​THE HAWAIIAN LEGACY FOUNDATION

KEEPERS OF THE FLAME
The Cultural Legacy of Three Hawaiian Women 

 

This is the story of three extraordinary Hawaiian women who helped revive Hawaiian culture when it was perilously close to being lost. It was a time when the monarchy had been overthrown, the Hawaiian language was banned from public places and schools, and the Hawaiian heartbeat of hula was forced underground.

 

Mary Kawena Pukui, ʻIolani Luahine, and Edith Kanakaʻole combined commitment to Hawaiian history with art and aloha to reignite the flame of tradition. Each planted seeds of the Hawaiian cultural renaissance. Kawena as a history and language expert, teacher and author, ʻIolani as a chanter, cultural icon and "high priestess of hula," and Edith as a songwriter, teacher and founder of the traditional school of hula, Hālau O Kekuhi.

 

The lives of these three great women are described through heartfelt interviews with people who knew and were influenced by them, along with wonderful archival footage collected throughout the years.