Submitted by Nicole Bellucci on the 2019 winter session study abroad program in Hawaii sponsored by the Department of Human Development and Family Sciences and the School of Education…
For one of our excursions, we had the opportunity to go to the Bishop Museum. This is the State Museum for Culture and Natural History. The museum taught me many things that I had previously been ignorant about. When we first walked into the museum, we entered a room covered in posters from movies, TV shows, books, etc. This was showing us all the stereotypes that the mainland had perceived about the island. Just hula skirts, beaches, and coconuts. On the opposite side of the room was a beautiful mural. It showed how the water and the land were a part of the people and how it influences their lifestyle. I was able to see how the citizens of this beautiful island saw themselves and how the outside world did. Throughout the museum, I was able to learn how the Hawaiian culture came about. How they adopted skills, language, trades, and life from other Polynesian cultures that surround them. It was eye -opening to see how they still use these customs today and how the past has such a big impact on how they live their lives today.