An Enduring Inspiration:
Mary Kawena Pukui Honored During May Day and Holokū Celebrations
The opening of Punahou’s 2026 May Day and Holokū celebrations transported spectators to a simpler time some 185 years ago, when the view from Pu‘uomānoa, Rocky Hill, was significantly different from today’s bustling Honolulu skyline. In those days, “the azure blue of the ocean and the radiance of the sandy shore were unobstructed,” a view that undoubtedly inspired Punahou’s signature buff ’n blue colors, according to Lauli‘a Phillips ’98 Ah Wong and Leilehua Phillips ’95 Utu, who co-directed the celebrations.
Against this evocative backdrop, Ah Wong unveiled the theme for the 2026 Holokū Pageant and Case Middle School May Day program: “Aloha Ku‘u One Hānau” (“Beloved are the Sands of my Birth”), an opening line from one of Mary Kawena Pukui’s compositions that invited the Punahou community to celebrate the beauty and aloha of Hawai‘i.
Much of the featured work in this year’s May Day and Holokū programs connected to Pukui, a testament to her legacy as one of the preeminent scholars of Hawaiian language and culture of the 20th century. Some of her landmark contributions include co-authoring the Hawaiian-English Dictionary and compiling thousands of ‘ōlelo no‘eau, or Hawaiian proverbs.
“We honor her not only for what she preserved, but also for what she gifted forward to us: a living language, a vibrant culture and a poetic tradition that continues to inspire,” Ah Wong said. “In the spirit of her work, we celebrate the beauty of mele, the ‘ike of our kupuna, and the enduring ‘ike that flows, like the waters beneath the hala tree, sustaining generations to come.”
The K – 12 celebrations were marked by many meaningful moments, including a moving tribute during the Case Middle School program, when the May Day Queen dedicated her performance of “Pua Hīnano” to Pukui. This mele was inspired by an infant girl whom Pukui and her mother adopted after the child lost both parents during the influenza pandemic of 1918.
“Even though this mele was composed more than a century ago, it reminds us that love’s expressions transcend time,” Ah Wong noted.
Academy students, meanwhile, presented a stirring Holokū that paid tribute to the diverse cultures of the Pacific through song and dance. The program opened with mele rooted in Hawai‘i before expanding to “Rai ‘Atea Nui,” a piece honoring Tahiti. In a historic first for Holokū, this year’s program also celebrated the people and heritage of Tonga.
“We honor generations of Tongan alumni at Punahou through this contemporary expression of love: ‘As Evening Falls’ (‘Malu Efiafi’),” Ah Wong said.
Punahou’s youngest learners also made sweet contributions to the honored buff ’n blue tradition. The theme for the K – 5 May Day celebration was “Ku‘u Kulāiwi Aloha,” (“My Beloved Homeland”), honoring Punahou’s deep connection to place and culture.
“The greatest connection that we have to each other is that we all share the same homeland,” Ah Wong said. The colorful program concluded with the audience singing “Hawai‘i Aloha,” a celebrated mele that expresses our affection for our beautiful home.
For Ah Wong and Utu, drawing inspiration from Pukui was deeply personal and remarkably serendipitous. “In many ways, the timing aligned naturally with the School’s continued efforts to deepen ‘ike Hawai‘i across campus, as well as the opening of the Academy’s Mary Kawena Pukui Learning Commons,” Ah Wong said. “It felt like an especially meaningful opportunity to honor someone whose work, values and legacy remain so deeply connected to Punahou and to Hawai‘i as a whole.”
