Books
This is simply a reading list of books about Hawaiʻi, Hawaiians, and Hawaiian culture that I think everyone should consider reading or simply browsing for no other reason than to broaden your understanding of Hawaiʻi as a place and the ancestral home of the Hawaiian people. Many of these books are available at Native Books at Ward Warehouse.
Ancient Hawaiʻi, Herb Kawainui Kane
Architecture in Hawaiʻi, Sandler, Rob, and Julie Metha
Change We Must, Emma Veary
Dismembering Lāhui: A History of the Hawaiian Nation to 1887, Osorio, Jonathan
Drink the Bitter Waters: On the Social Condition of Native Hawaiians, Fernandez, Susan Lehua
The Echo of Our Song: Chants and Poems of the Hawaiians, Pukui, Mary K. and Alfons L. Korn
Emma, Hawaii’s Remarkable Queen, George S. Kanahele
The Epic Tale of Hiʻiakaikapoliopele, Hoʻoulumāhiehie, translated by Puakea Nogelmeier
From a Native Daughter: Colonialism and Sovereignty in Hawaiʻi, 2nd Ed. , Trask, Haunani Kay
Hawaiian Antiquities: Moʻolelo Hawaiʻi, Malo, David
The Hawaiian Canoe, Holmes, Tommy
Hawaiian Dictionary, Pukui, Mary Kawena and Samuel H. Elbert
Hawaiian Fishing Traditions, Manu, Moke
Hawaiian Herbal Medicine: Kāhuna Lāʻau Lapaʻau, Gutmanis, June
Hawaiian Music & Musicians, Berger, John
Hawaiian Mythology, Martha Warren Beckwith
Hawaii’s Story by Hawaii’s Queen, Queen Liliʻuokalani
Hoʻoulu: Our Time of Becoming: Hawaiian Espitemology and Early Writings, Meyer, Manulani Aluli
Ka Honua Ola: The Living Earth, Pualani Kanakaʻole Kanahele
Ka ʻOihana Lawaiʻa: Hawaiian Fishing Traditions, Kahaulelio, A. David, Puakea Nogelmeier, and Daniel Kahaulelio
The Kumulipo, Martha Warren Beckwith
Lāʻau Hawaiʻi: Traditional Hawaiian Uses of Plants, Abbott, Isabella Aiona
The Life & Times of John Young, Emmet Cahill
Links to the Past: The Work of Early Hawaiian Artisans, Arbeit, Wendy
Lua, Art of the Hawaiian Warrior, Paglinawan, Richard, Mitchell Eli, Moses Kalauokalani, Jerry Walker
Nā Moʻolelo Lomilomi: Traditions of Hawaiian Massage and Healing, Chai, Makana Risser
Nānā I Ke Kumu: Look to the Source, Vols. I-II, Pukui, Mary Kawena, E.W. Haertig and Catherine Lee
Nation Within: The Story of America’s Annexation of the Nation of Hawaiʻi, Coffman, Tom
Native Land and Foreign Desires: Pehea Lā E Pono Ai?, Kameʻeleihiwa, Lilikalā
Native Planters in Old Hawaiʻi: Their Life, Lore, and Environment, Handy, E.S. Craighill and Elizabeth Green Handy with Mary Kawena Pukui
ʻOlelo Noʻeau: Hawaiian Proverbs and Poetical Sayings, Mary Kawena Pukui
Paniolo, Brennan, Joseph
Place Names of Hawaiʻi (Revised Edition), Pukui, Mary Kawena
The Polynesian Family System in Kaʻū, Hawaiʻi, Handy, E.S. Craighill and Mary Kawena Pukui
Recollections, John Dominis Holt
The Rights of My People, Proto, Neil Thomas
Ruling Chiefs of Hawaiʻi (Revised Edition), Kamakau, Samuel
Shoal of Time, Daws, Gavan
Tales from the Night Rainbow, Pali Jae Lee and John Koko Willis
To Steal A Kingdom: Probing Hawaiian History, Dougherty, Michael
The True Story of Kaluaikoʻolau As Told By His Wife Piʻilani,, Frazier, Frances N., trans.
The Value of Hawaii -Knowing the Past, Shaping the Future, ed. by Howes, Craig and Jonathan Kay Kamakawiwo’ole Osorio
Voices of Wisdom: Hawaiian Elders Speak, Harden, MJ
Also see the online resources in our Reference Websites section.