Native Hawaiian Heritage & Culture

On their many voyages to the Hawaiian Islands, Captain James Cook and his crew became familiar with the aikane, a select group of men who had sexual relations with the king and other ali'i, or royals. Several journal entries from their extended stays at Kealakekua Bay describe the openness of these relationships.

At Pu'ukohola Heiau National Historic Site on the Hawai'i Island coast at Kawaihae, influential Hawaiian figures lived and made decisions that changed the course of Hawaiian history and daily life.

He mele no Kalaupapa (A Song for Kalaupapa) by “Bay View Girl” provides a glimpse into the life and spirit of one resident of the Kalaupapa Hansen’s disease settlement on Molokai, where she was banished and left to die. Her song, sung by Park Ranger Mikiala Pescaia, shows that Kalaupapa brimmed with life. Her voice captures the beauty of the land and the strength of the Bay View Girl who endured the pain and loneliness of being forcibly removed from her family and home.

The science of nutrition that we take for granted today was in its infancy when World War II began. The US government was very worried about nutrition -- in the military and among civilians. Nutrition and food became linked with the future of America and of democracy itself.

Explore the stories of William Kaulehelehe and Mary Kaai, a Hawaiian couple hired by the HBC to provide religious instruction and education to Fort Vancouver's Hawaiian employees.

To understand the geography of the American home front in World War II, we need to go back as far as the middle of the 1800s. In 1940, almost 19 million people – 12.2% of the US population -- lived in these US jurisdictions.

Meet Simon Aceto, a recent Fish and Feathers intern at Rocky Mountain National Park during the summer of 2023.

In May 2016 a double-hulled canoe called Hōkūleʻa, a replica of an ancient Polynesian vessel, sailed down the Potomac River to dock at the Washington Canoe Club at the C&O Canal National Historical Park in Washington, DC. Without modern instruments and guided only by the sun, sea and stars, Captain Kalepa Baybayan of the Polynesian Voyaging Society charted the canoe from Hawaii to DC to participate in BioBlitz 2016, a National Park Service Centennial celebration.

Visit archeological landscapes associated with indigenous peoples of the United States, including Native Americans, Native Alaskans, and Native Hawaiians.

The Village is a locus for exploring colonial identity and change associated with the globalized fur trade. The material culture tells us about human use of space, investment in their houses, and ceramic usage. Through archeology, we understand more about the spatial arrangement, landscape use, and development of the Village over time, the residents’ investment in and maintenance of their homes, and the relationship of ceramics to ethnicity and economic status.