Addressing Tensions between Colonial and Post-Colonial Histories: Modeling Hawaiian Fort Pā‘ula‘ula/Russian Fort Elizabeth, Kaua‘i Island, Hawai‘i

Abstract

We address interpretive challenges at multicultural sites by presenting a digital reconstruction of a fort built in 1816 on Kaua‘i Island known as “Pā‘ula‘ula” or “Hīpō” in Hawaiian texts and as “Fort Elizabeth” in Russian texts. Based on archival documents, maps, photographs, and archaeological research, we create diachronic 3D models to illustrate the cultural complexities behind the site’s formation. The results of the study provide more public visibility to this poorly understood National Historic Landmark. The 3D models are intended to foster community-based engagement with academic research by providing representations of the fort and surrounding cultural landscape as it changed over time; they would also assist people in better estimating what would be necessary to design and complete a full-scale restoration of the fort.