Ethnology
Image: Up-close detail of braids of a lei niho palaoa.
Ethnology
The Ethnology Collection focuses its priorities onto the physical care and documentation of cultural objects with historical and/or cultural ties to the Pacific region, used in all levels of daily life, from the ceremonial to the day-to-day. The ongoing documentation process of compiling recorded histories, cultural stories associated with objects, and the identification of materials and techniques used in their manufacture, all assist in better contextualizing each object. These cultural materials can be categorized into three major groupings from:
• Hawaiʻi
• Oceania
• Hawaiʻi’s immigrant communities
Explore Bishop Museum’s Ethnology Collection through our online database. You will have access to information and images to over 77,000 cultural objects in the Collection from Hawaiʻi, Oceania, and the greater Pacific region. Records and information are routinely updated, but if you require information currently not available online, feel free to contact us at ethnology@bishopmuseum.org.
Bishop Museum is temporarily suspending public access to the Ethnology and Archaeology collections from August 16-November 12, 2023. Ethnology and Archaeology department team members are part of the Lahaina cultural recovery response plan and are working in service of Maui’s cultural needs. If your inquiry is NAGPRA related, please email the Registrar’s office by clicking here.
Ethnology Department
808.847.8279 or 808.847.8264
ethnology@bishopmuseum.org
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