Kapa Moe

Ancient Hawaiian bark cloth was originally called kapa which literally translates to “the beaten thing.”  Kapa was used for clothing, bed covers, items of trade and gift items, indicators of wealth and status and objects of ceremonial or religious events.  (Romanchak)

Clothing consisted of three main items of apparel: the pāʻū or skirt for the women, the malo or loincloth for men and the Kihei or shawl for members of both sexes.  (Romanchak)

Most kapa was made from the inner bark of the wauke plant (paper mulberry) because it made soft, white kapa. The bark is stripped, soaked, and then compressed into sheets with special patterned wooden beaters and finally dyed and decorated.  To make kapa, Hawaiian women used wooden mallets to pound the strips of bark together to form sheets of various sizes, textures, and thicknesses.

The kapa sheets were then decorated with stamps and painted with brushes made from the seed of the hala (pandanus) tree; kapa was colored by native dyes and decorated with block printing.  (Arthur)

For bed covers, Hawaiian women made kapa moe consisting of five sheets of kapa.  The top sheet was decorated, but the four sheets underneath were plain white kapa. The set of five sheets were sewn together on one side with thread made with strips of kapa.  (Arthur)

The top layer was known as the kilohana, it was colored and decorated with pigments; the collective name for the inner kapa sheets was ‘iho.’  (Brigham)  The loose-leaf design allowed the user to choose how many layers needed on a given night.

“(T)apa moe (sleeping cloth), made principally for the chiefs, who use it to wrap themselves in at night, while they sleep. It is generally three or four yards square, very thick, being formed of several layers of common tapa, cemented with gum, and beaten with a grooved mallet till they are closely interwoven. The colour is various, either white, yellow, brown or black according to the fancy of its owner.”  (Brigham)

“During the ordinary summer weather along the coast the native use of the kapa moe in a close grass house would have been impossible to a white man, so warm is this covering. Sleeping in an open cave on the summit of Mauna Loa (13,675 ft) I could not bear a kapa moe over my ordinary clothes, although water was freezing in the calabashes at my feet. In the morning the bedmaking in a native house consisted in carefully folding the kapa moe and putting it in a safe place.”  (Brigham)

Several of these Kapa moe are on display.  I had a recent meeting at the Outrigger Waikīkī and a kapa moe is displayed that had been passed down through five generations (that display and its description were the inspiration for this story.)  (Images of the kapa moe and interpretive signs are in the Photo album.)

A notable kapa moe belonging to Princess Kaʻiulani was installed at the Art of the Pacific gallery at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (not currently on public view.)  it is described as an unusually large five-layer kapa moe.

Kaeppler noted that the design of Kaʻiulani’s kapa moe may metaphorically incorporate the saying, “He aliʻi ke aloha, he kilohana e paʻa ai,” “Love is like a chief, the best prize to hold fast to,” in honor of Kaʻiulani.  One corner of an underside white layer of the kapa is signed “Kaiulani.”  (Images of it are in the Photo album.)

Kapa moe were gradually replaced by blankets.  Later, another bed cover, the Hawaiian quilt, came into regular use.  Here HERE for a prior summary on the Hawaiian quilt. 

The wives of American missionaries introduced the patchwork quilts and their construction to Hawaiians. The first missionary women arrived in 1820, and were warmly welcomed by some of the highest-ranking Hawaiian men and women.

Lucy Thurston, the wife of Asa, one of the first missionaries, recorded in her journal:  “Monday morning, April 3rd (1820,) the first sewing circle was formed that the sun ever looked down upon in his Hawaiian realm. Kalākua, queen-dowager was directress. She requested all the seven white ladies to take seats with them on mats, on the deck of the Thaddeus. Mrs. Holman and Mrs. Ruggles were executive officers to ply the scissors and prepare the work….The four native women of distinction were furnished with calico patchwork to sew-a new employment to them.”  (Thurston)

The image shows Princess Kaʻiulani’s kapa moe.  In addition, I have added other related images in a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook and Google+ pages.

