author
Nathaniel Bright Emerson
1839–1915
Born in Hawaiʻi and trained as a physician, he became one of the key early writers to record and translate Hawaiian traditions for English-speaking readers. His work helped preserve stories, chants, and cultural history that might otherwise have been lost to many later audiences.
2 Audiobooks
Pele and Hiiaka: A Myth From Hawaii
by Nathaniel Bright Emerson
Unwritten Literature of Hawaii: The Sacred Songs of the Hula
by Nathaniel Bright Emerson
About the author
Nathaniel Bright Emerson was born in Waialua, Oʻahu, in 1839 and later studied at Williams College before training in medicine. He served during the Civil War, practiced as a doctor, and eventually returned to Hawaiʻi, where his interests increasingly turned toward history, language, and traditional Hawaiian knowledge.
He is best remembered for writing and editing works on Hawaiian mythology and culture, including Unwritten Literature of Hawaii and Pele and Hiiaka, and for translating David Malo's Hawaiian Antiquities into English. Those books made important chants, legends, and historical traditions accessible to a much wider readership.
Emerson died in 1915 while at sea. Today he is often remembered not only as a physician, but as a careful recorder of Hawaiian lore whose books remain widely cited in the study of Hawaiian history and tradition.