Wayfinders
He Waʻa He Moku, He Moku He Waʻa
Wayfinders celebrates the resurgence of traditional Hawaiian wayfinding, a vital cultural practice that connects the people of Hawaiʻi with the stars, sea, and their voyaging canoes. This immersive exhibit highlights the growing community of voyaging canoes and their crews, reflecting on the environmental and cultural stewardship that guides future generations of navigators.
Coming Soon
March 14, 2025
Museum Hours
Open Every Day
9 am – 5 pm
Ages
All Ages
Location
J. Watumull Planetarium Lobby
Admission
Included with General Admission
Adults: $33.95
Seniors (65+): $30.95
Youth (4–17): $25.95
Children (3 and under): Free
Children age 16 and younger must be accompanied by an adult.
Exhibit Highlights
Lifesize screen. “Walk” through a Hall of Teachers to meet visionaries and leaders that contributed to the revival and ‘Ohana Waʻa, like Nainoa Thompson.
Guide over 20 canoes to their homes across the Pacific Ocean in this touch-screen game. Summaries of each canoe’s origins and purposes provide the clues needed for the reader to drag-and-drop each canoe onto the map.
Family photo-style gallery wall featuring photos of various voyagers in recent voyaging history.
Selection of books and guides focused on wayfinding, navigation, and astronomy available for guests to reference while in the lobby.
Become familiar with the kūkuluoklolani (Hawaiian Star Compass) and its shape on the horizon in this video interactive. Guests can step aboard a canoe deck and simulate steering a canoe using a hoe uli (steering paddle).
Sand and shell table where visitors can play and copy patterns of the sky.
Three-video wall inviting guests to observe wind, weather, waves, and wildlife viewed aboard a canoe.
Interactive to listen and repeat the calls of seabirds found around the Hawaiian Islands.
About the Planetarium
Bishop Museum’s Jhamandas Watumull Planetarium opened its doors on December 12, 1961. Originally called the Kilolani Planetarium, the Watumull Planetarium has served over six million visitors and students over 60 years of continuous operation. The Planetarium was instrumental in the recovery of the nearly lost art and science of traditional, non-instrument navigation in Hawaiʻi. Nainoa Thompson spent countless hours in the Planetarium with Will Kyselka and other Planetarium staff in the late 1970s learning how to read the night sky. We are honored to continue that legacy by serving as a training space for today’s navigators.
Our GOTO Chronos II optical star projector provides one of the most vivid, realistic recreations of the night sky available today, with 8,500 pinpoint stars and realistic, bright planets. Our Digistar 4K full-dome video system covers the entire dome in immersive video, allowing us to fly through the rings of Saturn, into the depths of the Orion nebula, out to the edge of the universe, and even simulate a voyage across the Pacific.
The Planetarium has 64 seats and serves 70,000 people a year. The planetarium focuses on programs about Hawaiʻi, blending live and prerecorded elements within each program.
