the fulfillment of her life's mission which was:

"…the appreciation, preservation and perpetuation
of the Hawaiian language and culture."

A cultural expert, translator, researcher, genealogist, composer, teacher, and author, Puku`i stands alone in the history of Hawaii for her contributions to the preservation and revitalization of Hawaiian language and culture. The festive event will highlight music, dance and storytelling presented by some of Hawaii's renowned individuals and organizations who are actively perpetuating her legacy."

"Puku`i is a "household word" and at least one, more likely several, books bearing her name are found on desks and book shelves all over Hawai`i, and throughout the world. Countless people are responsible for the "Hawaiian Renaissance" or the rebirth of the native culture here in the islands. There are composers and musicians, kumu hula, historians, political activists, writers and many others with significant contributions. In my opinion, central to this movement is understanding the language, the root of any culture, and communicating, sharing that understanding to large groups of people."

"Mary Kawena Puku`i, among others, states that the `ohana is a basic organizing principle of Hawaiian life, and that this concept resonates with the word 'oha, a synonym for kalo which refers as well to the plant's origins in the original stalk (Puku`i, Haertig and Lee 166ff.).

To be a member of an `ohana is then to be a node on the open-ended rhizomatic growth that both gives birth to and feeds each person. The `ohana's rhizomatic network, says Puku`i, includes connections to spirits, akua, ancestors and future generations, as well as to those people that Euroamericans might recognize as living family members.

To be Hawaiian, Puku`i maintains, is to be a person configured within a particular `ohana in an ever-evolving, living web. Writes Puku`i, "Today the concept of `ohana is often extended to include unrelated persons, community groups, or church membership" (in Puku`i, Haertig and Lee 173). This is a corruption of the concept, Puku`i maintains, as "The real `ohana is a natural phenomenon" (173). It refers not to wishing for a relationship but to a unity of people due to their common ancestors living both in them and in the spirits who remain in palpable daily contact with the `ohana."

" ... I intentionally chose these Hawaiians because their dedication to living the culture is noteworthy. They are optimistic, independent, hard-working people-role models for all of us. In sharing their stories and their history, I have tried to follow the advice of Mary Kawena Puku`i, whose contributions to modern Hawaiian scholarship are unmatched.

Mrs. Puku`i used to say, "Do not look back on the past with scorn and criticism, look back with understanding and appreciation."

" [Ka`upena Wong] credits the late Hawaiian scholar, Mary Kawena Puku`i as his most important teacher of Hawaiian chants, dance and Hawaiian cultural practice. About Puku`i, Ka`upena says "It was Kawena's intent that elements of the old tradition were not only to be studied but, indeed, they should continue to become a vital and living part of our islands' pluralistic cultural environment."