Nihoa and Necker mark the transition from the southeastern high islands of the Hawaiian archipelago to the atolls scattered throughout the northwestern part. According to Hawaiian oral traditions and the archaelogical record, these islands were the northwestern frontier of the lands populated by the first Polynesian settlers.
The Bernice P. Bishop Bulletin 53, authored by Kenneth P. Emory and published by the Museum in 1928, was based on the notes, maps, photographs and specimens collected during the Tanager Expeditions. This exact reprint, now a baseline of twentieth century knowledge regarding the archaeology and technology of Nihoa and Necker, allows today's scholars to reinterpret the original data collected almost 80 years ago.
