A new $1 coin will feature a Native Hawaiian scholar that many credit with preserving and protecting ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi.
The U.S. Mint’s 2025 Native American coin features Mary Kawena Pukui wearing a hibiscus flower, a kukui nut lei, and a muʻumuʻu patterned with leaves from the kukui nut tree.
There's also an inscription with “Nānā I Ke Kumu,” the title of a series of books that Pukui helped to produce with the Queen Liliʻuokalani Children’s Center.
The scholar, author, composer, hula expert and educator published more than 50 works, including "The Echo of Our Song," a translation of old chants and songs, and the definitive “Hawaiian Dictionary."
U.S. Sen. Mazie Hirono applauded the launch. In 2021, she sent a letter urging the U.S. Mint to feature three prominent women from Hawaiʻi in the American Women Quarters Program.
Pukui was one of them. The others were kumu hula Edith Kanakaʻole and former U.S. Rep. Patsy Takemoto Mink, who both went on to be featured on quarters in 2023 and 2024, respectively.
“Mary Kawena Pukui’s work, from her translations to compositions, have sustained Hawaiian language and culture for generations,” Hirono said in a press release.
“I am glad to see the Mint honoring Mary Kawena Pukui on this year’s Native American $1 Coin design, and hope that people across the country will learn more about her valuable contributions to uplift Native Hawaiian language, history, and culture.”
