Abstract Detail

Recent Topics Posters

Chock , Al Keali'i [1], Kamelamela, Katie L. [2].

Education: Reproducing Cultural Artifacts.

Botany 446, Hawaiian Ethnobotany, is an upper division ethnobotany course open to undergraduates and graduates at the University of Hawaii at Manoa (UHM). The curriculum was revised this Spring to present the course contents (https://sites.google.com/site/hawaiianethnobotany/course-schedule) in a different sequence, first by cultural use, followed by multi-purpose plants, and both Polynesian introduced and native food plants. There were two course projects: (1) reproducing a cultural artifact, using modern tools and materials, and (2) library research on a Hawaiian plant, using manuscript and Hawaiian or English language newspaper (1800's) sources. Students visited the public galleries of the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum, the Natural History Museum of Hawaii, the first week of class; the research cultural collections the second week; and the library, archives, and herbarium, the fifth week. For the first project the students chose a wide variety of projects, including an adz, basket, knives, fish hooks, fish net, fish trap, mat, musical instruments, sandals, and tapa beaters. They were able to duplicate their artifacts by using the detailed information in Arts and Crafts of Hawaii (1957), by Peter Buck, as a reference, the Bishop Museum exhibits, various individuals (family members, friends, and cultural teachers), and internet videos. Using modern tools and materials, each student spent, on the average in six or more separate sessions, a total of 12-16 or more accumulated hours. The term paper, which accompanied the artifact, outlined what they did, when they did it, and how much time it took for each step of replicating the article. They were able to envisage the length of time and the difficulties of pre-contact Hawaiians to construct their original objects using stone, wood, and bone tools. Some of the reproduced artifacts are excellent quality reproductions, and are compared with museum collections photos and/or Buck 1957 illustrations. The completed projects are now part of the UHM ethnobotany collections.

Broader Impacts:

Related Links:
Hawaiian Ethnobotany course website

1 - University of Hawai'i at Manoa, Botany, St. John 405D, 3190 Maile Way, Honolulu, Hawaii, 96822-2279, United States
2 - University of Hawai'i at Manoa, Botany, St. John 405B, 3190 Maile Way, Honolulu, Hawaii, 96822-2279, United States

Keywords:
Hawaiian
artifacts
reproductions
ethnobotany
cultural
students
Education.

Presentation Type: Recent Topics Poster
Session: P
Location: Khorassan Ballroom/Chase Park Plaza
Date: Monday, July 11th, 2011
Time: 5:30 PM
Number: PRT034
Abstract ID:1100