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Pāʻū Riding

Throughout the years of late-prehistory, 1400s - 1700s AD, and through much of the 1800s, the canoe was a principal means of travel in ancient Hawai`i.  Most permanent villages initially were near the ocean and sheltered beaches, which provided access to good fishing grounds, as well as facilitating canoe travel between villages.

Although the canoe was a principal means of travel in ancient Hawaiʻi, extensive cross-country trail networks.   Overland travel was by foot and followed the traditional trails.

Then, in 1803, American ship under Captain William Shaler (with commercial officer Richard Cleveland,) arrived with three horses aboard – gifts for King Kamehameha.

In the 1820s and 1830s, more horses were imported from California, and by the 1840s the use of introduced horses, mules and bullocks for transportation was increasing.

By the middle of the nineteenth century, riding on horseback had come to be both a common means of efficient travel and a common form of recreation and entertainment.  The recreational aspect of horseback riding made the greatest appeal. Hawaiians became enthusiastic and expert equestrians. (Kuykendall)

So, how did the women adapt to the horse transportation environment?  In pre-contact Hawaii, the predominant form of dress for women was the pāʻū.

This consisted of a rectangular piece of kapa (tapa,) which was fabricated from the inner bark of wauke (paper mulberry trees) that was wrapped several times around the waist and extended from beneath the bust (for royalty) or the waistline (for commoners) to the knee (it looked like a hula skirt.)

By the time of horse travel, Hawaiian fashion had already transitioned to Western wear, and Hawaiian women chose to ride astride, rather than sidesaddle.  They adapted the traditional pāʻū by adding length to it – it was worn as a protective covering to keep a woman’s fancy garment from getting soiled on the way to a party or gathering.

The earliest pāʻū skirts were formed from fabrics of the day, primarily calico or gingham.  It was made of a single piece of fabric, up to 12 yards in length, wrapped around the rider in such a way as to flow over the stirrups and to the ground.

There are no “fasteners,” such as buttons, pins or buckles; the pāʻū is held in place with kukui nuts that are twisted inside the fabric, tucked into the waistband for a secure fit.

There are different methods for wrapping, depending on family tradition. Some start from front to back and use just a few kukui nuts to hold the skirt in place, while others gather the fabric from the back, using up to eight kukui nuts.

In 1875, Isabella Bird noted, "There were hundreds of native horsemen and horsewomen, many of them doubtless on the dejected quadrupeds I saw at the wharf, but a judicious application of long rowelled Mexican spurs, and a degree of emulation, caused these animals to tear along at full gallop.”

“The women seemed perfectly at home in their gay, brass-bossed, high peaked saddles, flying along astride, bare-footed, with their orange and scarlet riding dresses streaming on each side beyond their horses’ tails, a bright kaleidoscopic flash of bright eyes, white teeth, shining hair, garlands of flowers and many coloured dresses”.  (Isabella Bird, 1875)

“Sometimes a troop of twenty of these free-and-easy female riders went by at a time, a graceful and exciting spectacle, with a running accompaniment of vociferation and laughter. …  In the shady, tortuous streets we met hundreds more of native riders, dashing at full gallop without fear of the police. Many of the women were in flowing riding dresses of pure white, over which their unbound hair, and wreaths of carmine-tinted flowers fell most picturesquely."  (Isabella Bird, 1875)

By the early-1900s, the automobile made its appearance and soon reduced the need and use of horses.  Then, a group of women made a society to keep the culture going and Pāʻū clubs were formed.

The Hawaiian Star, February 22, 1906, headlined the “Floral Parade a Great Success.”  “It was a great day for Honolulu. The Promotion Committee’s inauguration of what is intended to be an annual event in celebration of Washington's birthday, could have asked no better day, no greater success, no more wide spread interest in all classes of the population, no greater enthusiasm among those who participated In the parade, and no more unique, striking, or picturesque a feature to Individualize the celebration In Honolulu, and make it separate, and apart from the pageant of other places than the Pa-u riders.”

