Hui Panala‘au–December 15, 2009-January 16, 2010
Hui Panala'au, a Bishop Museum designed exhibit, that explores the occupation of isolated Pacific Islands in the years preceding World War II, will be on display at The ARTS at Marks Garage beginning Thursday, December 15th and ending January 16, 2010. The exhibit, which received a national award of commendation from the American Association for State andLocal History in 2003, was originally displayed at Bishop Museum in 2002 and has been traveling throughout the state.
Hui Panala'au tells the story of 130 young men - many recent graduates of Kamehameha Schools - who were sent to occupy Howland, Baker, and Jarvis Islands from 1935 to 1942. While on the Islands, the young men were expected to undertake various activities with few resources and in total isolation. They collected specimens for Bishop Museum; mapped the islands; cultivated coconuts and vegetables; and prepared a landing field for Amelia Earhart, who was expected to make Howland Island one of her last stops on her round-the-world flight. Through it all, they endured rats, sharks, and ultimately, enemy fire. The exhibit shares many of these stories in the colonists own words, as well as through photographs, log books, drawings, maps and artifacts.
On Saturday, January 16, 2010, at 7 pm , there will be a special screening of the recently completed Panal? 'au documentary "Under a Jarvis Moon." The 1 hour video was developed by Bishop Museum with support from Kamehameha Schools and the Education through Cultural and Historical Organizations program. Says Bishop Museum project manager, "This film is a treasure because it features interviews with colonists, many of whom have since passed on. Yet it is also so very relevant today - because it is about what our nation asks of our young people and the sacrifices they and their families have made. But even more importantly, it also asks - when all else is stripped away - on a desert island thousands of miles from home - what makes us who we are?
