Hawaii and the Real-Time Evolution of Cultural Astronomy

While the field of historical astronomy is often interested in the ways that astronomical conceptions change over time, the majority of that work involves discussions of cultural evolution in the distant past. Hawaii provides an interesting case study, in that it involves near-time and real-time examples of the de-evolution of a culture's astronomy knowledge (via colonization), and a renaissance of that knowledge through research, sociocultural exchange, practical application, and a willingness to embrace cultural fusion and a modern era. This paper presents a brief summary of the forces that have shaped, and are currently shaping, an ancient and very modern model of the known sky, from primary documents, field notes and observations.