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.
The Polynesian Voyaging Society (PVS) is a non-profit research and educational corporation based in Honolulu, Hawaiʻi. PVS was established to research and perpetuate traditional Polynesian voyaging methods. Using replicas of traditional double-hulled canoes, PVS undertakes voyages throughout Polynesia navigating without modern instruments.
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, considered one of the principal figures in the renaissance of Hawaiian culture in the 1970s, was a celebrated artist-historian and author with a special interest in the seafaring traditions of the ancestral peoples of Hawaiʻi. Kāne played a key role in demonstrating that Hawaiian culture arose not from some accidental seeding of Polynesia, but that Hawaiʻi was reachable by voyaging canoes from Tahiti able to make the journey and return. This offered a far more complex notion of the cultures of the Pacific Islands than had previously been accepted. Furthermore, he created vivid imagery of Hawaiian culture prior to contact with Europeans, and especially the period of early European influence, that sparked appreciation of a nearly forgotten traditional life. He painted dramatic views of war, exemplified by The Battle at Nuʻuanu Pali, the potential of conflicts between cultures such as in Cook Entering Kealakekua Bay, where British ships are dwarfed and surrounded by Hawaiian canoes, as well as bucolic quotidian scenes and lush images of a robust ceremonial and spiritual life, that helped arouse a latent pride among Hawaiians during a time of general cultural awakening.
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. 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.
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 against 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 a new island full of possibilities. 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 t0 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. The first non-English-speaking mission was in the region in the 1844, less than twenty years after its founding, and there are currently six temples among the Pacific Island regions of Polynesia, Melanesia, and Micronesia. The Latter-day Saint population is 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.
A visitors' center is a building often near a temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints where missionaries teach visitors about the tenets of their faith and other community events are held. Visitors' centers often include a replica of Bertel Thorvaldsen's Christus statue, exhibits, musical performances, devotionals, and a Family History Center (FHC).
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.
