Our theme this year is "Ethnobotany and Dyeing with Plants", with the goal to learn more about how several indigenous people groups use plants and natural materials to dye fabric or objects. So far we have learned about the Tlingit people from Southeast Alaska (see Ethnobotany: Tlingit's and Dyeing with Plants) and the Muwekma Ohlone people in the Bay Area (see Ethnobotany: Muwekma Ohlone and Basketry). This time, I want to learn about Hawaiians in preparation for a future trip to Hawaii. My research lead me to the Kanaka Maoli people (the name used by Hawaiians for themselves).
The Kanaka Maoli are descendants of the Polynesians who migrated to the Hawaiian Islands around 300-450 CE. The Polynesians were seaworthy people, with exceptional navigation skills that included using the stars, and knowledge of ocean currents and avian migration routes. The journey could take up to two months, so they had to bring the supplies needed for basic survival during the journey. They also brought plants that were especially important to their way of life (called canoe plants to distinguish them from plants native to Hawaii). From the Polynesian Voyaging Society website, I learned about modern wayfinders who replicate voyages made by the ancient Polynesians.
 |
| Kapa barkcloth - National Park Service (photo in public domain) |
Hawaiian Kapa
The Polynesians brought with them their cultural knowledge of making barkcloth. As the name suggests, plant fibers are beaten into a sheet of cloth. Similar processes are used around the world to produce cloth. Different names may be used by culture, language, or specific location, such as tapa (the Pacific Islands, or Polynesia), masi (Fiji), siapo (Samoa), ngatu (Tonga), hiapo (Niue), Aute (Aotearoa), and Lubugo (Uganda). In Hawaii, barkcloth is known as kapa, or "beaten thing". Kapa was typically made by the women, but the men played an important role in cultivating and harvesting the wauke (the paper mulberry tree), and creating the tools needed to beat and embellish the cloth.
 |
| Traditional Hawaiian kapa collected around 1884 (Peabody Museum) |
Kapa was used for clothing, bedsheets, birthing cloths, and funeral cloths for cremated ashes. With European influence, cotton fabric and other materials were introduced, and kapa fell from use for about 100 years. The knowledge of plants, tools, and processes used to make kapa became lost.
Within the last 60 years, kapa and kapa making has experienced a Renaissance. Hawaiian craftspeople, such as Moana Eisele, Dalani Tanahy, and Marie McDonald, revived the art form. They learned by studying barkcloth in museums and barkcloth making around the world; planting trees that were no longer cultivated; and by experimenting. Now this knowledge is being passed to subsequent generations.
 |
| Contemporary Hawaiian kapa created by Dalani Tanahy (screen shot from Hawaii's Cultural Renaissance: The Return Of Kapa Makers, ~marker 40 ) |
Hawaiian Kapa Making
Kapa making starts with growing the wauke, or paper mulberry tree (Broussonetia papyrifera), and crafting the tools that are needed. Wauke is native to East Asia and was brought to Hawaii by Polynesians as a canoe plant. Other plants and trees can be used, and are used around the world, but the Polynesians felt that wauke makes the best kapa cloth.
Saplings are harvested when they are just under eight feet tall. The outer bark is stripped from the wauke sapling using a shell or similar tool. The inner bark is then stripped from the core, using a sharp tools such as a shark tooth knife. The strip of inner bark is about three or four inches wide, and placed in water to keep it moist.
 |
| Harvesting the inner bark of a mulberry sapling (photo from Kapa Hawaii website) |
The inner bark is beaten to prepare the fiber for kapa making. A strip is placed over a wide wood beam and pounded with a wooden beater. During the pounding process, moisture is released and the strip of inner bark widens up to four times its original width. Each beater has a purpose in this process. The pounded inner bark is placed in water to ferment for up to two weeks. Fermentation breaks down the fibers and connective tissues to soften the strips.
 |
| Pounding kapa with wooden beater - National Park Service (photo in public domain) |
 |
| Wooden kapa beaters (photo from Kapa Hawaii website) |
The second beating is when the kapa is actually made—the softened strips are pounded into sheets. The water is squeezed out of a strip and it is placed over the wide wood beam. The strip is beaten with a grooved beater to join the strips together and to spread the fibers wider and thinner. The length of the bark cloth is set at about six feet, but the width is flexible, such as 36 inches.
