Inoa | Name

Hana Kapa

Hōʻuluʻulu Manaʻo: ʻO ka hana kapa, he hana noʻeau nō ia, ʻo ia ka hoʻomākaukau ʻana i ke kapa. ʻO ke kapa, ka mea i hana ʻia no ka lole (e like me ka malo a me ka pāʻū), ke kapa moe, ka lepa, a pēlā wale aku. No ka hoʻomākaukau ʻana, ʻohi ʻia ka ʻili o ka wauke, ʻo ia hoʻi he hāʻanaʻana, a i ʻole ka ʻili o ka Māmaki a kuku ʻia ka ʻili pulu ma luna o ke kua a lilo i kapa. Ke maloʻo ke kapa, waihoʻoluʻu ʻia a kāpala ʻia e like me ka makemake a ka mea hana kapa. ʻO Hina kekahi akua pili i ka hana kapa.  Nui ʻino nā ʻōlelo pōkole kaulana no ke kapa e like me “ʻElua kāua i ke kapa hoʻokahi,” no ka hoʻāo ʻana o ke kōkoʻolua. ʻŌlelo ʻia ʻo ka hau ke kapa o Poliʻahu, a ʻike ʻia ma kēia ʻōlelo noʻeau: “Poliʻahu, ka wahine kapa hau anu o Mauna Kea.” A ma ka moʻolelo o Keamalu, hoʻokaʻa ʻia ʻo Keamalu e ka hohoa hoʻokalakupua, ʻO Hakaio kona inoa, i mea e hoʻonaninani i kona kino. 

Description: Kapa making is the vital cultural knowledge practice of creating and preparing kapa. Kapa is what is made to use for traditional clothing, (such as the malo and pāʻū), blankets, flags, etc. Regarding the preparation, the bark of the wauke tree or the Māmaki tree is collected and made into strips. The strips made of the wauke are called hāʻanaʻana. The wet bark strips are then beaten with a kapa beating instrument called a kuku, on a block of wood called a kua, until it becomes kapa. When it is dried, it is dyed and stamped by the kapa maker. Hina is a deity associated with the practice of kapa making. There are many famous phrases that are about or reference kapa, such as “ʻElua kāua i ke kapa hoʻokahi,” which poetically refers to a couple marrying and using one kapa between them. It is said that the snow is the blanket of Poliʻahu as seen in this proverb: “Poliʻahu, ka wahine kapa hau anu o Mauna Kea.” In the story of Keamalu, Keamalu is rolled over by a supernatural kapa beating instrument named Hakaio, in order to beautify her body.

ʻŌlelo Kuhikuhi: E koho i kēia huaʻōlelo no nā kumuwaiwai pili i ka hana ʻana i ke kapa a me nā lako i hoʻohana ʻia no ia hana. 

Instructions: Use this term for resources discussing the making of kapa as well as the tools used to make it. 

Moʻokūʻauhau | Genealogy

Akua | God/deity: Hina; Maui; Maikoha (?); Lauhuiki (?); Laahana (?); Hakaio (?)

Kanaka | Person: Pua Van Dorpe; Marie MacDonald; Moana Eisele; Kanae Keawe; Malia Solomon; Keamalu

Lako | Materials + tools / implements

wauke; ʻohe; ʻōhiʻa; kauwila; kua; iʻe kuku; hoahoa / hohoa

Lawena | Movements

Motion: kuku; Motion: kāpala

Kūkulu | Built environment

Kua (hale kua?)

Kūmole | References

1. Mary Kawena Pukui and Samuel H. Elbert, Hawaiian Dictionary, Rev. and enl. ed (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1986).

2. William Tufts Brigham, Ka Hana Kapa, the Making of Bark Cloth in Hawaii, Memoirs of the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum of Polynesian Ethnology and Natural History ;v. 3 (Honolulu, Hawaii: Bishop Museum Press, 1911).

3. Mary Kawena Pukui and Dietrich Varez, ’Ōlelo No’eau: Hawaiian Proverbs & Poetical Sayings, Bernice P. Bishop Museum Special Publication, No. 71 (Honolulu, Hawai’i: Bishop Museum Press, 1983).

4. “Ka Moʻolelo o Keamalu,” Ka Hōkū o Ka Pākīpika, June 26, 1862.

Applied to: ‘Holomua ka Hana Kapa’: A Symposium on Caring for Kapa and Kapa Makers at the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum, December 2017, Ka hana kapa, the making of bark-cloth in Hawaii,

Created by: Keahiahi Long; Annemarie Paikai

Edited by: