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MOST RECENT POSTS
PCC Pioneer Cy Bridges Receives Chanter Award
The Moanalua Gardens Foundation, which sponsors the annual Prince Lot Hula Festival, presented widely respected Hawaiian culture expert and Polynesian Cultural Center retiree Cy Bridges with its inaugural Nāmakahelu Oli master chanter’s award at the Iolani Palace bandstand in Honolulu on July 16, 2017, during its 40th anniversary event.
Visit Laie: New website explores Oahu’s north shore treasure!
Visitlaie.com — a new website about Laie, home of the Polynesian Cultural Center — consolidates visitor information in one convenient place.
The Village Approach: Māori Child Rearing
Maori culture is built upon the premise that…“Ehara taku toa i te toa takitahi, engari, he toa takitini” (“my achievements are not of myself, but because of the many”.) Māori culture personifies the belief that “it takes a village to raise a child”.
Polynesian Cultural Center pioneer: Patoa Benioni
More than 50 years ago, Patoa — who was born in Aitutaki in 1941 but spent most of his boyhood on Rarotonga in the Cook Islands — played a key role as an original Polynesian Cultural Center performer. Today, almost everybody calls him Patoa or Uncle Patoa, but like some Polynesians, his actual name is much longer: Te Are Toa O Te Patoa o Maouna Tama Pikikaa Benioni.
Long-time friend Pulefano Galea’i remembered Patoa … as “a great singer, leader, composer, and a great drummer. But one thing he always had in mind, he wanted to bring people here from the Cook Islands.
“Yesterday Patoa and I sat together watching a full-fledged Cook Island group. “Patoa, you can never be forgotten for all that you’ve contributed to the Polynesian Cultural Center, to Laie, and to all of us,” Galea’i said.
MOST POPULAR POSTS
Lāʻie Days Celebration
Lāʻie Days “fireside” honors PCC “labor missionaries” Young Mormon missionaries are widely recognized around the world, but some of you may be less familiar with a unique group of Mormon missionaries who began serving about 70 years ago, originally in Tonga and Samoa....
Māori Village brings Te Manahua back to the marae
First, some PCC “special event” history: In the early decades of the Polynesian Cultural Center each village celebrated at least one “culture day” every year — sometimes more, if a very special visitor came. Some of these reflected national and/or traditional...
Mark Wiens How To Cook a Pig
Mark Wiens continues his adventure in Polynesian Foods at the Polynesian Cultural Center with a close look at how to cook a pig in an imu, a Polynesian oven that uses banana leaves and hot rocks, among other things, to cook a very succulent pig.Click on the image to...
Tahitian Black Pearls
I don’t know if many of you out there are into Tahitian black pearls. But I am. Not for me, of course. I don’t wear them, though I know of men that do wear them. I love buying them for my wife, mothers, sisters, daughters and daughter-in-laws. My wife actually...
Mark Wiens Food Tour at the Polynesian Cultural Center
This week for our Eat Polynesia! post we have a special treat. Mark Wiens, who in his words, is a blogger, travel author, but mostly just a food lover visited us earlier this year. Here is a look at his adventure in Polynesian Foods at the Polynesian Cultural Center. ...
Watermelon ʻOtai: Recipe, Origins & Polynesian Refreshment Tradition
'Otai (pronounced OH - tie) is a refreshing summer drink that doubles as the perfect end to a summer barbecue or any summer gathering. It has its roots in Polynesia where Tongans, Samoans, Hawaiians and Fijians, to name a few, would enjoy this yummy concoction. A...
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