Adrienne L.

Kaeppler

Adrienne Lois Kaeppler (born 1935) is an

American anthropologist, curator of
Oceanic Ethnology at the National
Museum of Natural History at the
Smithsonian Institution in Washington,
DC.[1] Since 2005, she has been
President of the International Council on
Traditional Music.[2] Her research
focuses on the interrelationships
between social structure and the arts,
including dance, music, and the visual
arts, especially in Tonga and Hawaii.[3]
She is considered to be an expert on
Tongan dance, and the voyages of the
18th-century explorer James Cook.

Adrienne L. Kaeppler
Born 1935 (age 82–83)

Nationality American

Occupation Curator of Oceanic

Ethnology at the
National Museum of
Natural History at the
Smithsonian
Institution.

Known for Research on Tonga

and Captain Cook
Career
Her research focuses on material culture
and the visual and performing arts in
their cultural contexts, including
traditional social and political structures
and modern cultural identity.

Kaeppler attended the University of

Wisconsin–Milwaukee, and received her
Masters and PhD from the University of
Hawaii. In the 1970s, she was an
anthropologist at the Bishop Museum in
Honolulu, Hawaii. She has taught
anthropology, ethnomusicology,
anthropology of dance, and art history at
the University of Hawaii;[4] the University
of Maryland, College Park; the Queen’s
University in Belfast, Northern Ireland;
Johns Hopkins University; and the
University of California, Los Angeles. She
was also a member of the State Council
on Hawaiian Heritage. In 1998, she
worked in Tonga at the Tongan National
Museum, setting up a special exhibition
on the 80th birthday of King Taufa'ahau
Tupou IV.[5] In 2004, she was vice-
president of the International Council for
Traditional Music, and she was elected
as President in 2005, taking over from
Krister Malm.[6] She is currently curator
and anthropologist at the National
Museum of Natural History of the
Smithsonian Institution.[7]
Awards
In 1978, Kaeppler was honored by the
YWCA as a leading female scientist
whose work increased the understanding
of native cultures.[8]

Kaeppler was also lauded for the book

James Cook and the Exploration of the
Pacific (published in 2009). The work
was recognized with the 2010 First
International Tribal Art Book Prize ,
organized by Tribal Art magazine in
partnership with Sotheby's Paris
Headquarters[9] And in April 2010, it was
named Book of the Month by Hodern
House in Australia.[10]
In 2010, Kaeppler delivered a
Smithsonian Secretary's Distinguished
Research Lecture Award, which
"recognizes a scholar’s sustained
achievement in research, longstanding
investment in the Smithsonian, and
outstanding contribution to a field, as
well as his or her ability to communicate
research to a non-specialist audience."[11]

Selected writing
"The structure of Tongan dance
(doctoral dissertation)". Honolulu:
Anthropology Department, University
of Hawaii. 1967.
"Tongan dance: a study in cultural
change". Ethnomusicology.
Middletown, Connecticut: Wesleyan
University Press; Society of
Ethnomusicology. 14 (2): 266–277.
1971. doi:10.2307/849801 .
"Aesthetics of Tongan Dance".
Ethnomusicology. Middletown,
Connecticut: Wesleyan University. 15
(2): 175–185. 1971.
doi:10.2307/850464 .
"Cook Voyage Provenance of the
'Artificial Curiosities' of Bullock's
Museum". Man. Royal Anthropological
Institute of Great Britain and Ireland. 9
(1): 68–92. March 1974.
doi:10.2307/2800037 .
" "L'Aigle" and HMS "Blonde": The Use
of History in the Study of
Ethnography". Hawaiian Journal of
History. Hawaii Historical Society. 12:
28–44. 1978. hdl:10524/620 .
Poetry in Motion: Studies in Tongan
Dance, 1993
Hula Pahu. Bishop Museum Press.
1994. ISBN 978-0-930897-55-0.
Polynesian and Micronesian sections of
Oceanic Art, published in French,
German, and English, 1993–1997
From the Stone Age to the Space Age in
200 Years: Tongan Art and Society on
the Eve of the Millennium, 1999
"Dance and the concept of style". 2001
Yearbook for Traditional Music. Los
Angeles: International Council for
Traditional Music. 33: 49–63. 2001.
doi:10.2307/1519630 .
The Pacific Arts of Polynesia and
Micronesia, Oxford University Press,
2008
Fleck, Robert (2009). James Cook and
the Exploration of the Pacific. Thames
& Hudson Ltd. ISBN 978-0-500-51516-
7.
Polynesia: The Mark and Carolyn
Blackburn Collection of Polynesian Art.
 Honolulu, HI: University of Hawaiʻi
Press. 2010. ISBN 978-1-883-52838-6.
Holophusicon--the Leverian Museum :
an eighteenth-century English institution
of science, curiosity, and art. Altenstadt,
Germany Honolulu, HI: ZKF Publishers
Distributed in the United States by
Bishop Museum Press. 2011. ISBN 3-
9811620-4-8.

Editing
Co-editor, Australia and the Pacific
Islands, volume 9 of the Garland
Encyclopedia of World Music, 1998
Kaeppler, Adrienne L.; Dunin, Elsie
Ivancich, eds. (2007). Dance structures:
Perspectives on the analysis of human
 movement. Budapest: Akademiai
Kiado. ISBN 978-963-05-8542-2.

References
1. Miller, Robert (December 28, 2001).
"Easter Island". The News-Times.
2. Kaeppler, Adrienne L.; Dunin, Elsie
Ivancich, eds. (2007). Dance structures:
Perspectives on the analysis of human
movement. Budapest: Akademiai Kiado.
ISBN 978-963-05-8542-2.
3. Sperlich, Tobias (2006). "Embodied
inter-cultural dialogues: The biography of
a Samoan necklace in Cologne" (pdf).
Journal of the Polynesian Society.
4. Kriegsman, Alan (September 22, 1979).
"The Lure and Harmony of the Hula".
Washington Post.
5. Arcayna, Nancy (October 24, 2010).
"Book celebrates art of Polynesia" .
staradvertiser.com. Retrieved
December 24, 2010.
6. Giurchescu, Anca (2006). "Report and
projects (2005–2006)" . International
Council for Traditional Music. Retrieved
December 24, 2010.
7. "Regional meeting on the convention for
the safeguarding of the intangible cultural
heritage" (PDF). Kazan: UNESCO.
December 2004.
8. "Leader Luncheon Honorees 1977–
1979" . YWCA. Retrieved December 23,
2010.
9. "James Cook and the Exploration of the
Pacific" . Pacific Arts Association.
December 23, 2010.
10. "Anthropolog: Awards (page 6)" (pdf).
Anthropolog. Smithsonian Institution.
Spring 2010. Retrieved December 23,
2010.
11. "Smithsonian Department of
Anthropology" . Archived from the
original on 2 February 2011. Retrieved
December 23, 2010.
Who's Who of American Women. Ninth
edition, 1975–1976. Wilmette, IL

Retrieved from
"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?
title=Adrienne_L._Kaeppler&oldid=841558188"

Last edited 6 months ago by Ser A…

Content is available under CC BY-SA 3.0 unless

otherwise noted.