The New Trade Winds project, funded by a partnership grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services, was developed by the Bishop Museum, the Alaska Native Heritage Center, and the Peabody Essex Museum in an effort to explore how museums can work together to expand their services, emphasizing technology through use of the internet, education and community.

What is the role of museums, given increasing worldwide connectivity, economic globalization, and urbanization, in protecting the community identity and facilitating cross-cultural exchange? We feature the New Trade Winds Project, a new and exciting model program partnering three geographically, culturally distinct, yet historically linked communities of Anchorage, Hawai‘i, and Salem. These communities share a history of cultural and economic ties extending back two centuries, beginning with the China Trade. For these historic trading partners, the trade winds were a vital source, filling the sails of the ships of commerce and exchange. For today's collective, the Internet and other technologies is the new vehicle to propel us into the next millennium and bring us into the 21st century.