Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum

09/15/2026

Before color photography, photographs were often hand-colored by artists employed by studios.

With tools like pencils, brushes, and paints, an image could be retouched to the point of looking like a drawing or painting. Due to the demands of mass production, photos were sometimes only partially colored to save on time and resources. Here are two such images from Hawaiʻi in Bishop Museum’s collections.

View this story and other moments in history at BishopMuseum.org/MauKaLeo!

Mau ka Leo is our online storytelling space that documents, preserves, and shares the priceless knowledge and stories around Bishop Museum’s collections. Many of these stories come from our most valuable resource, our very own staff.

“Painterly Photographs: A Spot of Color” is written by Emma L. M. Bornstein.

Image: This image shows a Hawaiian woman posed for commercial purposes as a hula practitioner. Dressed in lei and a grass skirt, she is seated outside a model hale pili (grass house) while holding a stringed instrument. Minimal hand-coloring was used to highlight the woman’s lei and top in yellow, orange, and pink. The lei on the bench and in the hale also appear lightly painted; Hawaiʻi, ca. 1916. Photo by Williams, Bishop Museum Archives. SP 203305.

Image-sharing on social media is welcome. For all other uses please contact Archives [at] BishopMuseum [dot] org.

Bishop Museum is the State of Hawaiʻi Museum of Natural and Cultural History.

09/14/2026

Aloha Nūhou Monday! Dear Reader, we have been having a lot of bad weather lately. We, however, unlike Hawaiʻi in 1918, have the Central Pacific Hurricane Center to keep us forewarned. Be prepared, and watch out for your family, friends, and neighbors.

[Excerpt from this week’s blog* post.]

“STORMY WINDS CAUSE DAMAGES ON THE ISLAND OF KEAWE

The Wind and Rain Came Together with Major Damage Seen in Some Areas

THE RAILROAD COMPANY’S TRACKS IN HILO WERE LOST TO THE WATER

The Road in Waimea Flooded—Trees Toppled in the Wind at Kawaihae

The stormy winds that occurred in many areas of this city on Tuesday last week, also visited the Island of Hawaiʻi and touched slightly its large trees and homes, as well as its telephone poles, although damages were less; it was not like here in Honolulu.

According to accounts from the Hilo newspapers, the wind speed was around sixty to seventy-five miles per hour. And rain traveled together with the wind, but the force of the wind blew the rain so it did not fall straight down.”

*Read our blog and the rest of today’s story, plus view images of original newspapers at: blog.bishopmuseum.org/nupepa. “He Aupuni Palapala: Preserving and Digitizing the Hawaiian Language Newspapers” is an ambitious, multi-year collaboration between Bishop Museum and Awaiaulu, with contributions from Kamehameha Schools.

Image 1: Rescuing party, Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands, during the great fall of rain, March 24, 1898—six inches of rain fell in six hours. Photo by Frank Davey. Bishop Museum Archives, SP 112615.

Image 2: Road flooded at Ewa Plantation, Ewa, Oʻahu, Hawaiʻi. Bishop Museum Archives, SP 1127614.

Image 3: Road flooded at Kapaʻa, Kauaʻi, Hawaiʻi. ca. May 1940. Bishop Museum Archives, SP 1127613.

Image 4: Waiānuenue Street in Hilo, Hawaiʻi, flooded by heavy rains. Photo by Roger Coryell, 1950. Bishop Museum Archives, SG 120005.

Image-sharing on social media is welcome. For all other uses please contact Archives [at] BishopMuseum [dot] org.

09/13/2026

Aloha and Happy International Day of Caves and Karst! What better way to celebrate than to learn more about underground environments that can be found right here in Hawaiʻi?

Explore ʻaʻaʻā with “ʻElala ʻAʻaʻā o Hawaiʻi: Cave Bugs of Hawaiʻi” in the Science Adventure Center on your next visit. This exhibit features a lava tube “caving” experience that highlights Hawaiian underground biodiversity, including cave bugs like the ʻuku pāhoehoe (Spelaeorchestia pahoehoe) pictured here.

