Location | 55-370 Kamehameha Highway, Laie, Hawaii, U.S. |
---|---|
Coordinates | 21°38′20.63″N157°55′12.97″W / 21.6390639°N 157.9202694°W |
Status | Operating |
Opened | October 12, 1963 |
Owner | Corporation of the President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints |
Slogan | One Ohana Sharing Aloha |
Area | 42 acres (17 ha) |
Website | polynesia |
The Polynesian Cultural Center (PCC) is a family-centered cultural tourist attraction and living museum located in Laie, on the northern shore of Oahu, Hawaii. [1] The PCC is owned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), was dedicated on October 12, 1963, and occupies 42 acres (17 hectares) of land belonging to nearby Brigham Young University–Hawaii (BYU-Hawaii). [2]
The PCC encompasses eight simulated tropical villages, in which performers demonstrate various arts and crafts from throughout Polynesia. [3] Visitors may also take a free shuttle tour of the university and see the LDS Church's Laie Hawaii Temple and its associated visitors' center.
Seventy percent of the PCC's approximately 1,300 employees are students at BYU-Hawaii. [4] Since it has opened, the PCC has provided financial assistance to more than 12,000 BYU-Hawaii students. [5] Students may work up to 20 hours per week during school terms and 40 hours during breaks. As a non-profit organization, PCC's revenue are used for daily operations and to support education.
In early 1962, LDS Church president David O. McKay authorized construction of the nonprofit center as a way to provide employment and scholarships for students at BYU-Hawaii and to preserve the cultures of Polynesia. [6] It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s hukilau and luau beach gatherings to earn money to rebuild a local chapel belonging to the LDS Church, which had been destroyed in a fire. "The Hukilau Song", made famous by Alfred Apaka, was written following the composer and song's original singer, Jack Owens, visit to Lāʻi.e.'s hukilau. [7] In October 1980, Guangdong Party first secretary Xi Zhongxun, father of current Chinese leader Xi Jinping, visited the PCC during a tour of the United States. [8] After the September 11 attacks attendance suffered at the PCC. [9] In 2004, the PCC doubled its advertising budget, "to promote local music, dance and food festivals". [10]
The PCC is one of the most frequently visited destinations for tourism in Hawaii, attracting 700,000 visitors annually. [11] The PCC is the venue for the annual World Fire Knife Dance Competition, in which contestants display their skill with blazing swords. Since it opened its doors in 1963, over 32 million people have visited the center. Howard W. Hunter is credited with transforming the newly organized PCC from an unprofitable and unknown entity into one of the most popular tourist attractions in Hawaii. [12]
In addition to the daytime exhibits and demonstrations, PCC features an evening show for an additional charge. As of 2009 the show is a multicultural Polynesian show titled Hā–Breath of Life which The New York Times described as "a vivid, energetic production that highlights song and dance from the indigenous cultures of the South Pacific". [13] The show features songs and dances from throughout Polynesia, including the hula, tamure, otea, titi torea, haka, poi, meke, tauʻolunga, and Taualuga. Past shows include "This is Polynesia", "Mana: The Spirit of Our People.", and Horizons: Where the Sea Meets the Sky. The show reportedly has a cast of 100 performers and they perform six-evenings-a-week. [14]
The Lagoon hosts a parade of canoes that showcases the signature dances of each of Polynesian culture. The current show, "Huki: A Canoe Celebration", which premiered in August 2018, was preceded by "Rainbows of Paradise", "This is Polynesia" and "Ancient Legends of Polynesia".
Each of the major Polynesian cultures has its own section, centered on a traditional village. Hourly performances and cultural learning experiences take place in these villages. Villages include:
In addition to the villages, the PCC has a special exhibit dedicated to Rapa Nui (Easter Island or Isla de Pascua) and a tribute to the 1850s LDS mission. Visitors may participate in a luʻau, such as the Aliʻi Luʻau ("Royal Feast"), which offers traditional Polynesian fare, including pork cooked in an imu (an underground oven). [11] They can observe the roasted pig in the imu prior to the meal. The PCC has its own Special effect theater as well as a lagoon where visitors can take canoe rides accompanied by a guide or paddle by themselves.
PCC hosts many special events, highlighting Hawaiian, Samoan, Tahitian and Māori cultures along with a Christmas festival. The PCC used to host a Haunted Lagoon but discontinued this festival in 2013 due to it not being profitable. Other festivals include Moanikeala Hula festival and World Fireknife Championships and Micronesia Betelnut festival.
Laie is a census-designated place (CDP) located in the Koolauloa District on the island of Oahu in Honolulu County, Hawaii, United States. In Hawaiian, lāʻie means "ʻie leaf". The population was 5,963 at the 2020 census.
Brigham Young University–Hawaii (BYU–Hawaii) is a private college in Laie, Hawaii. It is owned and operated by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. BYU–Hawaii was founded in 1955 and it became a satellite campus of Brigham Young University (BYU) in 1974. In 2004, it was made a separate institution. The college's sole focus is on undergraduate education.
