The museum has been criticized in past years for leaning too heavily on commercial attractions, such as the dinosaur exhibit. What do you think?
Our priority at Bishop Museum is to create and showcase original exhibitions that reflect our mission, which is to preserve, protect and perpetuate the culture, history and natural environment of Hawai‘i and the Pacific.
Recent original exhibitions such as “Mai Kinohi Mai: Surfing in Hawai‘i” and “POW! WOW! The First Decade: From Hawai‘i to the World” have shared both traditional and contemporary views of Hawai‘i’s culture, as well as its modern history, through rich perspectives, voices, and media from around the world.
And yes, from time to time, we like to bring internationally featured shows to Hawai‘i. The Dinosaurs exhibit, for example, allowed our kama‘aina and especially our keiki to enjoy and experience lifelike and animated dinosaurs right in our own backyard!
How would you assess the importance of the museum’s research archaeological work?
The museum’s archaeological work is as relevant today as it was more than 100 years ago, when Bishop Museum’s Archaeology Department began its studies of the cultural heritage of Hawai‘i and its ancestral peoples throughout the Pacific.
Why do I say that? Because the further we move from our past, the more important it is to remember and apply the valuable lessons our kupuna practiced. Then, they treated our lands, skies, and oceans as precious providers of life and wisdom. Today, with that wisdom, we are compelled to steward the gifts of Papa (Sky) and Wakea (Lands) as they struggle to survive for generations to come.
Today, the museum cares for the largest collection of Hawaiian and Pacific items in the world. A current priority is working with the museum’s Ethnology Department, cultural advisers, as well as community members and other stakeholders to ensure the continued, appropriate stewardship of collections, including the ethical return of cultural items.
What is the museum’s role in repatriating Native Hawaiian artifacts from other institutions or private collections?
The repatriation and the ethical return of cultural items as processes of stewardship and community building are priorities for Bishop Museum and our staff. The work requires extensive research, collaboration and staff time to be conducted properly and thoughtfully.
While the processes are long and involve discussions and coordination with many groups and even governments, we are committed to returning these precious cultural items to their homes as an important aspect of our kuleana. Since joining Bishop Museum as its CEO, I have had the honor of participating in such a repatriation. It was humbling, caring and pono.
Relatedly, Bishop Museum is collaborating with local and international organizations to articulate stewardship policies and procedures, and is partnering with Kali‘uokapa‘akai Collective to organize and host a convening in the fall to bring together thought partners around NAGPRA (Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act), and rematriation best practices and codes of conduct.
For the first time, Bishop Museum is getting state funding ($17.5 million) for operations and repairs; how will it be used?
We are extremely appreciative of this critical funding and extend our deepest mahalo to our legislators and the governor for their support of this funding. This support provides long-needed funds to care for, preserve and share with our community more than 25 million cultural items and natural science specimens in our collection.
The capital improvement funds are being used for much-needed deferred maintenance projects including fire suppression, water incursion, improved air conditioning, and storage conditions to better care for our unique and irreplaceable collections across our entire 15-acre campus. These improvements secure hundreds of years of heritage for next generations to learn from and apply to their legacies of stewardship in Hawai‘i, the Pacific and the world.
The operating funds are being used to address a severely antiquated IT infrastructure, upgrade network security, expand data storage capacity, and assist with the high cost of utilities needed to run 24/7 to provide the proper climate for our collections and specimens.
Do you have a long-term vision for the museum that would expand its reach?
One of Bishop Museum’s biggest priorities is making the knowledge that comes from our cultural collections and natural science specimens more accessible to the public. Through our Digital Futures initiative, the museum is building the technical infrastructure to centralize our existing collections and research data, and provide the foundation upon which we can digitize and categorize the more than 25 million items from our Cultural Resources, Library & Archives, and Natural Science divisions. Imagine being able to look up and at our collections without having to be present at the museum to do so!
We understand, however, that digitization alone may not provide sufficient context or meaning to these items — nor does it explain how different items relate to each other in significant ways. We are debuting a new digital storytelling space called Mau ka Leo that will not only feature our collections, but also share the institutional and cultural knowledge held by staff so that the collective voices of the museum can endure for future generations.
THE BIO FILE
>> Title: Chief executive officer, Bishop Museum
>> Career history: Retired as CEO of Kamehameha Schools in 2014, and retained her commitment to Hawai‘i by serving as a member of the Obama administration’s White House Initiative on Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islanders and on several Hawai‘i boards, currently the Harold K.L. Castle Foundation and Kahi Mohala.
>> Education: Graduate of Kamehameha Schools and the University of Hawai‘i, bachelor’s degree in nursing; master’s in business
>> Family: Keiki o ka ‘aina with family roots on Hawai‘i island and Oahu
>> One more thing: Have been in direct service to Ke Ali‘i Bernice Pauahi Paki Bishop and Charles Reed Bishop for over 14 years, still earning my wings as “a good and industrious woman.”
