Coastal winds ripped and roared.
Blowing us to the city.
To the Bishop Museum.
To stir imaginations.
Take us on journeys in canoes.
From Tahiti, Marquesas Islands.
To Hawaii.
Fifteen hundred years ago.
Sailing the Pacific in wooden boats.
Weeks to months.
Could you do that?
I know I couldn’t.
Yet courageous people did.
And before that, thousands of years.
Settlers of the Philippines and Indonesia made their way from China.
Fanning out across the Pacific.
Colonists to Hawaii brought a world view.
Handicrafts to sustain.
Tools.
Nets.
Fish hooks.
Pottery.
Decorative arts.
Clothing.
A monarchy that endured.
Hundreds of years.
Though many royals died of European diseases.
And it ended cruelly when toppled by greedy Americans.
Along the way, heroes and heroines distinguished themselves.
Many, painted by artists with an interest in Hawaii.
An original wing of the museum, a portrait and painting gallery.
Where, to my surprise, were two works by Titian Ramsay Peale.
Son of Charles Willson Peale.
Both from my birthplace: Philadelphia.
Titian, in 1842, depicted two scenes of volcanic eruption.
Kilauea by Night and Kilauea by Day.
Think about the amount of planning it took.
To mount an expedition to Hawaii in the 19th century.
How much time, exertion must it have cost?
Hawaii gives visitors paradise.
Let them roam the Bishop to learn.
History, cosmology, culture.
A small effort in return!
Lynn Benjamin
March 11, 2023