Native Hawaiians are the Indigenous Polynesian people of the Hawaiian Islands.
Laie Hawaii Temple is a temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints located on the northeast shore of the Hawaiian island of Oʻahu. The temple sits on a small hill, half a mile from the Pacific Ocean, in the town of Lāʻie, 35 miles (56 km) from Honolulu. Along with Brigham Young University–Hawaii and the Polynesian Cultural Center, the Laie Hawaii Temple plays an important role in the town of Lā'ie, with the Visitors' Center attracting more than 100,000 people annually.
Herbert Kawainui Kāne was a Hawaiian historian and artist. He is considered one of the principal figures in the renaissance of Hawaiian culture in the 1970s. His work focused on the seafaring traditions of the ancestral peoples of Hawaiʻi.
Iosepa is a ghost town in the Skull Valley, located approximately 75 miles (120 km) southwest of Salt Lake City in Tooele County, Utah, United States. Once home to over 200 Polynesian members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Iosepa was inhabited during the period 1889–1917. Today, it is the site of an annual Memorial Day gathering that draws islanders and others from all over the Western United States.
The shaka sign, sometimes known as "hang loose" is a gesture with friendly intent often associated with Hawaii and surf culture. It consists of extending the thumb and smallest finger while holding the three middle fingers curled, and gesturing in salutation while presenting the front or back of the hand; the wrist may be rotated back and forth for emphasis. The shaka sign is similar to the letter Y in the American manual alphabet in American Sign Language or the sign for number six in the Chinese hand counting symbol. The shaka sign should not be confused with the sign of the horns, where the index and pinky finger are extended and the thumb holds down the middle two fingers.
Polynesian culture is the culture of the indigenous peoples of Polynesia who share common traits in language, customs and society. The development of Polynesian culture is typically divided into four different historical eras:
Symbolism in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the process whereby objects or actions have been invested with an inner meaning expressing church ideas. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and its membership have adopted a number of symbols that differ from those typically used in Christianity.
The fire knife is a traditional Samoan cultural implement that is used in ceremonial dances. It was originally composed of a machete wrapped in towels on both ends with a portion of the blade exposed in the middle. Tribal performers of fire knife dancing dance while twirling the knife and doing other acrobatic stunts. The towels are set afire during the dances, hence the name.
Polynesian navigation or Polynesian wayfinding was used for thousands of years to enable long voyages across thousands of kilometres of the open Pacific Ocean. Polynesians made contact with nearly every island within the vast Polynesian Triangle, using outrigger canoes or double-hulled canoes. The double-hulled canoes were two large hulls, equal in length, and lashed side by side. The space between the paralleled canoes allowed for storage of food, hunting materials, and nets when embarking on long voyages. Polynesian navigators used wayfinding techniques such as the navigation by the stars, and observations of birds, ocean swells, and wind patterns, and relied on a large body of knowledge from oral tradition. This island hopping was a solution to the scarcity of useful resources, such as food, wood, water, and available land, on the small islands in the Pacific Ocean. When an island’s required resources for human survival began to run low, the island's inhabitants used their maritime navigation skills and set sail for new islands. However, as an increasing number of islands in the South Pacific became occupied, and citizenship and national borders became of international importance, this was no longer possible. People thus became trapped on islands with the inability to support them.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was established in the Hawaiian Islands in 1850, 11 years after the Edict of Toleration was decreed by Kamehameha III, giving the underground Hawaii Catholic Church the right to worship, and at the same time allowing other faith traditions to begin establishing themselves.
Eric B. Shumway was the president of Brigham Young University–Hawaii (BYU-Hawaii) from 1994 to 2007. After completing his service as university president, he served as president of the Nuku'alofa Tonga Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 2007 to 2010.
Robert Eugene Worthington was the U.S. former honorary consul of the Cook Islands to the United States. Worthington also served as the director of financial and scholarship services at his alma mater, the Kamehameha Schools, from 1974 until 2003.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Malaysia refers to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and its members in Malaysia. In 2019 membership was nine times what it was in 1999 and number of congregations more than doubled during the same time period.
Mark Hinckley Willes is a business leader who was most recently the chief executive officer of Deseret Management Corporation from 2009 to 2012.
Edward L. Clissold was a leader of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in both Hawaii and Japan.
Pacific Islanders have a particular place in the history of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Its first non-English-speaking mission was in the region in 1844, less than twenty years after the church's founding, and there are currently six temples among the Pacific Island regions of Polynesia, Melanesia, and Micronesia. In 2015 the Latter-day Saint population in the area was increasing in percentage and absolute numbers.
Chief Sielu Avea is a Samoan-born comedian and ambassador of Polynesian culture. Since 2012 he has been the producer and host of Chief's Luau, a Hawaiian Lūʻau on Oahu.
Michel Toofa Pouira Krainer, known as Chief Miko is a French Polynesian speaker, sculptor, traditional navigator, musician, singer, customary chief and activist. He played a major role in the Polynesian cultural revival, particularly in the revival of Polynesian tattoos.