March 28th - The Polynesian Cultural Centre or PCC is a pretty cool place. The idea is a a kind of park with each of the six main islands, or groups of islands, that make up Polynesia having its own "village". Those are Samoa, Aotearoa (New Zealand), Tahiti, Fiji, Tonga, and of course Hawai'i. Rapanui (Easter Island) also gets its own little exhibit. Each island has a 20 minute presentation on a rolling schedule throughout the day, and then there are a number of activities that you watch or participate in, such as spear throwing, fishing, fire starting, weaving and so on.
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| Apparently 10-15 fish are caught each day by visitors. Catch and release |
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| Hunting coconuts |
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| Hunted coconuts |
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| Friction makes fire |
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| Anyone got a match? |
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| Comedian and coconut splitter |
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| Weaving coconut palm fronds |
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| Very impressive fire dancing |
The centre was founded and is owned and operated by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, formerly known as the Mormon Church. They also run the next door Brigham Young University, which attracts a significant number of Pacific Islanders to study. Many of the students work at the PCC and hence, we are frequently reminded, our ticket purchase goes to funding tuition at the University.
The presentations are largely as you would expect, lots of interesting stuff about language, traditional skills, some dancing and music, all explained in the context of their ancient meaning as well as some of the ways in which modern contact has shaped and evolved those practices. And it is really popular, with over a million visitors per year, or something like 40 million in its half century of operation.
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Timber, woven palm fronds, string made of coconut husk
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Fijian sailing canoe. Beautiful and extraordinary
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A reminder that nature can be extravagant, beguiling, and awe inspiring
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| Hawai'ian dance |
If I am honest I do feel that the whole thing gives colonialism, exploration, and imperialism a bit of a free pass. I chatted to a guy called Troy (not his real name, just in case) whose family moved from one of the Pacific islands to Hawai'i when he was young. He is one of the workers/performers in his island's section. He was quite diplomatic but I told him that I thought there could be more about the challenges that some of the islands faced as a result of European, and now US, involvement. His response was something like "ah, you know" which I took to mean, rightly or wrongly, that he assumed many people were unaware of, or did not want to be reminded of, these complicated histories (and I have only the broad brushstrokes and few of the details). I said I understood that this center was about entertainment with a little education, and that a lot of people, like Troy, relied on the income generated. I thought it was important also that he said that he had learnt more about his own culture since working here. Troy said that many from his country seek out new opportunities in the US and elsewhere, and that the old ways "are not going to get them anywhere". So here we are, left with these questions about the very recent destruction of ways of living that had prevailed for tens or even hundreds of thousands of years. And then, putting that aside, where are we now? What is the way forward? We can't turn back time and we're too far down the road of restructuring our planet to go back to living as hunter gatherers, even if that is desirable. And so we are left with the same problems that we hear about every day, which I guess boil down to finding a way that we can live sustainably. We have not found a solution yet.
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| Tourists on a plastic boat |
As we have traveled the world over the last 7 months (emitting way more than our fair share of CO2 along the way), we have seen some of the most truly beautiful and awe inspiring natural wonder that Earth has to offer. Lately, as I stepped onto this Hawai'ian beach in front on me, I experienced almost equal parts wonder and mourning. I don't know what the timeline is but it certainly looks like we are progressing rapidly through the Anthropocene towards... some sort of environmental collapse? Perhaps humans will be largely wiped out and the planet will rediscover a balance, gradually cleansing itself of the detritus that we have left behind. Perhaps this is the way it is meant to be. An invasive species crowding out all diversity and running amok until it chokes its own life. But the mourning: through the lens of my innate human emotions it just seems to sad to be witness to and complicit in so much suffering; the suffering of the non-human "natural" world, the suffering of the pre-European settler human civilisation, the suffering of the modern human, enslaved either to her or his own impoverished survival or to his or her diseases of affluence, addiction, depression, obesity; pick your punishment.
I should add some note of hope or positivity. There is a podcast I listen to in which the host lives by the maxim that it is still possible to have a good time on a sinking ship. I think this is important. I think it is important to try to live a good life, to honour the body, the mind and the world that have been gifted to us, because it is all truly wonderful in the literal sense of the word. At the same time I think it is part of a good life to try to positively impact the community around you, local, national, global. I'm guilty of second guessing my impulses and instincts and often being paralysed into inaction. Better folks than me just get on with it. I saw an article about a group in Hastings on the English Channel who go down to the beach to welcome rescued refugees with food, hot drinks, clothes and stuffed toys for the kids. You don't have to have an opinion on globalisation, refugee policy or white priviledge to know that this is just the right thing to do. Welcoming all comers to your home. That was the message repeated throughout our visit to the islands. Take down some fences.
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