Polynesian Cultural Center
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The Polynesian Cultural Center (PCC) is a living museum located in Lā'ie, on the northern part of Oahu, Hawaii. Dedicated in 1963, the PCC is located on 42 acres (170,000 m²) of land owned by nearby Brigham Young University Hawaii, where most of the performers are enrolled as students. Although it is largely a commercial venture, profits from the PCC are applied to various scholarship programs run by BYU-Hawaii.
Many performers at the center are students attending BYU-Hawaii on scholarship from their native lands, working up to 20 hours per week. The money which visitors pay for admission, as well as profits from food and gift sales, supports the scholarship programs which have educated thousands of students over the years. Visitors are invited to take bus tours of the university to "see where your money is going," and to see the Laie Hawaii Temple visitor center.
History
The center has its roots in the hukilau and luau gatherings on the beach in the 1940s and 1950s to earn money to rebuild a local chapel belonging to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS), which had been destroyed in a fire. The "Hukilau Song," made famous by Arthur Godfrey, was written following the composer Jack Owens' visit to Lāie's hukilau. The PCC and BYU-Hawaii are owned and operated by the LDS Church, as is the Laie Hawaii Temple, located northwest of the university.The PCC is considered one of the most widely visited tourist destinations in Hawaii. Visitors are able to observe cultural activities by the peoples who inhabit the islands of the Central and South Pacific Ocean. The Polynesian Cultural Center is the venue for the annual World Fire Knife Dance Competition, in which contestants display their skill with blazing swords.
PCC staff will proudly flash the famous shaka sign to visitors who offer it to them. This sign, made by extending thumb and little finger, was a unique greeting in Lāie, a representation of Hamana Kalili, a local leader who had lost three fingers from his right hand in an industrial accident. While this sign is now known worldwide as a Hawaiian tradition, PCC considers itself the rightful heir of the tradition, as the first hukilau, direct ancestor to the Polynesian Cultural Center, was fed from nets provided by Kalili.
Activities
The PCC is best known for its multicultural Polynesian show, Horizons: Where the Sea Meets the Sky, which is the largest performance of its kind in the world. The park also has its own IMAX theater as well as a lagoon where visitors can take canoe rides from one end of the park to the other. The Lagoon is also home to the PCC's canoe pageant, "Rainbows of Paradise."
Each of the major Polynesian countries has its own area of the park centered on a re-created traditional village. Hourly performances and cultural learning experiences take place in these villages, and visitors are allowed free reign throughout the park. Each of the following has its own village:
In addition to the villages, the PCC has a special exhibit dedicated to Rapa Nui (Easter Island) and a tribute to the 1850s mission once run by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Visitors may participate in a luau or [Luau], such as the Alii Luau ("Royal Feast"), which offers traditional Polynesian fare, including pork cooked in an imu or underground oven. They are also invited to observe the cooked pig being removed from the imu prior to the meal. Due to the abundance of activities at the PCC, the "Free within Three" program grants visitors readmission for three days after their initial visit, as it is impossible to fully enjoy all of the park in a single visit.
References
- Ferre, C (1988). A History of the Polynesian Cultural Center's 'Night Show': 1963-1983. Doctoral Dissertation, Department of Theater and Film, Brigham Young University.
- Forester, Rubina (1986). The Polynesian Cultural Center: The realization gone far beyond the dream. In Proceedings of the Seventh Annual Conference, pp. 60-72. La'ie Hawai'i. Mormon Pacific Historical Society.
- Robinson, A.M. (1991). The Polynesian Cultural Center: A study of authenticity. The Chicago Anthropology Society Papers 12: 21-53.
- Ross, Andrew (1994). Cultural Preservation in the Polynesia of the Latter-Day Saints. In The Chicago Gangster Theory of Life: Nature's Debt to Society, pp. 21-98. Verso Press.
- Salamone, Frank (1999). The Polynesian Cultural Center and the Mormon Image of the Body: Images of Paradise on Laie, Hawai'i. In Religion, Dress, and the Body, Linda B. Arthur ed. pp. 53-71. Berg Press, 1999.
- Stanton, M (1977). The Polynesian Cultural Center: Presenting Polynesia to the world or the world to Polynesia. In A New Kind of Sugar, B Finney and K. Watson ed. pp. 229-233. East West-Center.
- Stanton, M (1989). The Polynesian Cultural Center: A multi-ethnic model of seven Pacific Cultures. In Hosts and Guests: The anthropology of Tourism, V. Smith ed. pp. 247-264. University of Pennsylvania Press.
- "Aloha from the Polynesian Cultural Center" ~ Handout available for download.
External links
- [The Polynesian Cultural Center web site]
- [Hawaiian Luau]
- [Hawaii Activity]
- [The Hukilau Song] - History of the song and of the hukilau
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