There was no alphabet. No written language. No metal for tools. No clay for pots. No wheels. Yet these prehistoric Pacific islanders voyaged across great oceans, created a sophisticated society and left a cultural heritage that still flourishes in the Hawaiian Islands.
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 There was no alphabet. No written language. No metal for tools. No clay for pots. No wheels. Yet these prehistoric Pacific islanders voyaged across great oceans, created a sophisticated society and left a cultural heritage that still flourishes in the Hawaiian Islands. Archaeological evidence indicates the Hawaiian islands were well populated by A.D. 500, but the first settlers may have arrived several centuries earlier. Wood, stone, bone, fibers and feathers were the artisans' primary materials. The early Western explorers found the Hawaiian artistic traditions closely linked to the ancient religion of Hawaii. Dance, music and arts celebrated the elements, gods and human abilities. Today the maka'ainana, the artisans, carry forth the creative legacy of their ancestors who traveled far across the seas from legendary Havaiki, islands not anchored in any ocean-the home of all knowledge. Join us now as we explore some of the ancient arts and crafts practiced today by the Native Hawaiian peoples.
"When we present our hula," explains Mapu, "it is based on what we know from Kihei's intense research and from my hula education." Mapu carries on the tradition of the late hula master Aunty Maiki Aiu Lake. She has shared hula with many hundreds of haumana (students) in her 28 years of teaching. Some of her students begin to dance at age four. "We share hula and more," she explains. "Our dancers learn Hawaiian language, Hawaiian values and the joy of making their own feather lei and hula implements to use when they dance." Mapu and her husband, a Hawaiian language teacher and educator, have been a driving and steady force in the 20-plus-year struggle for cultural preservation that is called the Hawaiian Renaissance. Hula, language and many of the ancient art forms came dangerously close to dying out. Noted Hawaiian businesswoman Maile Meyer, owner of Na Mea Hawaii, Native Books in Honolulu, says, "The dedication of Hawaiians like the de Silvas, totally committed to our culture, saved us from being an endangered species. They are workers, people who not only lead, but roll up their sleeves and dig in for the long haul." Hula halau are plentiful and prospering on all of the Hawaiian islands. Each spring the Merrie Monarch Hula Festival brings thousands of "hulaholics" to Hilo on the Big Island of Hawaii for a week of dance competition. Once hidden and forbidden, the best of hula can now be enjoyed year 'round.
 Lei-Woven with Love
 Historic references, dating back to 1778, describe the lei po'o (head lei) and lei a'i (worn around the neck) as being created of flowers, seeds, ivory, shell and feathers. The ali'i nui, ruling kings, wore feathered helmets and ceremonial cloaks made of thousands of clusters of bird feathers, tied on to a net-like backing. Many of the bird species have been eliminated by introduced predators, like the mongoose, but the magnificent cloaks can be found in the collections of both the Bishop Museum and 'Iolani Palace. On the tiny, private island of Ni'ihau, the tradition of sewing the tiny shells, pu'pu o Ni'ihau, into leis of breathtaking beauty has gone on for hundreds of years. The shells are found only on this island. Strung only by Ni'ihauans, they can cost from hundreds to many thousands of dollars and are considered more precious than pearls. Na Mea Hawaii, at Ward Warehouse in Honolulu, carries the authentic, registered shells and finished jewelry.
 The traditional feather art can still be found in the welcoming Honolulu feather shop of Aunty Mary Louise Kekuewa. Na Lima Mili Hulu No'eau (Skilled Hands Touch the Feathers) is a tiny, tightly packed supply shop and showcase for the work of one of Hawaii's living treasures. For more than 30 years, Aunty Mary Lou, assisted by her daughter, Paulette Kahalepuna, has been teaching the ways of the lei to beginners, hula dancers, visitors and friends. People fly in from the other Hawaiian islands to buy much-needed supplies and learn some of Aunty's fine points. "In the past," she explains, "feathers were gathered during the molting seasons of the native birds." The bird catchers would even cover their arm with a sticky sap of the breadfruit tree, tempt the bird with food and catch and hold it just long enough to pluck a few feathers but not harm the bird. She adds, sadly, "Now, no more." Natural and dyed feathers are now imported but the ancient featherwork methods are preserved. Aunty (a term of respect in the islands) has a wall of honors and awards, as well as photos of one gown of 30,000 white feathers that would put Hollywood to shame. It took her 13 years for her to complete her first traditional feather cloak. The masterpiece, on display at the shop, is named after her mother, Ahu'ula O Mailelani. Six days a week, Aunty's fingers fly as she makes lei. She will still sit for hours, helping a young hula dancer complete his or her first feather lei for a performance. "After that, they're on their own. Come in for check-ups, I tell them," she says with a smile. Ukulele-The Jumping Flea Though the missionaries arrived in the early 1800s, bringing the written word and new musical forms, it was the 1879 arrival of Portuguese master craftsman Manuel Nunes that brought the ukulele (the jumping flea) to Hawaiian life. The name came from the speed that fingers move on the strings. In the early 1900s, a young apprentice named Samuel Kamaka studied with Nunes. Today his grandson, Sam Jr., carries on the Kamaka legacy, making fine instruments treasured by musicians worldwide.
