Hawaiian culture and language
Hawaiʻi has digital archives that are rare in the Pacific: Ulukau, the Wehewehe dictionaries, the Bishop Museum. This assistant leans on them and names the collection it used, so that checking is possible.
Languages and peoples
The institutions consulted
- Ulukau — bibliothèque Hawaïenneulukau.org
- Wehewehe — dictionnaires Hawaïenswehewehe.org
- Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museumbishopmuseum.org
- University of Hawaiʻihawaii.edu
- Papahānaumokuākeapapahanaumokuakea.gov
- National Park Servicenps.gov
Questions to start with
- How is hula divided between ancient and modern forms?
- What are the ancient origins of Hawaiian surfing?
- Which endemic birds are sacred in Hawaiian culture?
- How is kapa cloth made in Hawaiʻi?
- How have water rights shaped Hawaiian politics?
What the assistant will not do
It will not invent a word in a Pacific language, and it will not present one people’s practice as another’s. When it has no source, it says so. Every word in language it writes is checked after the answer, and the reader is shown any that appear nowhere.