“The Pa-u riders, of course, were the magnet and center of attraction. This revival of an old custom, picturesque and under the conditions that gave rise to it, strikingly useful, was a happy thought of the Promotion Committee.  It appealed to dormant but when aroused, pleasing associations, among the older residents, especially the Hawaiians. It appealed to the love of oddity and the striking costume in the younger generation.”  (The Hawaiian Star, February 22, 1906)

“To the old-timers of Honolulu Time seemed to have gone backward in its flight when they saw this morning the long line of pa-u riders following the automobiles and other rigs in the Floral Parade. The pa-u section was a picturesque part of the parade, and it was a reminder of old times to hundreds of those who watched, for pa-u riding, which has been unseen here for many years, was once a regular performance.” (The Hawaiian Star, February 22, 1906)

The next year reporting on February 22, 1907 edition of The Hawaiian Star affirmed the annual tradition by describing the second annual floral parade, noting, “Flowers and bright scenes every where marked the parade and showed a happy combination of modern achievement with the customs of Hawaiian days of long ago.”

“There was a most striking array of pa-u riders. … A new feature this year were the Island princesses. It was in this division that the most elegant horses were shown.“  (The Hawaiian Star, February 22, 1907)

“The pa-u riders were undoubtedly the most unique feature of the parade.  The revival of the old picturesque riding costume is certainly an excellent idea.  It has undoubtedly returned to stay, for it has now made it evident that after this no parade would be complete without it.”  (Evening Bulletin, February 22, 1907)

Pāʻū riding is a uniquely Hawaiian equestrian style; one notable horsewoman, Anna Lindsey Perry-Fiske introduced the continent to the riding tradition at the Calgary Stampede and the 1972 Pasadena Tournament of Roses Parade.  She later show-cased “Old Hawaiʻi on Horseback” pageants.

The tradition of wearing the pāʻū is kept alive today and has evolved into an elaborate display in which lei-adorned women demonstrate their horsemanship at parades and celebrations throughout Hawaiʻi.

With the pāʻū queen and her unit leading the way, each pāʻū princess presides over her own unit representing one of the eight major Hawaiian Islands, with each island unit displaying its island flower and colors.

Niʻihau has niʻihau shells and their colors are brown/white; Kauaʻi has the mokihana and their color is purple; Oahu has an Ilima flower and their color is yellow; Molokaʻi has kukui and their color is green; Maui has the lokelani and their color is pink; Lānaʻi has the kaunaona and their color is orange; Kahoolawe has ahinahina and their colors are grey/blue and Hawaiʻi Island has the ʻōhiʻa lehua and their color is red.

The Merrie Monarch Royal Parade is held today at 10:30 am, the Pāʻū riders will be there; the parade begins and ends at Pauahi St. and winds through downtown Hilo (Kilauea Ave. - Keawe St. - Waiānuenue Ave. - Kamehameha Ave.)  The image shows four pāʻū riders in the 1880s.  In addition, I have added other images to a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook and Google+ pages.

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Nāhiʻenaʻena

The only daughter of Kamehameha the Great and Keōpūolani, Nāhiʻenaʻena was born in 1815; her brothers were Liholiho (Kamehameha II - born circa 1797) and Kauikeaouli (Kamehameha III - born 1813.)

Her mother refused to follow the custom of the period and hānai her baby daughter to the rearing of another chief. Keōpūolani wanted to keep the last of her children at her side.

This decision tells us much about the mother's force of character and meant that Nāhiʻenaʻena was in the very center of the stage during the crucial period in 1819: the illness and death of Kamehameha I, the assumption of the throne by Liholiho as Kamehameha II and the abolition of the kapu (initiated by her mother and Kaʻahumanu.)  The princess was four years old when these great changes occurred. (Sinclair)

Toward the end of 1820, the decision was made to move the king's official residence from Kailua-Kona to Honolulu.  In early-1821, Liholiho, with his family, including Keōpūolani, Kauikeaouli and Nāhiʻenaʻena, and the important chiefs, established the seat of government on Oʻahu.

In the spring of 1823, Keōpūolani established a residence away from Honolulu in a grove at the foot of Diamond Head; there she hoped to find a quiet place to restore her health and to hear the new gospel without interruption.

