University of Denver Digital Commons @ DU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Graduate Studies 1-1-2015 Curating Ali`i Collections: Responsibility, Sensibility, and Contextualization in Hawai'i-Based Museums Halenakekanakalawai`aoMiloli`i Ka`ili`ehu Kapuni-Reynolds University of Denver Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.du.edu/etd Part of the Social and Cultural Anthropology Commons Recommended Citation Kapuni-Reynolds, Halenakekanakalawai`aoMiloli`i Ka`ili`ehu, "Curating Ali`i Collections: Responsibility, Sensibility, and Contextualization in Hawai'i-Based Museums" (2015). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 1062. https://digitalcommons.du.edu/etd/1062 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate Studies at Digital Commons @ DU. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ DU. For more information, please contact [email protected],[email protected]. Curating Aliʻi Collections: Responsibility, Sensibility, and Contextualization in Hawaiʻi-based Museums __________ A Thesis Presented to The Faculty of Social Sciences University of Denver __________ In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts __________ by Halenakekanakalawai`aoMiloli`i K. Kapuni-Reynolds November 2015 Advisor: Christina Kreps, Ph.D. ©Copyright by HalenakekanakalawaiʻaoMiloliʻi K. Kapuni-Reynolds 2015 All Rights Reserved Author: HalenakekanakalawaiʻaoMiloliʻi K. Kapuni-Reynolds Title: Curating Aliʻi Collections: Responsibility, Sensibility, and Contextualization in Hawaiʻi-based Museums Advisor: Dr. Christina Kreps Degree Date: November 2015 Abstract This thesis explores the curation of aliʻi collections in the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum and the Lyman House Memorial Museum. The aliʻi were once the ruling class of Hawaiʻi, whose chiefly ranks and statuses reflected their prestigious and complicated moʻokūʻauhau (genealogies). Although the aliʻi are no longer a visible social class in Hawaiʻi, their moʻokūʻauhau (genealogies) and moʻolelo (stories) are continually honored and preserved within the walls of museums. Through the use of a research design that draws from multiple museologies, indigenous epistemologies, and anthropological theories and methods, I examine the physical care, storage, exhibition, and interpretation of aliʻi collections, and explicate on the array of obsolete and innovative museum practices that are utilized in the curation of aliʻi collections. In the chapters to follow, I describe these practices and suggest some of the theoretical contributions that can be made through the study of aliʻi objects. ii Acknowledgements There are many individuals whom I wish to thank for providing the intellectual and moral support needed to complete this exhaustive endeavor. First and foremost, mahalo to the staff and faculty of the Anthropology Department at the University of Denver. I would especially like to thank the members of my defense committee Dr. Christina Kreps, Dr. Richard Clemmer Smith, Dr. Bonnie Clark, and Dr. Ginni Ishimatsu. I would also like to acknowledge Betty Lou Kam, Kamalu du Preez, Marques Marzan, Lissa Gendreau, Nicole dela Fuente, and other staff members of the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum. Mahalo also to my fellow colleague Kauʻilani Rivera who graciously opened her home in Nuʻuanu to me. Thanks is also due to the staff of the Lyman House Memorial Museum. Mahalo especially to my friend and colleague Lynn Elia. Lastly, mahalo to my friends and family. To Aunty Mapu, the Waipā ʻohana, ILAU, and the Keaukaha community, mahalo for supporting me since day one. To my ipo, Ikaika Jenks-Puaʻa, mahalo endlessly for your patience, love, and commitment. To my sisters Eke and Keonaona and my brother Peku, I owe it to all of you for granting me the courage to leave the islands temporarily to pursue my academic passion. Lastly, to my dear Tūtū Noelani, the matriarch of our family. You inspire me on a daily basis and I can only strive to be as hardworking and full of aloha as you are. Iā ʻoukou pākahi a pau, mahalo palena ʻole no ke kākoʻo ʻana mai iaʻu ma kēia huakaʻi. iii Table of Contents CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION ................................................................................. 1 Chapter Summaries ................................................................................................. 6 A Note on Language, Formatting, and Terms ...................................................... 11 CHAPTER TWO: ALIʻI CULTURE ................................................................................ 13 Moʻokūʻauhau and Moʻolelo: Preserving Aliʻi Culture and History .................... 13 Tracing the Moʻokūʻauhau of Aliʻi Literature ...................................................... 15 The Preservationist Movement: Kanaka Maoli Sources ........................... 16 The Salvage Anthropology Movement ..................................................... 17 Mary Kawena Pukui: Traversing the Boundaries of Kanaka Maoli and Ethnographer ............................................................................................. 20 A System-based Approach to Hawaiian Cultural Studies: Structuralism . 21 Anthropological Studies of Aliʻi History: Post-structural Anthropology . 22 Inserting Women into Aliʻi Culture: Feminist Anthropology ................... 27 Pono Theory: Kanaka Maoli Contributions to Anthropology .................. 28 Adrienne Kaeppler: Contributions to Museum Anthropology ................. 29 Producing Aliʻi Literature Today .............................................................. 33 Moʻokūʻauhau Aliʻi: Chiefly Genealogies and Cosmogonic Origins ................... 35 Aliʻi Status and Rank ............................................................................................ 42 Aliʻi Expectations and Usurpation ........................................................................ 46 Objectifying Moʻokūʻauhau, Moʻolelo, Rank, and Status: Aliʻi Material Culture48 Conclusion ............................................................................................................ 58 CHAPTER THREE: THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK .................................................. 60 Problematizing Practice: The New Museology Movement .................................. 60 The Postcolonial Critique of Museums: Critical and Reflexive Museology ........ 62 Classical Anthropology and Classifying Indigenous Peoples .................. 64 Classifying Culture: From Typologies to Fine Art ................................... 67 Indigenous Anthropology ......................................................................... 72 Collaborative Museology ...................................................................................... 73 Museums as Contact Zones ...................................................................... 73 Moving past the Contact Zone: The Development of Collaborative Museology................................................................................................. 78 Appropriate Museology ........................................................................................ 96 Cultural Contextualization ........................................................................ 98 Indigenous Museology ........................................................................................ 100 Hirini Moko Mead and Indigenous Museology ...................................... 101 Other Early Writings on Indigenous Museology .................................... 103 Developing the Concept of Indigenous Curation.................................... 106 Indigenous Curation as Intangible Cultural Heritage ............................. 111 Summary ............................................................................................................. 114 iv CHAPTER FOUR: RESEARCH DESIGN .................................................................... 118 Research Questions ............................................................................................. 118 Site Selection ...................................................................................................... 119 Location .................................................................................................. 119 Collections .............................................................................................. 120 Definition of Terms................................................................................. 121 Methodology ....................................................................................................... 121 Museum Ethnography ............................................................................. 122 Indigenous Methodologies ...................................................................... 123 Hawaiian Epistemology .......................................................................... 126 Qualitative Research Methods ............................................................................ 128 Participant Observation ........................................................................... 129 Field Notes .............................................................................................. 131 Archival Research ................................................................................... 132 Semi-structured Interviews ..................................................................... 133 Exhibition Analysis ................................................................................