Born to a Hawaiian father and a First Nations mother, Maria (pronounced Ma-Rye-ah) lived her entire life on the Gulf Island of British Columbia's southwest coast. A true pioneer, she lived from the mid 1850s to 1936, bore thirteen children, and now has a variety of descendents including loggers, fishermen, university professors, and a former provincial minister of finance. Acclaimed historian Jean Barman gives us a portrait of a woman who was independent, resourceful and proud of her Hawaiian heritage. Maria was also a woman ahead of her times, as she kept her name, protected her interests, and even went to court to contest a will. "Maria Mahoi of the Islands" is Number 13 in the Transmontanus series of books edited by Terry Glavin.