15 Jun First native Hawaiian associate curator for National Museum of the American Indian

In a first for the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI), Halena Kapuni-Reynolds, a PhD candidate in the Department of American Studies at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, has been appointed associate curator for Native Hawaiian history and culture.

Although the museum’s physical location is in Washington, D.C., Kapuni-Reynolds will continue to reside and work from Hawaiʻi Island. His supervisor Michelle Delaney, assistant director for history and culture, wrote the grant proposal for the nascent Native Hawaiian associate curator position to be community focused and 100% remote.

“We are thrilled to have Halena join the NMAI team and welcome the increased emphasis on Native Hawaiian cultural research and programming which will be developed over time,” Delaney said.

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