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| Hawaii Island Cultural Heritage Center | |
|---|---|
| Name | Hawaii Island Cultural Heritage Center |
| Location | Hilo, Hawaii County, Hawaii, United States |
| Type | Cultural history museum |
Hawaii Island Cultural Heritage Center is a multi-disciplinary museum and cultural complex on the island of Hawaiʻi dedicated to the preservation, interpretation, and celebration of native Hawaiian and multiethnic heritage. The center interprets pre-contact Hawaiian society, the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi, plantation-era migrations, and contemporary cultural revitalization through material culture, archives, performance, and living-history programs. It works in partnership with state and federal agencies, Native Hawaiian organizations, and academic institutions to support scholarship, community engagement, and cultural transmission.
The center was founded amid a wave of cultural revival that included the Hawaiian Renaissance, the establishment of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, and the passage of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act through collaboration among hānai, kūpuna, community leaders, and scholars from University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo, and the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum. Early supporters included leaders from Hawaii County and advocates associated with the Nā Ala Hele network, the Historic Hawaiʻi Foundation, and the Hawaiʻi State Archives. Institutional milestones paralleled events such as the designation of Puʻuhonua o Hōnaunau National Historical Park, listings on the National Register of Historic Places, and landmark rulings by the Hawaiʻi Supreme Court that affected cultural resource management. Over subsequent decades the center expanded through partnerships with the National Park Service, the Smithsonian Institution, the American Alliance of Museums, and community hui to respond to issues raised by activists involved in the 1978 Hawaiian constitutional convention and practitioners of the hula revival.
The center's holdings span traditional Hawaiian kapa, featherwork, ʻahu ʻula, kona waʻa, and ʻumu implements alongside artifacts from immigrant communities—Japanese, Chinese, Filipino, Portuguese, Puerto Rican, and Korean—reflecting plantation-era migrations tied to plantations such as Hāmākua Mill Company and Parker Ranch. Exhibits feature objects linked to figures and institutions like Kamehameha I, Queen Liliʻuokalani, King Kalākaua, the Kamehameha Schools, and archival materials from the Hawaiʻi State Archives and the Bishop Museum. The library and archives house oral histories with kūpuna involved in the Hawaiian sovereignty movement, correspondence related to the Overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi, plantation-era photographs connected to Sugarcane plantations, field recordings associated with Merrie Monarch Festival musicians, and botanical collections aligned with Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park herbarium projects. Rotating exhibitions have featured thematic collaborations with the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian, the J. Paul Getty Trust, and curators from Asia Society and Yale University.
The center's campus combines vernacular Hawaiian architecture, missionary-era stonework, and modern conservation facilities influenced by projects at Puʻukoholā Heiau National Historic Site and the Hoʻomaluhia Botanical Garden design principles. Landscaped grounds showcase native taxa found in Hilo Forest Reserve and plantings curated with input from practitioners associated with the Kapuahi Heiau, the Hawaii Botanical Garden, and the Hawaiʻi Department of Land and Natural Resources. Conservation laboratories and climate-controlled storage mirror standards set by the National Park Service Museum Resource Center and the Conservation Center for Art and Historic Artifacts. The campus plan was developed with architects and planners familiar with the Historic American Buildings Survey and consultants from firms that worked on projects for Iolani Palace and Puʻukoholā Heiau.
The center offers ʻike kūpuna workshops, hula and oli classes, canoe voyaging programming with practitioners from Nā Koa, and ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi courses in partnership with Kamehameha Schools and University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo. Public programs have included lectures by scholars associated with Hawaiian Studies, film screenings tied to Sergio Olhovich and Pacific cinema festivals, and symposiums co-sponsored with Hawaiʻi Council for the Humanities and the American Anthropological Association. Youth initiatives reflect models developed by Hoʻokahua I Ke Kumu Kalai Hoʻokele and community-based programs linked to Pauahi Foundation and Hoʻomalu Kalani cultural residency projects. Annual events draw collaborators from the Merrie Monarch Festival, the Prince Lot Hula Festival, and canoe clubs such as The Polynesian Voyaging Society.
Research programs support archaeological fieldwork coordinated with the State Historic Preservation Division, ethnographic study with the Native Hawaiian Legal Corporation, and conservation science partnerships with NOAA Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center and the U.S. Forest Service. The center participates in repatriation efforts under policies influenced by the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act and consults with claimant groups and the Office of Hawaiian Affairs concerning kākau, iwi kūpuna, and taonga. Scholarly collaborations have produced publications with University of Hawaiʻi Press, conference sessions at the Association for Asian Studies, and research exchanges with museums such as the National Museum of Natural History and Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology.
The center is located near Hilo Bay and accessible from Hilo International Airport and major routes including Hawaii Route 19. Visitor amenities include guided tours, archival access by appointment, and educational programming scheduled in coordination with the Hawaiʻi Department of Education school calendar. Hours, admission, and directions are managed in collaboration with Hawaii County Department of Parks and Recreation and regional transit providers. The site provides accessibility accommodations consistent with guidelines promoted by the Americans with Disabilities Act compliance offices of partner institutions like Bishop Museum.
Governance is provided by a board comprising representatives from Native Hawaiian trusts, academic institutions such as University of Hawaiʻi, and nonprofit partners including the Historic Hawaiʻi Foundation and community-based hui. Funding sources include endowments associated with the Kamehameha Schools, grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities, project awards from the National Endowment for the Arts, support from the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, contracts with the National Park Service, and philanthropic contributions from families and foundations such as the Cooke Foundation. Collaborative grantmaking and fiscal oversight align with practices modeled by the American Alliance of Museums and audit standards used by the Council on Foundations.
Category:Museums in Hawaii County, Hawaii