You may have expected me to post something like this....
or this, which I will, but honestly, despite the gorgeous weather and beach time, the most rewarding part of the conference trip to Honolulu was attending (and presenting) and participating in the events!
On one day, a group of collections professionals volunteered for a day at Queen Emma's Summer Palace. It was a rewarding experience. I learned a lot about Hawaiian material culture and had fun to boot!
Explaining the art of kapa at the Manoa Heritage Center.
The conference was a joint conference and having people from the Pacific Island Museum Association was awesome! I have a keen interest in the South Pacific and being able to learn more about countries like Vanuatu was amazing. I will be writing about this more, but will say briefly that unlike Alutiiq culture, which was all but decimated by the conquest of the Russians and Americans and the loss of life due to the introduction of diseases, the people of Vanuatu are in a much different situation. The former Vanuatu Museum Director and now Minister Ralph Regenvanu is working to pass laws so that indigenous people can, for example, pay for services with traditional economic means, like yams.
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