Bishop Museum welcomes Ernest “Ernie” Hillman to its Kūpuna Series for a presentation on, “The Hawai‘iloa: In Search of Her Hulls.”

When the idea to build Hawai‘iloa came about, Hawaiian forests were barren of koa logs large enough to serve as hulls for the double-hulled canoe. Upon hearing of the search for koa, Hillman, a forestry manager for Sealaska Regional Corporation of Alaska, came to the group’s aide and donated two Sitka spruce logs from Prince of Whales Island in Alaska. Join Hillman as he discusses his relationship to the Hawai‘iloa and the broad connections that bind the native peoples of Hawai‘i and Alaska.