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Portrait of Te Rangi Hiroa (Peter Henry Buck) dressed in Maori costume, circa 1930. Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons.

Honolulu museum showcases Polynesian anthropologist

Tom Hoepf
Tom Hoepf

Portrait of Te Rangi Hiroa (Peter Henry Buck) dressed in Maori costume, circa 1930. Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons.
Portrait of Te Rangi Hiroa (Peter Henry Buck) dressed in Maori costume, circa 1930. Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons.
HONOLULU (AP) – Bishop Museum is paying tribute to the first Polynesian to receive widespread recognition for his research and scholarship on Pacific cultures.

The Honolulu museum’s newly renovated Pacific Hall will showcase Sir Peter H. Buck, also known as Te Rangi Hiroa.

Buck served as Bishop Museum’s director for 15 years starting in 1936.

As director, he focused on the anthropology of Pacific people, their origins, language and material culture.

The museum said Monday his work enabled it to expand and enhance its Pacific collections, helping to establish it as a world authority on the culture and natural environment of the Pacific.

The museum will hold a grand reopening celebration for Pacific Hall on Sept. 21.

Buck was born in New Zealand to a Maori chiefess and Irish father.

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AP-WF-07-23-13 1305GMT