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Polynesian Cultural Center QTVR

by ALOHA DEAN

 

The Polynesian Cultural Center, on Oahu's northeast shore at Laie, was built by labor missionaries of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1963 to allow students at the Church's nearby college (now named Brigham Young University-Hawaii) to keep alive and share their island heritage with visitors while working their way through school.
The Center's student employees come from an area that covers approximately 15 million square miles of the world's largest ocean -- the Pacific. The Polynesian islands are set in a rough triangle ranging from Hawaii at the northern apex to Easter Island in the southeast and New Zealand in the southwest. Seven of these island nations are represented at the Polynesian Cultural Center.

Today, The Polynesian Cultural Center - PCC on Oahu is one of the most popular activities in Hawaii. The center celebrates traditional Polynesian culture, and gives you a unique opportunity to immerse yourself in the lifestyles, habitats, entertainment and hospitality of seven Polynesian villages:  Tonga, Tahiti, the Marquesas, Fiji, New Zealand (Aotearoa), Samoa and Hawaii!  At the PCC you'll see islanders reenact war dances and wedding ceremonies, rub sticks to create fire, carve tiki figures, wield fire knives, and climb four-story trees in bare feet plus much more.  Mid-Afternoon, the Pageant of the Long Canoes begins, and you'll be called to the river's edge to watch Polynesian dancers show off their native costumes and culture as they float along.  When the sun goes down, enjoy the PCC's spectacular "Horizons" Night Show with a cast of 100; this is the largest Polynesian revue of song and dance in the world!