Wylie Swapp creates Cultural Center’s name
Church College of Hawaii faculty member Wylie Swapp was involved with early phases of the Polynesian Cultural Center.
Church College of Hawaii faculty member Wylie Swapp was involved with early phases of the Polynesian Cultural Center.
Church engineer George Aposhian Jr. took this picture of traditional Samoan fale in Pavai’ai’i, American Samoa, in 1962 to prepare for building similar structures at the “Polynesian Village” site in Laie. (The name “Polynesian Cultural Center” had not been adopted yet.)
Aunty Kela Miller was born in Laie, learned hula from her ‘ohana, danced at the Hukilau, then became an original Hawaiian Villager and dancer at the PCC.
Before marrying George Hunt of Samoa, Beth McKinnon Hunt left Australia to attend Church College of Hawaii in 1963 and ended up dancing in the Polynesian Cultural Center night show.