Stories Of Polynesia and Beyond
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Honoring Our Kupuna & other PCC News
Other PCC and related news PCC adds extra luau seating to meet summer demand: During peak seasons — summertime and the year-end holidays, the Polynesian Cultural Center’s fabulous Alii Luau is so popular that we normally run three seatings simultaneously in three...
Wedding Ceremonies at Ancient Marae Temples of Tahiti
Tahitian Maraes are open temples that were used for sacred ceremonies. First fruits and best catch of the day were taken to the Marae as offerings for the gods. The only weddings performed within a Marae would be for the daughter of the chief or other socially...
2016 Launch of the Iosepa & other news
Update on the sailing canoe Iosepa: The Iosepa launches from Hukilau Beach on June 15, 2016. Photo by Mark Holladay Lee The BYU–Hawaii/Polynesian Cultural Center 57-foot, single-masted wa’a kaulua or twin-hulled traditional Hawaiian sailing canoe Iosepa — which is...
PCC/BYUH Alumnus Returns
PCC/BYUH alumnus returns with royal party The royal entourage who accompanied the king and queen of Tonga’s attendance at the grand reopening of the Polynesian Cultural Center’s recently renovated Tongan Village, included a 1994 PCC and BYU–Hawaii alumnus who now...
MOST POPULAR POSTS
Maori Haka Dance
Aotearoa, “the land of the long white cloud,” is more commonly known to its visitors as New Zealand. Its beautiful mountains, fields, rivers and streams boast more than just being the filming place of the popular Lord of the Rings trilogy; they are home to a proud and...
Origins of Tahitian black pearls
For my 16th birthday, my parents gave me a black pearl embedded on a turtle-shaped mother-of-pearl shell (the necklace in my profile picture). I was immediately mesmerized by its entrancing beauty. Tahitian black pearls are not actually black, but a rainbow of colors...
Eat Tahiti!
If anybody asked anybody what their favorite things to do in life are, chances are “eat,” would be one of the first few things they would say in response. Everyone likes to eat, and everyone has favorite foods. I, myself, am partial to various Japanese dishes like...
Dance Tahiti!
While all cultures around the world have their own dances, none seem to be more synonymous with dancing than the cultures of Polynesia, and none more famous than the Tahitian tāmūrē (tah-moo-ray). Most people in the world will be able to describe Tahitian dancing in...
Act Like A Local
My Samoan dad raised us on old recordings of Hawai’ian comedians, like Rap Reiplinger, Don Ho and other Hawaiian artists. By the time I visited Hawai’i, I knew basic Hawai’ian Pidgin, and the proper ways and times to wear an ie lavalava, or “sarong” . I didn’t realize...
Tongan Father’s Day Tradition in Hawaii
It’s early in the month of June, and families are already looking forward to celebrate Father’s Day. Like entering into the new millennium, my island Kingdom of Tonga has to beat the world in celebrating Father’s Day. In Tonga, Father’s Day is celebrated on the Sunday...
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