“She, at this time, expressed her earnest desire that her two children, the prince and princess, then able to read and write, might be well educated, and particularly that Nahienaena might be trained up in the habits of Christian and civilized females, like the wives of the missionaries. She wished, too, that the missionaries would pray for Liholiho.”  (Bingham)

“The missionaries and their wives earnestly desired to withdraw her (Nāhiʻenaʻena) from the scenes of heathen corruption, and throw around her daily the protecting shield of Christian families. But this could be accomplished only in part, as in that state of the nation she could not well be detached from the native community. She is said to be very amiable and kind, and is universally beloved and respected by her people.”  (Bingham)

At the end of May in 1823, Keōpūolani, Nāhiʻenaʻena and Hoapili (Keōpūolani’s husband) moved to Maui and took up residence in Lāhainā. Missionaries Charles Stewart and William Richards were assigned to establish a church and teach “letters and religion”.

The princess and her mother spent warm peaceful days in the study of letters and religion, interrupted occasionally when people came to celebrate their affection for the chiefesses by dancing and singing. Usually a great crowd assembled to watch.

Later that year, Keōpūolani became very ill and died.  After Keōpūolani’s death, Nāhiʻenaʻena was placed in the care of Hoapili, her mother's husband and governor of Maui, and of the two missionary teachers, Stewart and Richards, to whom she was already devoted.

In accordance with Hawaiian custom, Hoapili soon remarried. Nāhiʻenaʻena’s mother had been the first chief to be baptized a Protestant; her stepfather became the first chief to be married in a Christian ceremony.  Richards conducted the service which united Hoapili to Kalākua, one of Kamehameha's former queens.

In 1825, Nāhiʻenaʻena’s brother - King Kamehameha II - traveled to England.  To celebrate his return, a yellow feather pāʻū was made for Nāhiʻenaʻena.

A pāʻū was a women’s garment that was typically a rectangular piece of kapa (tapa) wrapped several times around the waist and extended from beneath the bust (for royalty) or the waistline (for commoners) to the knee.

This special pāʻū was about 9-yards long, made of feathers, instead of kapa (it is the largest Hawaiian feather piece ever recorded.)   Due to the unfortunate death of Liholiho and his wife Kamāmalu, the pāʻū was worn in grief, rather than celebration.

Hiram Bingham described the occasion, “The young princess had partly wrapped round her waist, above her black silk dress, a splendid yellow feather pau, or robe, nine yards in length and one in breadth, manufactured with skill and taste, at great expense, and designed for her anticipated reception of her brother Liholiho. In its fabrication, the small bright feathers were ingeniously fastened upon a  fine netting, spun without wheels or spindles, and wrought by native hands, from the flaxen bark of their olona, and the whole being lined with crimson satin made a beautiful article of "costly array," for a princess of eight years.”

The problem of a suitable marriage for Nāhiʻenaʻena had been in the minds of the chiefs from the time of her childhood. Before she was ten years old, a possible union between her and her brother was discussed. The purpose of such brother-sister marriages was to concentrate the royal blood so that the issue would have the highest possible rank. (Sinclair)

Queen Keōpūolani had been the issue of a brother-sister marriage, a naha mating of niʻaupiʻo chiefs; her parents had had the same mother but different fathers, both descended from the chiefly lines of Maui and Hawaiʻi.  Liholiho had half-sisters among his five wives. They consulted the missionaries, who pointed out that such a marriage was forbidden in the eyes of God. (Sinclair)

There were repeated claims of incestuous behavior between Nāhiʻenaʻena and her brother, Kauikeaouli.  On November 25, 1835, Nāhiʻenaʻena and Leleiōhoku (son of Kalanimōku) were married in Waine'e Church; the ceremony was performed by Richards.

She became pregnant the next year and on September 17 she had a son, who lived only a few hours.  Nāhiʻenaʻena had been ill and continued to be gravely ill after the childbirth.  She died shortly thereafter, December 30, 1836.

On February 14, 1837, Kauikeaouli, King Kamehameha III, was married to Kalama Kapakuhaili.  Leleiōhoku married a second time to Princess Ruth Keʻelikōlani; he had a son William Pitt Kīnaʻu from his second wife.

The image shows Nāhiʻenaʻena drawn in 1825.  In addition, I have added other images in a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook and Google+ pages.

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