Bringing the Past Forward

While Hawai`iloa was under construction, Bishop Museum Native Hawaiian Culture and Arts Program (NHCAP) built a foundation of supporting arts and traditions through other projects. The program has focused on recovery and dissemination `ike (knowledge):

• Lost arts were researched through kupuna (elders), written accounts, and experimentation;
• Cataloging improved access to old resources like Bishop Museum's Mele Collection (songs and chants);
• Propagation projects renewed plant resources, including trees (koa and kauila), fiber plants (olona, wauke, and makaloa), and gourds.
• Traditional ceremonies, spirituality, and protocol are being rejuvenated and reshaped as kanaka maoli (ethnic Hawaiians) define their future.

These are some of the 90+ programs that NHCAP has helped fund and further support through loea-haumana (master-apprentice) programs.

Ka waihona o ka na`auao.
The repository of learning.
Said in admiration of a learned person.
(`Olelo No`eau #1650; Pukui 1983)

Assembling Hawai`iloa

Back Gallery of the Hawai`iloa Exhibit

BISHOP MUSEUM
The State Museum of Natural and Cultural History
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