"These kūpuna sought to pass forward what they had been given. We receive these makana with care and gratitude: the opportunity to be immersed in the moʻolelo and mele of our people; the embodied knowledge of hula and the nourishment of kalo; the shared practice of celebrating Lā Hoʻihoʻi Ea alongside our closest ʻohana and friends; the experience of sailing aboard our traditional navigating vessels, carried deep into the realm of our akua. Each of our living cultural and political traditions continues because these elders tended them long enough to place them into our hands. When we carry these practices forward in service of our keiki and moʻopuna, we honor that care and make ourselves worthy of their sacrifices. In doing so, we become kūpuna too." —From the new Foreword by Jonathan Kay Kamakawiwoʻole Osorio and Jamaica Heolimeleikalani Osorio

Through the voices of twenty-four Hawaiian elders, all experts in their respective fields of traditional arts, practices, and knowledge, we learn about Hawaiian culture and its values. In the 1990s, author MJ Harden interviewed these kūpuna, asking what they would like to pass on to the next generation, and photographer Steve Brinkman took portraits of each kupuna in their own element. Voices of Wisdom lovingly presents their words and images in a way that feels as if we are in the room with them. Each chapter is a rich, thought-provoking encounter with a member of a generation—now mostly passed—that led the Hawaiian cultural renaissance of the late twentieth century. Due in large part to their dedicated efforts, Hawaiian culture thrives today.

Mary Kaauamo (1912–2008)
Isabella Abbott (1919–2010)
Eddie Pu (1929–2012)
Margaret Machado (1916–2009)
Lanakila Brandt (1924–2005)
Kawika Ka‘alakea (1919–1998)
Lydia Namahana Mai‘oho (1921–1998)
Charley Keau (1927–2005)
Winona Beamer (1924–2008)
Kekuni Blaisdell (1925–2016)
Kapeka Chandler (1931–2007)
Elaine Kaopuiki (1929–1999)
George Nā‘ope (1928–2009)
John Lake (1937–2008)
Edith McKinzie (1925–2014)
Kindy Sproat (1930–2008)
Puanani Van Dorpe (1933–2014)
Marie McDonald (1926–2019)
Elizabeth Lee (1929–2016)
Jo-Anne Kahanamoku Sterling (1929–2010)
Leon Paoa Sterling (1945–2010)
Herb Kāne (1928–2011)
Nainoa Thompson (b. 1953)
Keola Sequeira (1945–2022)