 |
| Adding a watermark (photo from Kapa Hawaii website) |
During the last beating, a watermark pattern can be added. Once finished, the kapa can be used as is or decorated with dyes, stamps, feathers, shells, or leaves. The resulting cloth is meant to be used for ceremonies or for the activities of everyday life. The cloth is said to embody the spirit of the wearer (and the the kapa maker).
 |
| Decorating kapa cloth with dye (Photo by John Hook) |
To learn more, I recommend watching Hawaii's Cultural Renaissance: The Return Of Kapa Makers (Perspective, Handmade In The Pacific, 2022). The video follows kapa maker, Dalani Tanahy, through all the processes of kapa making—growing and harvesting wauke, carving beaters and stamping tools, pounding the inner bark into barkcloth, gathering material for dyes, decorating the finished cloth, and using the kapa in a ceremonial dance.
Dye Sources
The Kanaka Maoli Hawaiians created a broad spectrum of dyes that were used to decorate the kapa barkcloth. Dye sources included plants, and materials such as soot, mud and clay, and octopus ink. Natural additives included seawater, coconut water, lime, and egg whites. The Kanaka Maoli were master artisans and scientists, developing a wide palette of color from the plants and resources available, and they continue to innovate and expand the art today. For my own quick reference, the following table provides a summary of some of these dye sources, grouped by color.
Kanaka Maoli Dye Sources - Hawaii
| Color | Dye Source | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Red Dye | Indian Mulberry | (Noni) The root boiled with lime made from coral produces a red dye. |
| True Kou | (Kou) The leaves produce a reddish-brown dye. | |
| Banana | (Mai'a) The flower petals produce shades of red, depending on factors like pH, fabric, and the mordants used. | |
| Hawaiian Raspberry | (Akala) Produces a brilliant red dye (once used to adorn Hawaiian royalty). | |
| Ohelo | The berries produce various shades of red dye. | |
| Candlenut | (Kukui) The sap produces a red or reddish-brown dye. | |
| Alaea | The iron-rich native red clay mixed with sea salt creates a red dye. | |
| Purple Dye | Banana | (Mai'a) The flower petals produce shades of light magenta, depending on pH, fabric, and the mordants used. |
| Blue Dye | Uki | The berries produce shades from purple-blue to a true blue (with added lime). |
| Green Dye | Uki | The berries produce shades of green, depending on the area from which it comes, growing conditions, soil quality, and the age of the plant. |
| Yellow Dye | Indian Mulberry | (Noni) The inner bark of its roots produce a yellow dye; the root bark produces a dye with a tinge of golden yellow. |
| Ma'o | The flowers produce a yellow dye. | |
| Turmeric | (Olena) Young, underground stems produce a bright yellow dye. | |
| Hawaiian yellowwood | (Holei) The mottled gold fruit produces a yellow dye. | |
| Kukaenene tree | The bark produces a yellow dye. | |
| Orange Dye | Turmeric | (Olena) Steamed young, underground stems produce an orange dye; steamed mature, underground stems produce an orange-gold dye. |
| Brown Dye | Candlenut | (Kukui) The bark produces a brown or reddish-brown dye. |
| Milo | The inner bark produces a yellowish-brown dye. | |
| Black Dye | Candlenut | (Kukui) The roots produce a black dye; the charred nut shells and soot from burned nuts also produce a black dye. |
| Day Octopus | (Octopus cyanea) Produces black ink that can be used as a dye. |
Decorative Sources
Decorative elements included dye and objects such as feathers and leaves. Paint was made from dye and applied with brushes and stamps. Additionally, the second beating of the kapa cloth was done with finely carved beaters that produced a distinctive texture or watermark on the kapa surface.
,_Hawaii_State_Art_Museum.jpeg) |
| Hala brushes for painting kapa designs (Hawaii State Art Museum) |
Paint brushes were made from dried hala seeds, and used to apply dye to the surface of the kapa barkcloth. Stamps were made by carving designs on strips of bamboo and used to apply dyed patterns to the surface of the kapa. Other objects were used to apply designs, such as shells, or plaited strings and ropes used to splatter dye.
 |
| Carved bamboo stamps used to apply dye to kapa (Hawaii State Art Museum) |
Kapa was also decorated with feathers, especially for the feather cloaks and capes used by Hawaiian nobility. The feathers were collected, attached in bundles to a fine netting of fiber, and then attached to the kapa in overlapping rows.
 |
| Cloak and Helmet of feathers for a chief (Bishop Museum Oahu, Hawaii) |
Summary
This concludes another brief ethnobotany tour, this time for resources used to create, dye, and decorate the beautiful Kanaka Maoli kapa cloth from Hawaii. I hope to visit the Bishop Museum on Oahu one day, to see for myself exhibits of kapa samples, and the tools and plants used in kapa making. It would be an extra thrill to try beating kapa myself. I'm also inspired by the creative use of plants and materials to produce such a wide range of colors!
