Na Mele o Hula Kahiko
The role of this sacred (hula) dancer is as important as the community’s weavers and kapa makers, for the fabric of reality also needs frequent upkeep.
Na Mele o Hula Kahiko. Quilted by Yoshimi Suzuki. Designed by John Serrao co-founder of Poakalani.
This quilt depicts the instruments that accompany the hula dancers. The motifs are the pahu hula(drum), ʻuliʻuli (feathered rattles), pūniu (coconut knee drum) used in classical hula dancing and maile leaves represents Laka (Goddess of hula). The central part of the design uses Wāwae Moa (chicken feet stitches), a traditional technique. The quilt reaffirms hula as a continuous and important part of Hawaiian life.
Yoshimi Suzuki
Quilting, originally introduced by Christian missionaries, emerged as a growing part of Hawaiian culture in the early nineteenth century. Hawaiians reworked quilting into a unique artform that reflects and represents their own Indigenous designs and knowledges, characterised by symmetry and echoing patterns.
Once again the preservation of the culture, historical legends, their inner desires, and their future desires were being quilted into what we know today as the Hawaiian Quilt.
Poakalani Studio Quilters in The Hawaiian Quilt: The Tradition Continues (2007)
Hula is an iconic part of Hawaiian culture.
This display aims to move away from the often commercialised touristic depiction of hula and recentre and recontextualise hula kahiko (ancient hula) within the Hawaiian landscape and ecosystem, specifically the ahupua‘a. The ahupuaʻa is a traditional Hawaiian land division that runs from the mountain tops to the sea embracing the ecosystems within.
The Sacred Dancer by Solomon Enos.
A Story of Hula as told by Solomon Enos’ Sacred Dancer
As it is the custom in the Hawaiian archipelago on the surface, so too is it in this subterranean realm far below, that the peoples of these parallel worlds give reverence and unconditional appreciation to their gods and lands in the form of the Hula. This ceremonial art-form is significant for many reasons, and perhaps chief amongst them is the ability for these performers to become a fusion of their deities and their environment, expressed through the medium of their finely trained bodies. This Hula dancer utilizes an extra pair of limbs for his ‘uli ‘uli that he incorporates into his performance, freeing up his open hands to express the winds, the ocean, or some other natural or divine phenomenon. This Hula tradition, as stated, serves many purposes, from political to storytelling, and at its core, is a tradition of deep awareness and appreciation for these natural and divine forces that define their shared reality. And should this tradition be lost, then the thread that binds the people to the land and the gods will fray. The role of this sacred dancer is as important as the community’s weavers and kapa makers, for the fabric of reality also needs frequent upkeep.
‘Uli ‘uli (Feather dance rattle). Dyed fowl feathers, gourd. PRM 1925.13.1
Highlighted design of 'uli 'uli in Na Mele o Hula Kahiko. Quilted by Yoshimi Suzuki.
Designed by John Serrao co-founder of Poakalani.
The Sacred Dancer by Solomon Enos, with details of the 'uli 'uli highlighted.
‘Ōlelo o‘eau (Proverbs and Sayings)
As told by our narrator The Sacred Dancer, hula is deeply grounded in the environment and the ahupua‘a - it is an artform that blurs the artificial divisions between the manmade, natural and spiritual worlds. The practice of hula conveys knowledge about ‘ōlelo (Hawaiian language), mo‘olelo (storytelling), and ‘āina (the land) through mele (song), oli (chant) and movement. A Hawaiian proverb states 'A'ohe pau ka 'ike i ka halau ho'okahi, or ‘All knowledge is not taught in the same school/ One learns from many sources’, which hula acts as a reminder.
Hula and ‘Āina (land)
E nihi ka helena i ka uka… mai pūlale i ka ‘ike a ka maka.
Go quietly and carefully in the uplands do not let anything you see excite you.
Go carefully and be mindful.
This ‘ōlelo no‘eau (proverb) is employed by cultural practitioners when gathering native flora associated with hula for leis, adornments and offerings for hula altars. The saying speaks to the practise of only gathering plants on the way out of the forest and not on the way into the forest. This allows practitioners to assess the available flora resources and take stock before deciding of how much to gather. In this way hula practices are an active part of Hawaiian forest management and conservation. This demonstrates another way in which hula is embedded in the ahupua'a.
Maile (Alyxia oliviformis) is a listed vulnerable endemic species of vine with glossy green leaves. The vines are made into open-ended lei to be worn on festive occasions and to decorate the kuahu (altar) in the hālau hula (hula school). Maile is associated with the goddess Laka who is the spirit of the hula.
Highlighted maile leaves in the design of Na Mele o Hula Kahiko. Quilted by Yoshimi Suzuki. Designed by John Serrao co-founder of Poakalani.
Invasive alien plants and new fungal diseases such as Rapid ʻŌhiʻa Death (ROD) are threatening the endemic Hawaiian species and forests. Native plants such as maile, which are in high demand for hula and special occasions, are purposely planted in Hawaiian forests to help reduce the re-sprouting of invasive alien species by creating an understory layer. As new ecological issues arise that impact Hawaiian forests, so to hula gathering protocols changed to reflect the new reality.
Here are some more hula gathering protocols demonstrating the ecological care embedded in Indigenous Hawaiian knowledge:1
Only gather in your own ahupua’a
(This restricts the number of people able to gather in an area)
Gather only what you need and always leave for the next gatherer
(Allows for, and recognises, multi-use of common resources)
Don't take all you need from one plant
(Spreads pressure over multiple individuals)
Remove fronds from ferns by cutting the stem (stipe), do not pull from the ground.
Gather a few weeks after the rains and don't gather any fronds that are light green or have light green parts.
(Allows for regeneration through rhizomes which remain intact. Ensures gathering only when fronds are growing and prevents when subject to additional (drought) stress; restricts harvest only to mature fronds, which will not live much longer.)
Return used lei (garlands) to forest
(Allows for decomposition and re-absorption of harvested materials as a cyclical part of the ecosystem)
As hula reflects the environment in which it is practised, gathering protocols have been adapted to reflect current ecological issues impacting Hawaiian forests and native plant species. Invasive alien plants and new fungal diseases such as Rapid ʻŌhiʻa Death (ROD) are threatening the endemic Hawaiian species and forests. New protocols include the following:
Weeding invasive alien plants as part of the gathering process.
(Help stop the spread of invasive alien species and promote the growth of native species.)
No longer return leis to the forest, but return them to garden.
(Helps prevent the introduction and spread of alien and invasive organisms to isolated upland forests.)
[1 ] TICKTIN, TAMARA, et al. “Traditional Gathering of Native Hula Plants in Alien-Invaded Hawaiian Forests: Adaptive Practices, Impacts on Alien Invasive Species and Conservation Implications.” Environmental Conservation, vol. 33, no. 3, 2006, pp. 185–94. JSTOR.
