BISHOP MUSEUM
The Bishop Museum Storytelling Festival honors the
late Mary Kawena Pukui, center, a Hawaiian language
scholar who was born 106 years ago tomorrow.

Bishop Museum
hosts story time

The schedule

By Burl Burlingame
Star-Bulletin

The way ancient Hawaiians passed down their history and culture in pre-Cook days was through oral traditions, storytelling and chants. And so it's thoroughly appropriate that Bishop Museum, the repository of Hawaiian culture, become the host of a storytelling event tomorrow. Can we talk?

The "Bernice P. Bishop Museum Storytelling Festival" is in honor of museum scholar Mary Kawena Pukui and features storytelling and song at seven venues throughout the museum campus from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. tomorrow.

"It's the first time we've done this, and we intend to keep doing it," explained cultural-education specialist Chiya Hoapili.

A translator, researcher, genealogist, composer, teacher, author and lightning rod for all things Hawaiian, the late Pukui was born 106 years ago tomorrow. Her importance in the preservation of Pacific culture can't be underestimated, and one of her favorite things to do was tell stories to kids.

There will be storytelling and hands-on workshops hosted by more than 20 performers. We're talking mythical ravens over the frozen shores of Alaskan rivers, songs from a seafaring past, an alii-eye-view of a bustling Cantonese street, among other subjects.

Auntie Nona Beamer will talk about her childhood on the Big Island and share stories of our ancestors. Nyla Fujii will visit other islands from the Caribbean, Polynesia and Indonesia.

Calvin Hoe will share his knowledge of bamboo and teach how to make and play a nose flute. Shanlee Konanui hosts a puppetry workshop and drafts you to tell a story. Other events include special children's storytelling, Hawaiian language storytelling, and lectures about Kawena Pukui and Bishop Museum's oral-history resources.

Storytellers from Alaska representing the Alaska Native Heritage Center include Diane Benson, John Active, Jack Dalton and Dorothy Joseph.

Storytellers from Salem, Mass. representing the Peabody Essex Museum include Daisy Nell and Stan Collinson.

Storytellers from Hawaii representing Bishop Museum include Miki'ala Ayau and Keliko Hoe.

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The schedule

At Hawaiian Hall

9:15 a.m. -- Makia Malo
10 a.m. -- Diane Benson (Alaska)
Noon -- Miki'ala Ayau and Keliko Hoe (Hawaii)
12:45 p.m. -- Dorothy Joseph, Diane Benson and John Active (Alaska)
1:15 p.m. -- Daisy Nell and Stan Collinson (Salem)

Polynesian Hall

9:15 a.m. -- Tom Cummings
10 a.m. --Emil Wolfgramm
10:45 a.m. -- Nyla Fujii
11:30 a.m. -- Makia Malo

Castle Memorial Building first floor (children's stories)

10:30 a.m. -- Dogs in Space
11:15 a.m. -- Larry Wiss
Noon -- Dogs in Space
1:30 p.m. -- Larry Wiss
2:30 p.m. -- Dogs in Space

Hale Kea (children's stories)

9:15 a.m. -- Emil Wolfgramm
10 a.m. -- Nyla Fujii
10:45 a.m. -- Jack Dalton
11:30 a.m. -- Kaipo'i Kelling
1:15 p.m. -- Kalama Cabigon
2 p.m. -- Dorothy Joseph and Jack Dalton

Hall of Discovery (Hawaiian language storytelling)

9:15 a.m. -- Lani Waiau
10 a.m. -- Kalama Cabigon
10:45 a.m. -- Kaipo'i Kelling
11:30 a.m. -- Lani Waiau

Atherton Halau (workshops)

9:15 a.m. -- Shanlee Konanui
10:30 a.m. -- Nona Beamer
11:45 a.m. -- Jack Dalton
2 p.m. -- Calvin Hoe

Paki Hall (Mary Kawena Pukui and BM resources)

9:15 and 10:45 a.m. -- Naomi Losch
10 and 11:30 a.m. --DeSoto Brown and staff
2:15 p.m. -- Daisy Nell and Stan Collinson of the Peabody Essex Museum

Planetarium (stories under the stars)

1:30, 2:30 and 3 p.m.

Tell me a story What: Bernice P. Bishop Museum Storytelling Festival When: 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. tomorrow Where: Bishop Museum, 1525 Bernice St. Call: 847-3511 Cost: $3 for Hawaii residents and active military, or $10 for a family of four (two adults, two children ages 4 through 12); free for Bishop Museum Association members. (Regular admission is $14.95. Bernice P. Bishop Museum Storytelling Festival.)

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