You can also learn about the scientific process of finding and naming new species, as well as a collaboration with members of Papahānaumokuākea Native Hawaiian Cultural Working Group Nomenclature Hui to develop Hawaiian names for species found only in Hawaiian lava tubes.

Plan your visit at BishopMuseum.org!

Image 1: Kāʻili mū (Nesidiolestes ana).
Image 2-4: ʻAʻaʻā (lava tube). Photo by Rebecca Chong.

Bishop Museum is the State of Hawaiʻi Museum of Natural and Cultural History.

09/12/2026

Gather with us as we celebrate our precious kāhuli on Sunday, Sept. 27, 2026!

“Kāhuli” broadly refers to land snails, not just the famous Oʻahu tree snails. They provide and maintain key ecosystem services, are important sources of food, and facilitate litter decomposition and nutrient cycling — all services and functions Hawaiʻi rely on.

The term “kāhuli” could also mean “to change” or “to alter.” In the broadest spirit, we hope this program serves as a change agent, helping us to turnover our current way of thinking about conservation, to reconnect with the roots of what makes Hawaiʻi so special, and search for more sustainable and inclusive ways to bring about change. There are 759 species of land snails native to Hawaiʻi. Like the snails, much of what’s found in Hawaiʻi is unique to these islands and provides a framework for us to better understand our place here.

At Kāhuli Celebration Day, enjoy live music, hula, puppetry, educational presentations, and activity booths in Hawaiian Hall! Meet community partners like the Snail Extinction Prevention Program (SEPP), Honolulu Zoo, and Conservation Council for Hawaiʻi. It’s a great opportunity for guests of all ages to engage with the researchers, conservationists, educators, and artists who “mālama pū i ka ʻāina” as a community.

Throughout the day of programming, experience “The Kāhuli,” the final musical movement from the “Carnival of the Nearly Extinct Animals,” a presentation by Ocean Music Action celebrating animals faced with the dismaying possibility of being the very last of their kind.

Kāhuli Celebration Day
Sunday, September 27, 2026
10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Hawaiian Hall Complex

Free with Museum Admission. Free for Bishop Museum Members.

Learn more and see the timeline of programming at https://www.bishopmuseum.org/calendar/kahuli-celebration-day.

This program is presented in partnership with Ocean Action Music and supported by KS Kaiāulu.

Photos 1-4 courtesy of Bishop Museum’s Malacology team.
Photo 5: Achatinella lila. Photo by Joel Sartore.

Bishop Museum is the State of Hawaiʻi Museum of Natural and Cultural History.

09/11/2026

For 50 years, ʻaha (ceremony) has remained at the heart of the Protect Kahoʻolawe ʻOhana’s commitment to protect, heal, and restore the island of Kahoʻolawe.

Bishop Museum's new installation, “Kanaloa ka Laʻa o Kohemālamalama: Unconquerable is the Divinity of Kohemālamalama,” co-curated by the Museum’s Curator of Archaeology Pūlama Lima and the Protect Kahoʻolawe ʻOhana, opens Sept. 24, 2026. This installation brings together contemporary and historical three-dimensional pieces, photographs, and accounts, to share a story about ʻaha on Kahoʻolawe and the role ceremony continues to hold on the island today.

The ʻapu ʻawa (kava cups) pictured here include eight contemporary ʻapu on loan displayed alongside a historical ʻapu from the Museum's collection. Together, the nine ʻapu honor the nine individuals who landed at Kūheia, Kahoʻolawe, on Jan. 4, 1976, in an effort to end U.S. military use of the island. Their landing led to the formation of the Protect Kahoʻolawe ʻOhana and helped reawaken aloha ʻāina (deep love and responsibility for the land) consciousness throughout Hawaiʻi.

Learn more about the new installation and the upcoming series of presentations hosted together with the Protect Kahoʻolawe ʻOhana at BishopMuseum.org/PKO.

