BISHOP MUSEUMThe State Museum of Natural and Cultural History
For Museum Information, call (808) 847-3511
What can you eat on a Polynesia island? Not much! Pacific islands have few wild carbohydrates, those energy-producing starches which are so critical to human survival. Polynesian voyages introduced over 30 plants and animals to Hawai‘i . Among these were plants for food, medicines, cordage, and kapa (barkcloth).
Polynesians distributed many of these same cultigens throughout the Pacific. Local soils, climates, and cultural preferences favored some over others. Some places were just too harsh for these tropical species. Aotearoa (New Zealand) was too cold for breadfruit, bananas, coconut, sugar cane, pigs, or chickens. Rapanui (Easter Island) was too dry for breadfruit; pigs and dogs did not survive either.
Visit the ethnobotanical garden outside of Castle Hall to see what the Polynesians brought to Hawai‘i .
`A`ohe `ulu e loa`a i ka pokele o ka lou.
No breadfruit can be reached when the picking stick is too short.
There is no success without preparation.
(`Olelo No`eau #213; Pukui 1983)
Colonization Strategies
Upstairs Gallery of the Hawai`iloa Exhibit
BISHOP MUSEUM
The State Museum of Natural and Cultural History
For Museum Information, call (808) 847-3511