Polynesian Cultural Center

The Polynesian Cultural Center (PCC) is a living museum located in La'ie, on the northern part of Oahu, Hawaii. Dedicated in October 12 1963, the PCC is located on 42 acres (170,000 m²) of land owned by nearby Brigham Young University Hawaii, where most of the performers are enrolled as students. Although it is largely a commercial venture, profits from the PCC are applied to various scholarship programs run by BYU-Hawaii.

Many performers at the center are students attending BYU-Hawaii on scholarship from their native lands, working up to 20 hours per week during school terms and full time during breaks in order to graduate debt-free. The money which visitors pay for admission, as well as profits from food and gift sales, supports the scholarship programs which have educated thousands of students over the years. Visitors are invited to take bus tours of the University to "see where your money is going," and to see the La'ie Hawaii Temple visitor center.

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One of our favorite and most memorable vacations was our first trip to the Island of Oahu and our visit to the Polynesian Culture Center -- which is a must see for anyone visiting Hawaii. The seven islands represented at this Center are truly magnificent and their pursuit to preserve their natural history and culture of all Polynesian people is truly remarkable. There is so much to see and do for everyone of every age, and we look forward to one day going back again.

The center has its roots in the hukilau and lu'au gatherings on the beach in the 1940s and 1950s to earn money to rebuild a local chapel belonging to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS), which had been destroyed in a fire. "The Hukilau Song," made famous by Alfred Apaka, was written following the composer and song's original singer, Jack Owens, The Cruising Crooner's visit to L'ie's hukilau. The PCC and BYU-Hawaii are owned and operated by the LDS Church, as is the Laie Hawaii Temple, located northwest of the university.

The PCC is considered to be one of the most widely visited tourist destinations in Hawaii. In recent years, it's become Hawaii's number one paid attraction. Visitors are able to observe cultural activities by the peoples who inhabit the islands of the Central and South Pacific Ocean. The Polynesian Cultural Center is the venue for the annual World Fire Knife Dance Competition, in which contestants display their skill with blazing swords.

PCC staff will proudly flash the famous shaka sign to visitors who offer it to them. This sign, made by extending thumb and little finger, was a unique greeting in La'ie, a representation of Hamana Kalili, a local leader who had lost three fingers from his right hand in an industrial accident. While this sign is now known worldwide as a Hawaiian tradition, PCC considers itself the rightful heir of the tradition, as Kalili provided the nets used for that first public hukilau, which was direct ancestor to the Polynesian Cultural Center.

Since opening its doors in 1963, over 32 million people have visited the center.

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Horizons: The PCC is best known for its multicultural Polynesian show, Horizons: Where the Sea Meets the Sky, which is the largest performance of its kind in the world. The show features the many different songs and dances of Polynesia: Hula, tamure, otea, titi torea, haka, poi, meke, tau'olunga, and Taualuga. This is the latest show of its kind at the Polynesian Cultural Center. Past shows include "This is Polynesia" and "Mana: The Spirit of Our People."

Imax and canoe rides: The park has its own IMAX theater as well as a lagoon where visitors can take canoe rides from one end of the park to the other accompanied by a native tour-guide.

Rainbows of Paradise: The Lagoon is also home to the PCC's colorful canoe pageant, "Rainbows of Paradise" a "parade" of canoes that showcases the signature dances of each of the island groups represented at the park. Rainbows of Paradise was preceded by two similar shows in the past: "This is Polynesia," a showcase of the many different cultures and "Ancient Legends of Polynesia" a musical drama of the many myths and legends of ancient polynesia.

Each of the major Polynesian island groups has its own area of the park centered on a re-created traditional village. Hourly performances and cultural learning experiences take place in these villages, and visitors are allowed free rein throughout the park. Each of the following has its own village: Hawaii, Samoa, Aotearoa (present-day New Zealand), Fiji, Tahiti, Tonga and Marquesas.

Polynesia is generally defined as the islands within the Polynesian triangle. The term "Polynesia", meaning many islands, was first used by Charles de Brosses in 1756, and originally applied to all the islands of the Pacific. Jules Dumont d'Urville in an 1831 lecture (talk) to the Geographical Society of Paris proposed a restriction on its use.

Geographically, and over simply, Polynesia may be described as a triangle with its corners at Hawaii, New Zealand and Easter Island. The other main island groups located within the Polynesian triangle are Samoa, Tonga, the Cook Islands, Tuvalu, Tokelau, Niue, Wallis and Futuna and French Polynesia.

A Polynesian island group outside of this great triangle is Rotuma which is the north of the Fijian islands. There are also small outlier Polynesian enclaves in Papua New Guinea, the Solomons, The Caroline Islands, some of the Lau group to Fiji's southeast and in Vanuatu. However, in essence, Polynesia is an anthropological term referring to one of the three parts of Oceania (the others being Micronesia and Melanesia) whose pre-colonial population generally belongs to one ethno-cultural family as a result of centuries of maritime migrations.

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