Native Hawaiians - Culture and Arts

Culture and Arts

Several cultural preservation societies and organizations have been established over the course of the twentieth century. The largest of those institutions is the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum, established in 1889 and designated as the Hawaiʻi State Museum of Natural and Cultural History. Bishop Museum houses the largest collection of native Hawaiian artifacts, documents and other information available for educational use. Most objects are held for preservation alone. The museum has links with major colleges and universities throughout the world to facilitate research.

With the support of the Bishop Museum, the Polynesian Voyaging Society's double-hulled canoe Hōkūle‘a has contributed to rediscovery of native Hawaiian culture, especially in the revival of non-instrument navigation by which ancient Polynesians originally settled Hawaiʻi.

One of the most commonly known arts of Hawaii is hula dancing. It is an interpretive and expressive dance famous for its grace and romantic feel that expresses stories and feelings from almost any phase of life.