Hulihe‘e Palace

We did a self guided tour. Upon entry we were given a brief guide by a docent and a handout explaining the various rooms. The first room was the 'pre-contact' room. I was very interested in this but as I viewed the various artifacts I was very disappointed that the majority of them were not labeled as to what they were or what function they performed for the Hawaiians. It was the same in other rooms as well. I am one who wants to know. For example there was an ornamental necklace in what looked like yellow bird feathers. Which bird I wondered...What did the bird look like? How many birds did take to make a necklace? Also, a word was mention several times on the placards and on the handout: 'Kapa' and there was some building for beating Kapa. Was Kapa a bad person who needed punishment? No. It was a material for making, I think either cloth or parchment. What plant did it come from? (the inner bark of the mulbery tree) which were mysteries that I had to Google. It wasn't all bad. I didn't know that a Hawaiian King did an around the world tour in the late 1800s. All in all, for the price/time, it wasn't worth it. If you miss it, your life will not be any better or worse.