Bishop Museum is proud to partner with the Protect Kahoʻolawe ʻOhana to host a series of presentations in fall 2026 in honor of their 50th Anniversary and a recommitment to Aloha ʻĀina.

Mahalo nui loa to Atherton Family Foundation, Hawaiian Airlines, and Kamehameha Schools Kaiāulu for supporting this programming.

Photo: 07768. Photo by Noel Kenny.

Bishop Museum is the State of Hawaiʻi Museum of Natural and Cultural History.

Bishop Museum is proud to partner with the Protect Kahoʻolawe ʻOhana to host a series of presentations in honor of the 50th Anniversary of the landing of the "Kahoʻolawe Nine" at Kūheʻeia on the island of Kahoʻolawe.

09/10/2026

Happy ! Bishop Museum's Ethnology Department helps care for some of the Museum's treasured cultural resources.

This week, we're taking a closer look at a unique pāpale (hat) from the collections of Bernice Pauahi Bishop. According to the Museum's records, Pauahi's riding cap is made with the stems of ʻiwa ferns, which were braided and stitched into place.

In ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi, the name ʻiwa can refer to multiple species of Hawaiian ferns. The term is often interchangeable with ʻiwaʻiwa, or maidenhair ferns (Adiantum spp.), whose jet-black stems were frequently used in 19th-century pāpale. But the materials of this riding cap appear reddish-brown, suggesting another type of ʻiwa fern. Most likely, the stems in this hat are Asplenium caudatum — an epiphytic fern indigenous to Hawaiʻi and other Pacific Islands.

Read the full story at Mau ka Leo, Bishop Museum's online storytelling space: BishopMuseum.org/MauKaLeo.

Interested in learning more about the Ethnology Department's work? Come visit our webpage at BishopMuseum.org/Ethnology.

"Fern Helmet" is written by Marques Hanalei Marzan, Miles Thomas, and Emma Bornstein.

Image 1: 05058. Photo by Brandon Ng, Bishop Museum Archives. Q 216833.

Image 2: Asplenium caudatum. Bishop Museum Herbarium Pacificum. BISH1118271.

Bishop Museum is the State of Hawaiʻi Museum of Natural and Cultural History.

09/10/2026

In 2016, Hōkūleʻa voyaged to Piscataway Country during its Mālama Honua Worldwide Voyage. Now, ten years later, gather with us at Bishop Museum for a special panel of speakers who offer a critical glimpse into this significant and endearing portion of the voyage.

The panel on Sept. 17, 2026, centers the voices, memories, and stories of Piscataway and Kānaka ‘Ōiwi present for this historic event, fostering continued cultural exchange and collective imaginings essential to Indigenous futures.

Featured guest speakers include Rex Lokeni, Kumu Hula Snowbird Puananiopaoakalani Bento, Gabrielle Tayac, and Moderator Aaron A. Donaldson.

Hōkūle’a in the Chesapeake: Honoring the Future of Indigenous Relations
Thursday, September 17, 2026
Atherton Halau
5:30 – 7 p.m.
Free Admission with RSVP

Learn more at BishopMuseum.org/calendar/hokulea-in-the-chesapeake-honoring-the-future-of-indigenous-relations.

This program commemorates Hōkūleʻa’s voyage to Piscataway Country in 2016 and is part of a three-day convening titled “Tidewater Travelers and Wa‘a Voyagers: A Piskatàwe/Kānaka ‘Ōiwi Story.”

Photo 1 by Nāʻālehu Anthony, ʻŌiwi TV. Courtesy of the Polynesian Voyaging Society.
Photo 2 by Bryson Hoe, ʻŌiwi TV. Courtesy of the Polynesian Voyaging Society.

Bishop Museum is the State of Hawaiʻi Museum of Natural and Cultural History.

09/09/2026

"Aloha Bricks ‘26” is a great way to learn about our island home — all through the colorful and vibrant lens of bricks!

