Weaving with Goodness - Ulana Me Ka Lokomaika’i

Reporting from Oahu, Hawaii, Patricia Leigh Brown wrote a wonderful article on the resurgence of Hawaiian basketry: In Hawaii, Weaving New Life Into a Nearly Vanished Art Form. The article was published by the New York Times on July 31, 2024.  The subheading reads "The age-old practice of turning tree leaves into mats has been revived on the islands. 'It teaches you how to weave relationships, past and present,' one master artisan says."  

Unfortunately I can't repost the article, but I can supply the  link and encourage you to read it: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/31/arts/design/hawaii-weaving-trees-leaves.html

Woman Weaving Lauhala Weaver. Hawaii: Organization of American States. Photograph. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/2021669824/>.

Brown reports that the basketry is woven out of the leaves of the pū hala plant (Pandanus tectorius), which is plaited into lauhala mats, containers and other items including hats. Brown's article focuses on the importance of weaving and the Pu‘uhonua Society, "a group dedicated to reviving age-old Hawaiian practices, like weaving..., that were on the verge of vanishing."

For tourists to the Hawaiian Island of Oahu, one place to perhaps see baskets woven, and maybe even weave something yourself, is the Polynesian Cultural Center.  The Center is divided into areas celebrating various Polynesian Islands. In the Hawaiian Village, sometimes the art of lauhala weaving is featured. My family and I visited in 2016, and watched a basket being woven from coconut palm fronds in the Center's Samoan Village. The artist gave the fresh green basket to someone in the crowd.

Later in the day, we met up with the recipient of the basket, and I admired it.  She said she didn't know how she would get it on the plane, would I like to have it?  You bet! I traded our shell leis for it, and I had no problems making that my carry-on on my flight home. 

Above are two photos of the same basket, one on the day it was made (12/31/15) and today (8/5/2024).  In the book Baskets in Polynesia by Wendy Arbeit (1990, page 6), this type of basket is identified as a single-strip, 2-braid coconut frond basket, and it is noted that "nearly identical baskets are made throughout most of Polynesia."

Two basketry fish can be seen dangling over the edge of today's photo of the basket, which has dried and mellowed to a soft greyish color.  My husband and I each made one fish in a hands-on weaving class at the Center. We enjoyed this immensely.