Wow. The months are flying by. I was so wrapped up in designing Ka Ulu Lauhala O Kona's website and handling the inaugural online registration process that I didn't update the "News" on lauhalahats.com at all since April. I went into the conference already exhausted and stressed. Above is a group picture of the kumu at the Hōʻike Dinner. I'm in the back far right looking at the camera.
But backing up a bit. At the conference, on Thursday after lunch, Michelle of Hana Hou organized a Vintage Fashion Show with her personal collection of vintage Aloha wear and accessories. Talk about a fabulous collection! Her pāpale and purses were so very stylish. It was fun to hear the stories behind the dresses, pāpale, and purses. Michelle also answered a question I've had since 2022 about a certain fine weave red pāpale lauhala in the collection at Huliheʻe Palace. IYKYK. Ooops, tangent!
All right, back to Hōʻike Night. Peggy put together a super cool "selfie station" complete with signs. Starting in the upper left corner and going clockwise, are Emily (another KULOK Board member) and I. Then Reiko, me, and Haruka. Reiko and Haruka travel all the way from Japan. Reiko has been coming to the conference for years and brought Haruka, her daughter, last year. Haruka was my haumana then. Below that, left to right, are Val, Carol, and I. Then on the left, was me, and two thirds of my this year's haumana, Keiko and Poliala. The third haumana couldn't make it to the dinner. Keiko gave me the lovely intricate ribbon lei I am wearing. I look forward to wearing it again soon.
I ended up not having time or lau to make a pāpale lauhala to donate for the silent auction. I had started making little dogs last summer thinking I could make a set for Christmas ornaments. I actually only finished one dog and an accidental cat before getting overwhelmed with website conference stuff... emails, amiright? It took about four hours to make one dog using 3/16" mauʻu. As the conference loomed closer, I realized I couldn't just donate a tiny dog and cat. It felt like more lauhala would be appropriate. So I made a dog using 1/8" mauʻu, which surprisingly took five hours and was more time consuming than the 3/16" mauʻu dog. Smaller actually took longer. I used the techniques acquired from making the dogs to design the teddy bear. It took several tries. As Thomas Edison said, "I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work." lol. Once designed, just the weaving of the little teddy bear took six hours... According to Bloomʻs Taxonomy revised in 2001, dating myself lol, I've finally hit the Create level in my ulana education. Yay!
Lately I've been thinking a lot about lauhala weaving organizations: What the original intentions were, how things may be going now, and the need to evolve for longevity; the intersection of ulana lauhala in Hawaiian culture and local culture in Hawaiʻi, yes, there's a difference; the proliferation of hui ulana and ulana halau in Hawaiʻi nei, outside of Hawaiʻi nei, and cyberspace/social media; and the future of Ka Ulu Lauhala O Kona. Ka Ulu Lauhala O Kona, originally founded in 1995 by Aunty Elizabeth Maluihi Lee, will be celebrating 30 years next year. Back in the 1990s, master weavers started clubs to prevent lauhala weaving from being lost to antiquity. If one does a search online and social media, there are not only the OG organizations like ʻAha Pūhala O Puna (founded by Minnie Kaʻawaloa and Lily Sugahara,1992), Ulana Me Ka Lokomaikaʻi (Gladys Grace and Frank Masagatani, 1997), Ka Ulu Lauhala O Kona, and others that preceded the internet; but newer groups started by the haumana of the haumana of those master kumu. Those kumu ulana founders have since passed on, but they were successful in their endeavor... ulana lauhala is alive and well in Hawaiʻi. We, that come after, still have a ways to go to perpetuate lauhala weaving by not only teaching ulana but preserving Hala. By educating the general public and influencing government resources to prevent, identify, and eradicate invasive species like Hala scale and the Coconut Rhinoceros Beetle.
The annual lauhala conferences were always a highlight of my year. It was/is a time to see weaving friends from all over. Feeling the palpable enthusiasm. Seeing the mea lauhala, accessories, and pāpale that everyone wear or make at the event is such inspiration. These days I find myself not only contemplating what my next lauhala project may be, but how may I mālama the kumu and organization that provided these wonderful learning experiences?
Please remember, these are just my blog musings and do not reflect the opinions of any of the people or organizations mentioned. Nor do I mean them or my kumu any disrespect. That, in itself, is a Western individualist concept though. Of course oneʻs behavior and actions reflect on one's kumu! That's a challenge in which I often find myself. Navigating tradition and modern, our "new" reality, in a pono way. It's a kuleana thing.