This also concludes our high-level series on the ethnobotany of three distinct groups: Tlingit (Southeast Alaska), Muwekma Ohlone (San Francisco Bay Area), and Kanaka Maoli (Hawaii). I had planned to learn how different indigenous groups used plants to dye fabric, but soon realized that not all groups needed to dye fabric. Instead, I expanded my original vision to how people groups brought color and texture to basketry and barkcloth, using plants, mud and clay, octopus ink, and soot. There is always more to learn!
Learn More
- Hawaii's Cultural Renaissance: The Return Of Kapa Makers (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=guSPppwqXqk). Perspective, Handmade In The Pacific, 2022. Video follows contemporary kapa maker, Dalani Tanahy, through the process of growing and harvesting wauke, making tools for pounding and printing, beating barkcloth, gathering dyes plants, and decorating the finished cloth. Also discusses the challenges of reviving the art form.
- Hawaii Dye Plants and Dye Recipes (https://www.amazon.com/Hawaii-Dye-Plants-Recipes/dp/0824806980). Professor Emeritus Val Krohn-Ching, University of Hawaii Press, 1980. Fabric artist shares recipes and experimental results of using kapa dyes to dye wool.
- Kapa. Hawaiian Skies, 2015 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aWk1lfZ7XPo). Three kapa practitioners are reviving the ancient art of kapa making: Moana Eisele, Dalani Tanahy, and Marie McDonald. They advocate using the cloth as it was intended, and not just creating art or museum pieces.
- La'au Hawai'i: Traditional Hawaiian Uses of Plants (https://bishopmuseumpress.org/products/laau-hawaii). Isabella Aiona Abbott, Bishop Museum Press, 1992. Describes the native and exotic plants used by Hawaiians. Of special interests for this topic, see the chapters on "The First Hawaiians and their Plants", "Clothing and the Making of Kapa", "Cordage for All Occasions", "Household Furnishings", and "Warfare and Chiefly Regalia".
- Natural Dyes, Paints & Colors. Kapa Curious website (https://www.kapacurious.com/dye). Learn about natural sources of Hawaiian colors.
- Plants of Old Hawaii (https://www.amazon.com/Plants-Old-Hawaii-Lois-Lucas/dp/0935848118). Lois Lucas, Bess Press (Honolulu, 1982). Joan Fleming, illustrations; and Julie Williams, poems. Describes the twenty major plants that the original Hawaiians brought with them from the South Pacific (canoe plants vs. native plants). Written for elementary children, but a good quick-start for anyone.
- Polynesian Voyaging Society website (https://hokulea.com). The society's mission is to perpetuate the art and science of traditional Polynesian voyaging and the spirit of exploration through experiential educational programs that inspire students and their communities to respect and care for themselves, each other, and their natural and cultural environments. Learn about modern wayfinders who replicate journeys made by ancient Polynesians.
Also learn about the recently relaunched Moananuiākea Voyage (2023 to 2027). The original launch took place on June 29, 2023 at Statter Harbor in Juneau, Alaska (see Hōkūle'a Departs Juneau Launching Moananuiākea Voyage) in a cross-cultural Pacific Rim ceremony.
- "Shades of the Past" (https://www.mauimagazine.net/shades-of-the-past). Sarah Ruppenthal, No ka 'oi Maui Magazine, 2019. Ethnobotanist Lisa Raymond's garden is filled with Hawaiian plants that are used to make dyes. Early Hawaiians developed techniques to extract dyes from a vast number of native plants, and used the dyes to decorate kapa.
- The Ancient Hawaiian Art of Bark Cloth (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5nCKvz83No). Great Big Story, 2019. A cultural practitioner on Kauai, Sabra Kauka, teaches Hawaiian children the arts of their ancestors, including kapa making.
