Alaska Air celebrates Native Hawaiian History Month with Bishop Museum speaker series
Cover Image: (from left to right, top to bottom) Marques Marzan, DeSoto Brown, Donnette Tuisano, Sarah Kuaiwa, Christopher S. Hobbs, Tamiko Fernilus.
In recognition of Native Hawaiian History month, Alaska Airlines’ Pacific Islander Alliance (P.I.A.) leadership team invited Bishop Museum to help facilitate a cultural learning series available to all employees.
P.I.A. is an internal business resource group whose mission is to support and connect communities by sharing culture, traditions, and knowledge of the Pacific. P.I.A. is led by employees Lucy Purcell, Jill Tanga, Lindsay Tuiasosopo, and Shanyn Wright. With a membership of over 200 employees and 15 years of existence, they’re committed to educating their employees and guests on Hawaiian culture.
“When brainstorming how we wanted to approach Hawaiian History Month, we carefully considered how to be pono when sharing Hawaiian history,” said Jill Tanga, co-founder of P.I.A. “Bishop Museum immediately came to mind as an ideal partner.”
“Our intent is to share manaʻo with our co-workers to help deepen our appreciation of Hawaiʻi beyond the regular tourist activities. And because Bishop Museum is a curator of amazing educational content, they can help us achieve that goal,” said Lucy Purcell, co-founder of P.I.A.
“The learning series was a unique way to engage with Alaska Air while aligning with our vision of being a key resource of our culture’s history. Providing them with educational support for their employees is an initiative we’ve started incorporating with our corporate community and we want to continue this going forward.”
– Milton Lafitaga, Bishop Museum Director of Corporate Relations and Partnerships
The live virtual web presentations hosted by the P.I.A. spanned over four weeks and included seven sessions with representatives from the Museum’s collections along with community supporters.
- A historical overview with DeSoto Brown, Bishop Museum Historian and Curator for Archives
- “Kapaemahu,” the inspiration behind the film with co-curators Kumu Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu, Dean Hamer, and Joe Wilson
- The Healer Stones of Kapaemahu, from our collections with Marques Marzan, Bishop Museum Cultural Advisor / The Wayne Pitluck and Judith Pyle Curator for Cultural Resilience and Sarah Kuaiwa, Curator of Hawaiʻi and Pacific Cultural Resources
- Voyaging Kealaikahiki and interactive presentation of Wayfinders with Tamiko Fernilus, Hōkūleʻa Navigator and Polynesian Voyaging Society Member
- Hua Kaiāulu: Food Resiliency in Hawaiʻi with Christopher S. Hobbs, Ph.D., Curator of Sustainability and Donnette Tuisano, Museum Educator
Image: DeSoto Brown, Bishop Museum Historian and Curator for Archives.
Image: Marques Marzan, Bishop Museum Cultural Advisor / The Wayne Pitluck and Judith Pyle Curator for Cultural Resilience.
Image: Sarah Kuaiwa, Curator of Hawaiʻi and Pacific Cultural Resources.
Image: Tamiko Fernilus, Hōkūleʻa Navigator and Polynesian Voyaging Society Member.
Image: Christopher S. Hobbs, Ph.D., Curator of Sustainability.
Image: Donnette Tuisano, Museum Educator.
Visit BishopMuseum.org/CorporateGiving to learn more about the unique ways we engage with our corporate partners. Interested in working with us? Reach out to our team by emailing CorporateRelations@BishopMuseum.org.