 Perhaps Hawaii's most extraordinary ukulele master is Eddie Kamae of Honolulu. Singer/songwriter Keith Haugen says, "There may be players who can pick faster than Eddie (say young Jake Shimabukuro or one of Roy Sakuma's Ukulele School students), but none plays with the kind of soul and Hawaiian feeling that Eddie imparts." As a young man in the 1940s, Kamae developed a jazz picking style that forever changed the status of the ukulele. Kamae says, "In 1949, I was on the road, playing in cold, cold Longmont, Colorado. I wasn't making money, wasn't happy and wasn't warm. I went home to Hawaii and never went back on the road." Despite the fact that you had to visit Hawaii to hear him and his legendary band, The Sons of Hawaii, Kamae achieved folk-hero status. Going island to island looking for the old songs led Kamae to his new career as an internationally known documentary filmmaker. His Hawaiian and Cherokee heritage gives him a reverence for the kupuna, elders, and the "knowing" that their wisdom must be perpetuated for the next generation. At age 77, he has garnered dozens of film awards, released a best-selling book and has five new films in the works. "What I am doing is feeding the soul," Kamae says. "Humor. Keep it light and keep it fun." Wood Carving-Honoring the Ancients
His legacy, known around the world, is the Polynesian Voyaging Society canoe, Hokule'a. Begun in 1973 as a scientific experiment to build a replica of a traditional voyaging canoe for a one-time sail to Tahiti, it became the catalyst for cultural renewal, voyaging 100,000 miles to "connect" the peoples of the Pacific. In the 1990s, Ka'ili Chun was completing her master's degree in art at the University of Hawaii. She asked Bowman to teach her how to make Hawaiian spears. The informal apprenticeship grew into a special friendship and a formal apprenticeship under the State Foundation on Culture and the Arts Folk Arts Program. Now teaching at the University of Hawaii, Chun carries on the Bowman method. Describing her gift of knowledge, she says, "In the Western way, you feel it's your right to an education. In the Hawaiian way, I feel I don't have that right. I have to earn it, and I have a responsibility to my elders and my family to do the best job I can." David Behlke, director of the Koa Gallery on Honolulu, says of Bowman, "He set a standard of craftsmanship coupled with content that is the torchbearer for generations of people." Hawaiian carving demonstrations can be seen at the outstanding Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum and at Na Mea Hawaii at Ward Warehouse, both in Honolulu, at the Polynesian Cultural Center on the north shore of Oahu, and at Pacific Handcrafters Guild events held quarterly at Thomas Square Park near downtown Honolulu. Tattoo-Adorning the Body Keone Nunes of Oahu is perhaps Hawaii's most renowned practitioner of the ancient tattoo traditions. For Nunes, the responsibility of giving a tattoo is coupled with a responsibility for those receiving one. His work doesn't happen as a "lark." Before the design is sketched, he talks with the individual, gets a sense of his or her character and motive for receiving a permanent commitment to a belief. Nunes says, "Knowing their family genealogy is a crucial piece of the equation. If they don't know what designs are associated with their family, I send them out to research. My responsibility as a tattooist is to make sure everything I suggest is appropriate for the individual."
 He feels that it is important to young people, especially Hawaiians, to look upon tattoo as more than just a fad. "I ask them to consider how the tattoo relates to their culture, or the culture that they have embraced by making Hawaii their home." He gives them advice on looking deeper into themselves and to consider what impact the tattoo will have on their life, their family and their goals beyond the moment. He uses the traditional methods to apply the tattoo, with razor-sharp "needles" attached to a stick. The design is drawn on the skin, then the tapping begins, first setting the design then working slowly to create the intricate patterns. The ink can be the traditional soot from burning kukui nuts, mixed with sugar cane juice and coconut milk, or modern tattoo ink. P.F. "Ski" Kwiatkowski, author of The Hawaiian Tattoo and a self-tattooed man, placed his 'aumakua, the owl, on his leg when the bird saved him from a car crash. Hawaii painter and printmaker Kandi Everett of Honolulu is another sought-after skin artist. She learned her trade in the days when sailors frequented the tattoo parlors of Honolulu's Chinatown. Her designs run the gamut from hula girls to the most traditional Pacific tattoo art. She describes the old days as "fast" art and today as "real." Her work can be seen in photographs and prints in several Honolulu art museums.
OAHU BIG ISLAND KAUAI MAUI Events to Attend Halau Mohala 'Ilima Merrie Monarch Concert-mid-March, Hawaii Theatre, Honolulu Details: www.gohawaii.com On the Mainland
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Hula-The Heartbeat of Hawaii
The tradition of wood carving in Hawaii has been blessed by the work of a man-the late Wright Bowman, Sr.-who could look into a solid log and see a canoe waiting to be carved out. He could carve the o'o (digging stick) just as the ancient Hawaiians did. He knew the secret of repairing a crack in one of the precious koa calabash bowls. His canoe paddles cut through waves with power and grace. Born in 1907 in Hilo, Bowman watched canoe makers as a child. He took up woodworking during the Depression and later spent 22 years teaching generations of talented student artists at Kamehameha Schools on the slopes high above Honolulu. His basement woodshop gave birth to museum-quality koa treasures.
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