Polynesian Cultural Ctr & Cultural Appropriation

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

Last week on another thread, someone mentioned that the Polynesian Cultural Center is owned and operated by the Mormon Church. This got me thinking, with all of the talk about Native Hawaiian rights swirling around the legal battle with the TMT on Mauna Kea, including but not limited to the deep historical backdrop of the 1893 overthrow, missionaries, and Captain Cook, why is the Polynesian Cultural Center granted a more or less free pass (as it were) by "The Protectors" et al?

Isn't the Polynesian Cultural Center, owned by the very missionaries who condemned and destroyed Native Hawaiian religion and practices? Didn't these people systematically and intentionally set out to dismantle a culture, far more than any site preparation or construction of a telescope could ever do? Isn't the commercialized presentation of Hawaiian culture by the Mormon Church at the very least an egregious act of cultural appropriation?

The Mormon Church even removed a taro field, which some might call the desecration of a sacred plant, as one final act of subjugation and victory in order to build their non-profit tourist attraction:
From their website:

Over 100 "labor missionaries" again volunteered to help build the Polynesian Cultural Center's original 39 structures on a 12-acre site that had previously been planted in taro, the native root used to make the Hawaiian staple food poi.
http://www.polynesia.com/purpose-and-his...ZIWz6I-KQw

What gives?

(It's) what the existentialists called "awful freedom" the reinvention of irrationality by marginalized people, just in order to spite science. -Elif Batuman

[Old Croc]

It seems the Hawaiians who work and visit there don't seem to mind this showcasing of their history and culture.

[Eric1600]

I think the Hawaiians just see it as another tourist thing and don't care too much about the old taro fields. The mormons and others are more offended.

https://www.reddit.com/r/exmormon/commen...al_center/

In the discussion I saw that the president of the center makes $300k/year. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2...make-money

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

Hawaiians who work and visit there don't seem to mind
...
the Hawaiians just see it as another tourist thing

Yes, the same Hawaiians who have no objection to the Poly Cult Center most likely appreciate jobs the observatories bring, as well as the science, and education in the 21st century.

My question was meant to draw a comparison between the impact of the TMT and Polynesian Cultural Center on the land and people, and wondered whether it might be hypocritical for "The Protectors" to place such an emphasis on one while completely ignoring the effects of the other.

(It's) what the existentialists called "awful freedom" the reinvention of irrationality by marginalized people, just in order to spite science. -Elif Batuman

[Eric1600]

One of the largest concentrations of iwi in the state is at Kakaako. This district, say the experts, was once an area of sand dunes, and the sandier soil is where Hawaiians preferred for burial sites because it wasn’t appropriate for other uses and it was easier to dig there. I think the Ala Moana Center, Wall Mart, etc. being built on traditional burial grounds is probably the best counter example.

[leilanidude]

I had thought it was Catholic missionaries that tried to remove the culture? Mormonism didn't even start going until the 1830's, in New York?

and curious as which came first, by this statement?

Over 100 "labor missionaries" again volunteered to help build the Polynesian Cultural Center's original 39 structures on a 12-acre site that had previously been planted in taro, the native root used to make the Hawaiian staple food poi.

Does that mean the Mormons restored the ancient structures which were there before taro was planted, or did they destroy taro plants to restore structures?

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

I had thought it was Catholic missionaries that tried to remove the culture?

Attend a Mormon church sometime. How much Hawaiian culture have they incorporated into the service?


Does that mean the Mormons restored the ancient structures

When the Mormons say on their website:
help build the Polynesian Cultural Center's original 39 structures on a 12-acre site that had previously been planted in taro
they are referring to the original buildings they (the Mormons) constructed. The Polynesian Culture Center has been remodeled, refurbished, and expanded many times since their original construction. There has been no restoration of Hawaiian buildings as there were no Hawaiian buildings on the former taro field.

(It's) what the existentialists called "awful freedom" the reinvention of irrationality by marginalized people, just in order to spite science. -Elif Batuman

[Old Croc]

A topic on another thread got me reading about the Mormons. Protestant missionaries arrived 30 years before the Mormons, who came in 1850.

[Midnight Rambler]

The PCC was started in large part as a place to employ students from Hawaii and elsewhere in Polynesia while they attend BYUH. You could make an argument that it's exploitative of them as workers and culturally since it's also a money-making business for the church, but saying Mormons were responsible for destroying Hawaiian culture is quite a stretch.

Also, it's worth noting that unlike most places around the world, Hawaiians largely destroyed their own religion (at least from the top, no doubt many still believed it) before the missionaries even got here. Given that Hawaii wasn't colonized and instead continued as independent for 70 years, the missionaries would never have had as much success if they hadn't.

[leilanidude]

Attend a Mormon church sometime. How much Hawaiian culture have they incorporated into the service?
------
Odd statement.
Why would any religion incorporate Hawaiian culture unless it was an ancient Hawaiian religion, which was abolished by a Hawaiian king in the first place?