She founded the Aloha Music Camp, which she operated with her son Keola, a Grammy-nominated slack-key guitar player.
In 1949, she began teaching Hawaiian culture, leading to a long career at the Kamehameha Schools. She also took over her mother's hula school and taught hula for 30 years.
She attended Colorado Women's College, Barnard College, and Columbia University.
She was a songwriter, performer, author, and hula teacher, and an authority on Hawaiian culture. Her ancestral Hawaiian name comes from Princess Manono; it means "precious flower".