Our “Aloha Bricks: Stories of Hawaiʻi” exhibition shares stories about our people, places, plants, and animals. There are incredible 3D builds of iconic local landmarks by the Hawaii Lego Users Group (HILUG), and a gallery of middle school mascots created by students from 50 local schools.

And we can’t forget these larger-than-life sculptures! See massive builds of iconic species endemic to Hawaiʻi like the ʻiʻiwi, kalo, humuhumunukunukuapuaʻa, and kāhuli.

Learn more at BishopMuseum.org/Bricks.

Mahalo to our generous supporters that helped make this exhibition possible:
Hawaiian Telcom
First Insurance Company of Hawaii, LTD
Kyo-ya Hotels & Resorts
Pasha Hawaii
Hawaiian Airlines
AIA Honolulu (American Institute of Architects, Honolulu Chapter)

Photo by Jon Asato.

Bishop Museum is the State of Hawaiʻi Museum of Natural and Cultural History.

09/08/2026

Taken between 1890 and 1905, this lantern slide shows a group of keiki “eating” sugar cane in Hawaiʻi.

Technically, sugar cane stalk is almost never eaten due to its tough texture. Instead, people often chew on pieces of the plant for its sugary juices, then spit them out.

View this story and other moments in history at BishopMuseum.org/MauKaLeo!

Mau ka Leo is our online storytelling space that documents, preserves, and shares the priceless knowledge and stories around Bishop Museum’s collections. Many of these stories come from our most valuable resource, our very own staff.

“Eating Sugar Cane” is written by Emma L. M. Bornstein.

Image: Hawaiian children eating sugar cane; Hawaiʻi, 1890–1905. Bishop Museum Archives. SLS 2071.

Image-sharing on social media is welcome. For all other uses please contact Archives [at] BishopMuseum [dot] org.

Bishop Museum is the State of Hawaiʻi Museum of Natural and Cultural History.

09/07/2026

Aloha Nūhou Monday! Dear Reader, H. L. Chase arrived here from Boston on the ship Ceylon, on August 17, 1856. He begins his photographic career here in 1859 with a notice saying that he is “prepared to go to any part of the islands and take photographic views or portraits.”

He is referred to by a number of different names here in Hawaiʻi. Early on he was known as Alualu, meaning “to chase after something.”

[Excerpt from this week’s blog* post.]

“H. L. CHASE.
PHOTOGRAPHER

The studio of J. W. King has recently been acquired by H. L. Chase (Alualu). Therefore, he is prepared to take photographs with great deft of all who desire. Come you all and see for yourself. His studio is located above the Printing House of the “Kuokoa.” To the east of the Post Office.

He appears more commonly as Keki or Keiki.

MOODERN PHOTOGRAPHY!

WHEREAS I HAVE RENOVATED the windows of my PHOTOGRAPHY STUDIO at MONIKAHAAE, Honolulu, Therefore, I hope it is appropriate for the taking of all sorts of photographs, from tiny photos, good for watch chains and necklaces, to large ones suitable for houses, at very reasonable prices. Also for sale are prints of famous places of Hawaiʻi nei, pictures of the Kings and Queens, and other distinguished people.

H. L. CHASE (Keki)”

*Read our blog and the rest of today’s story, plus view images of original newspapers at: blog.bishopmuseum.org/nupepa. “He Aupuni Palapala: Preserving and Digitizing the Hawaiian Language Newspapers” is an ambitious, multi-year collaboration between Bishop Museum and Awaiaulu, with contributions from Kamehameha Schools.

Image 1: Portrait of Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop. Photo by H. L. Chase. Bishop Museum Archives, SP 18516.

Image 2: Portrait of Liliʻu Lilia Kamakaʻeha Dominis, [later Queen Liliʻuokalani]. Photo by H. L. Chase. Bishop Museum Archives, SP 18512.

Image-sharing on social media is welcome. For all other uses please contact Archives [at] BishopMuseum [dot] org.