Hawaiian Cultural Antiques/Collectibles in High Demand

Cultural antiques have often been a sector highly prized by many collectors. Especially of a specific ethnic peoples. Of late,I have discovered that certain collectibles of native Hawaiian origin have been in high demand and have sold rather quickly when listed on Ebay,often using the 'Buy It Now' feature. Many of these at nice low 4 figure prices! The reason is like many rare collectibles-little high quality supply AND big demand. I have sold as much as $5000 worth in 1 day-to 1 collector! Most sought after items are those made of native stone,wood ,bone & coral often from the "pre-contact" era period,usually known as before Captain Cook discovered the islands or early 1700's and earlier. Many of these items were lost or plundered over the past couple centuries. Others detereorated over the years and became of poor quality. So the items of high quality and condition are in extremely limited supply and many of those don't come up for sale too often. They are usually kept in native families for many generations,passed down from one to the next.Others are in state or private museums and will never come up for sale. So when good quality items come up for sale,they are usually sold rather quickly and at respectable prices. Native Hawaiian artifacts in early centuries were skillfully  and often painstakingly crafted by hand,especially tools,fishing hooks,bowls and special religious,ceremonial and ritual type items. When the missionaries and other explorers came to the islands they brought the modern tools,methods and culture with them. Slowly but surely most of the Hawaiians became assimilated into the new society and stopped their old ways of doing things.Much of their native culture and creativity became lost or forgotten.Many Hawaiians today long to hold onto their past culture,it is an important part of who they are. That is why almost 100% of  Hawaiian artifacts I sell are to Hawaiian residents who want a piece of their history. Best selling items I found to be are older stone adz's,bone fishing hooks,coral ulumaikas,any wooden artifacts.Old photographs,especially of Hawaiian monarchy or historic landmarks are prized as well and even early 20th century bronze Hula lamps and decor are sought after too,because of their rarity.