Bernice
P. Bishop Museum
Princess
Pauahi
The museum building has
lots of rooms. I didn’t want to get lost so I held onto Auntie’s hand.
In the first room, I saw
a Ni’ihau Shell Lei Collection. Ni’ihau is a small private island where only
Hawaiian people live. No one else is allowed on the island unless they are
invited. I really liked the Kaneikokala stone. It looked scary but it was safe
for me to stand next to it.
The ceiling in the first
room was three floors high. A mean-looking shark hung from above.
Heiau site
The sign by what looked
like a village said that heiau are
sacred sites where gifts are offered to the gods. Some heiau were for
agriculture, healing, or warfare. There are many heiau on the Hawaiian Islands.
Some are hidden and some are open for people to see. Auntie has visited heiau on
Oahu, Maui, Lanai, Molokai, and the Big Island of Hawaii.
Hale Pili, Grass House - a
traditional Hale Moe or sleeping house
The wood floor on the
second level of the museum has a map of the Pacific Ocean. The map shows where the
Polynesian people sailed around the ocean. Capes made of yellow and red bird
feathers are on display behind glass cabinets. The capes were only worn by
royalty.
We walked upstairs to the
third level. A large video screen shows pictures of the ocean. A canoe hung
down from the ceiling. A humongous bottlenose whale is up there, too. There was
so much to see, I forgot some of it before I could write it in my journal. Everything
on display is very old. On this floor, most of the items are from places like
Tonga, Samoa, Tahiti, and Fiji.
Guess who the special
guest at Bishop Museum was this month: Doraemon, the Japanese robotic
time-traveling cat and world ambassador! We watched Doraemon video cartoons and
read Doraemon comic books and played Doraemon computer games.
Bishop
Museum J. Watumull Planetarium
We went inside the
Planetarium last. The ceiling was a big round dome. The chairs leaned back so I
didn’t have to bend my neck to look up. The show we saw was called The Sky Tonight. After everyone sat
down, the lights went out. I couldn’t see anything. Then someone turned on a
light and the ceiling was filled with bright stars. Some of them were bigger
than others. Some even twinkled. I liked those best. The speaker said the stars
we were looking at were just like the ones in the night sky in Hawaii now.
The room went dark again.
I almost fell asleep because the chair was so comfortable. Then music started
to play. I opened my eyes and saw something else was on the ceiling. It was a
movie about how the voyaging canoe Hokuleˋa sailed from Hawaii to Tahiti, using
only the stars for direction. Sometimes the ocean waves splashed over the canoe
or tossed it around. I would have been scared. The people in the canoe were
good at keeping it from tipping. They all arrived home safe.
ONE
OCEAN, ONE PEOPLE
In
1976, a fledgling group calling themselves the Polynesian Voyaging Society set
out to prove the scholars wrong. They took to the seas for the first time in
over 600 years, sailing on a 62 foot replica of a double hulled voyaging canoe
named Hokuleˋa.
In
the evening, we went to a Sisters In Crime meeting. It is a nation-wide group
of people who like to read and write mystery stories. Auntie is president of
the Hawaii Chapter. They meet the third Wednesday of each month at the Makiki
Community Library. Other times they meet for special events like answering
telephones for the Hawaii Public Radio fund raiser and Makiki Library book
sales.
I
helped set up for the meeting. We hung a Sisters In Crime banner. I put the sign-up
sheet on one of the tables. We also had donuts for people to eat. Before
everyone arrived, I checked out the children’s section. A big green frog sat on
a chair in one corner. He was real friendly. I looked at the Easter books on the
shelf. That was fun. When people came to the meeting, I showed them where to
sign their names.
After
everyone found a place to sit, we introduced ourselves. I said my name was Flat
Mary and I was from Minnesota. Everyone was happy that I came to visit them in Hawaii.
I told them I was in second grade at Kaleidoscope Charter School - Hills.
Rosemary and Larry introduced
themselves next. Rosemary is the Secretary of Sisters in Crime/Hawaii. Larry is
a retired engineer. They write mystery stories together. They give their novels
fun names like Boston Scream Pie and Hot Grudge Sunday.
Another member, Kent, is a retired doctor
and scientist. He writes science fiction novels. He wrote one about pigs and
heart transplants, but it is for adults to read. Rose was an Air Force officer
during the Vietnam Era. She writes about nurses in World War I. Auntie Gail was
a police officer in Elk River, Minnesota before she moved to Hawaii. She uses
information from her training to write mystery stories.
I asked if I would ever be able to
write a story. Rosemary said I could write a story any time I wanted to. She
said the more I read. the better I will write, because reading and writing go
hand in hand. Maybe I could write a story about my trip to Hawaii. I thought
about the lucky nickel I found in Waikiki. If something lucky happens to me
while I am in Hawaii, maybe I will write about that.
*****
