|
For lovers of Hawaiian history and culture, the Bernice Pauahi
Bishop Museum in
Honolulu qualifies as a "must" visit. Not only is it the largest museum in the
state—since its inception in 1889, it’s acquired nearly 25 million items that
tell the story of Hawaii and Polynesia—it’s also widely regarded as the premier
natural and cultural history institution in the entire Pacific region.
Charles Reed Bishop founded the museum in honor of his late wife, Princess
Bernice Pauahi Bishop, the last descendant of the royal Kamehameha family. The
museum was built on the original grounds of Kamehameha Schools, which was
established by the princess to educate Hawaii’s children. The museum was meant
to augment their education and help develop a greater pride in their heritage.
Today, a visit to the museum should include a tour of Hawaiian Hall, which
houses Hawaiian treasures as well as unique artifacts of the American, European
and Asian immigrant cultures. The entire three-floor exhibit is housed inside a
magnificent 19th-century Victorian-style building. The Polynesian Hall,
meanwhile, features two floors of exhibits representing the peoples of cultures
all across Polynesia, Micronesia and Melanesia. And the Natural History Hall
spotlights Hawaii’s rich natural environment, including rare endemic birds and
insects.
A more recent addition to the museum is the Castle Building, which houses
traveling hands-on exhibits geared for families. Past subjects have included
robotics, ocean life, space exploration, dinosaurs, insects and even chocolate!
In addition, the museum’s state-of-the-art Jhamandas Watumull Planetarium offers
a wide variety of astronomy-related programs for the general public.
The Bishop Museum is open daily from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. (closed on Christmas Day).
Guided tours and cultural demonstrations are held daily.
No doubt, the Bishop Museum today continues to live up to its ambitious mission
statement: "Our mission is to record, preserve and tell the stories of Hawaii
and the Pacific, inspiring our guests to embrace and experience our natural and
cultural world."
|