MEDIA RELEASE

Five of the most historically important and popular books by Bishop Museum Press are now available as e-books. Titles available for Kindle, iPad and Nook e-readers include Folktales of Hawaii, collected and translated by Mary Kawena Pukui with Laura Green; Ka Poe Kahiko: The People of Old; Works of the People of Old, Tales and Traditions of the People of Old by Samuel Kamakau; and A Legendary Tradition of Kamapuaa, the Hawaiian Pig-God by Lilikalā Kameeleihiwa.

An additional 10 titles will become available over the next few months including Hawaiian Antiquities by David Malo; Olelo Noeau: Hawaiian Proverbs and Poetical Sayings, collected and translated by Mary Kawena Pukui; Arts and Crafts of Hawaii; Native Planters in Old Hawaii; Native Land and Foreign Desires; Kepelino’s Traditions of Hawaii; Fragments of Hawaiian History; Ancient Sites of Oahu; Mai Paa I Ka Leo: Historical Voice in Primary Hawaiian Materials, Looking Forward and Listening Back; and the Amy Greenwell Garden Ethnobotanical Guide to Native Hawaiian Plants.

“We’re excited to begin offering our titles in digital format,” Press Director Ron Cox said. “E-books provide another means for extending our reach, offering added convenience and engaging new readers in the rich legacy of storytelling and sharing knowledge, which remain at the heart of the museum’s mission.”

The e-books retail for $9.99 and are available on Amazon.com (for Kindle), Barnes&Noble.com (for Nook), and Apple’s iBookstore/iTunes (for iPad).

This digitization project was funded in part by the Native Hawaiian Culture and Arts Program, a program of the U.S. Department of the Interior and National Park Service.

Bishop Museum was founded in 1889 by Charles Reed Bishop in memory of his wife Bernice Pauahi Bishop, the last direct descendant of King Kamehameha I.

Today, the museum is recognized as the principal museum of the Pacific, housing the world’s largest collection of Hawaiian and Pacific artifacts and natural history specimens. More than 400,000 people visit the museum each year, including more than 40,000 schoolchildren.

For more information, call (808) 847-3511 or visit www.bishopmuseum.org