A very Merrie Monarch Festival in 1984

Cy Bridges (right) and the women of the Polynesian Cultural Center's hula hālau, Hui Honolulu Aloha, backstage at the 1984 Merrie Monarch Festival in Hilo.

Cy Bridges and the women of the Polynesian Cultural Center’s hula hālau, Hui Ho’oulu Aloha, backstage at the 1984 Merrie Monarch Festival in Hilo.

Center, BYUH forge closer ties to Iosepa

The Iosepa crew at Kahana Bay, with training crew members from the Makali'i (in Kawaihae, Hawaii Island).

The Polynesian Cultural Center and BYU–Hawaii have recently entered into a new agreement in which the PCC will take a bigger role with the BYUH’s 57-foot traditional sailing canoe, the Iosepa.

The “Soul of the Seafarer” and Mark Lee

Ka 'Uhane Holokai sailing at Kahana Bay.

Everyone knows about the BYU–Hawaii Iosepa canoe in the PCC’s Hawaiian Village . . . but did you know there’s a new 24-foot training canoe patterned after the Iosepa that’s recently been added to the “fleet.”

Silina Turaga Aina: Growing up at the Center

Silina Aina

It’s safe to say Silina Turaga Aina grew up as one of a small group of keiki at the Polynesian Cultural Center when her parents — Meleki and Sophia Turaga — were among the earliest people in the 1960s to work in the Fijian Village . . . and she’s still here, displaying and sharing her skills as a long-time weaver in the Hawaiian Village.