Kapa

February 16, 2022 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Kapa Moe

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)

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.”

Kapa moe were gradually replaced by blankets. Later, another bed cover, the Hawaiian quilt, came into regular use.

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)

May 12, 2020 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Sewing Circles

Long before Western explorers and missionaries arrived in the Polynesian islands, many traditional crafts existed in Hawai‘i that set the stage for the development of its unique style of quilting.

Among other things, Hawaiians were skilled in the creation of kapa (tapa,) clothing or bedding made from the bark of the wauke (paper mulberry) plant.

It is thought that kapa technique – involving the pounding together of strips of bark to form sheets of different textures, which are then colorfully decorated by pen with various dyes – provided the foundation upon which Hawaiian quilting was eventually built.

The use of stitchery in Hawai‘i is documented as early as 1809. After contact, Western and Chinese cloth and silk became available as trade with the islands opened up. Cotton was grown on Maui and O‘ahu in the 19th century, but cotton gins for processing were quite rare.

When missionaries from New England arrived in 1820, the missionary women brought with them their quilts (mostly as keepsakes.) Missionary women helped Hawaiian women to learn to sew in the European style.

“One of the former queens had before requested that our wihenes would make her a gown like their own, was told that it was the Lord’s day, and that they would make it tomorrow.” (April 2, 1820, Thaddeus Journal)

The next day, the first Hawaiian sewing circle was held on the decks of the Thaddeus, “Kalakua brought a web of white cambric to have a dress made for herself in the fashion of our ladies, and was very particular in her wish to have it finished while sailing along the western side of the island, before reaching the king.”

“Monday morning April 3d (1820,) the first sewing circle was formed that the sun ever looked down upon in the Hawaiian realm. Kalakua 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 for them.”

“The dress was made in the fashion of 1819. The length of the skirt accorded with Brigham Young’s rule to his Mormon damsels, – have it come down to the tops of the shoes. But in the queen’s case, where the shoes were wanting, the bare feet cropped out very prominently.” (Lucy Thurston, part of the Pioneer Company)

“These were made in the style then prevailing, a very deep yoke, with a short bodice, belted at the waist, and a full skirt. The chiefess was a huge woman, and a belt was found to be impracticable, so the ladles instead gathered the loose skirt on to the yoke.”

“The native women were so delighted with the now garb, so much more convenient than their own, that they at once gave It the name holoku, expressive of the fact that in it they had perfect freedom of motion.”

“The holoku is exactly like the ‘Mother Hubbard gown’ that had such a painful popularity in our country some years ago. It is, to-day, the regulation costume of the Hawaiian women.”

“They wear it at church and on shopping expeditions, in the park and on state occasions, and, this delightful climate permitting such scantiness of attire, it is not an uncommon thing to meet upon Fort street an old woman of the poorer class whose holoku is her sole garment.” (San Francisco Call, March 19, 1893)

“All the women wore the native dress, the sack or holoku, many of which were black, blue, green, or bright rose color, some were bright yellow, a few were pure white, and others were a mixture of orange and scarlet.” Isabella Bird 1894

“At first the holoku, which is only a full, yoke nightgown, is not attractive, but I admire it heartily now, and the sagacity of those who devised it.”

“It conceals awkwardness, and befits grace of movement; it is fit for the climate, is equally adapted for walking and riding, and has that general appropriateness which is desirable in costume.” (Isabella Bird, 1894)

Quilting in Hawai‘i back in 1820s was done in the patchwork style. The Hawaiian women tediously cut the material into the patchwork squares and sewed them back together as they were taught by the missionaries.

It is theorized that Hawaiian women gradually began incorporating elements of tapa design into patchwork quilts, and soon discarded the patchwork approach altogether in favor of the appliqué quilt.

A traditional Hawaiian quilt is a bed sized quilt that is completely an appliquéd design. The design is cut out of one square piece of fabric with a repeat of 8.

The appliqué fabric is folded in half, or three times and all 8 layers are cut out at the same time, then opened out, like a “snowflake”. Usually the designs are symbolic of the flowers, trees or places in Hawai‘i.

The designing of a quilt was a very personal thing. Women occasionally shared their designs with a special friend or relative, but copying a quilt without permission was very much frowned upon.

Many believed that the spirit of the person creating and stitching the quilt became an integral part of the finished work, giving it an added dimension – a sense of life.

Each quilt was given a name, often reflecting the inspiration behind the design. These intriguing quilts have survived as they were only used for special occasions and then passed on from generation to generation.

Four methods of constructing and designing a quilt, when combined, make the Hawaiian quilting process unique:

use of whole pieces of fabric for the appliqué and background;
the “snowflake” method of cutting the design all at one time;
the use of usually only two colors of fabric; and
the echo, or outline style of quilting which follows the contour of the applied design throughout the entire quilt

The image shows my mother with quilts she made for her grandchildren; they are made in the patchwork tradition her great-great grandmother (Sybil Bingham) and the other missionary wives used in 1820 when teaching sewing aboard the Thaddeus and later. (I also added to the album our recent addition, a quilt bed cover at our Colorado house.)

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Hawaiian_Quilts-LSY

November 26, 2016 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

The Polynesian name of the moon, Mahina, is derived from Hina, the goddess mother of Maui. The Hawaiians say that Hina and her maidens pounded out the softest, finest kapa cloth on the long, thick kapa board at the foot of Kauiki. (Westervelt)

The Hawaiian background of the name Kapa has been generally retained, although many of the Polynesian groups have called their bark-cloth by other names or other forms of this name. The origin of the name is simply ka = the, and pa = beaten, or the beaten thing.

Its earliest and most important use is for clothing; malo: a strip of cloth nine inches wide and nine feet long for the man, and pa‘u for the woman: a strip a little wider and somewhat longer.

White kapa was sometimes used to cover the inside of the thatch of a hale. It was used for decoration on the walls of the more open lanai or porch. The thick ribbed kapa was used as a mat, and a tough leathery variety was used in the early days of the Mission as a handsome and suitable material for binding books.

A firm, rather coarse, white kapa was used as a covering for the anuʻu or oracle in the heiau or temple where the gods were supposed to talk down to the priest or chief.

At certain seasons of the year, as at makahiki (first day of the year) and at some religious festivals, the images of the gods were dressed in fresh white or red kapa with great ceremony, while the old kapa dress was burned, lest some sacrilegious person might use it.

Strips of kapa made excellent cord or twine, or, when twisted or braided, even rope; the latter had another use in quite a different line as slow-match, the charred end readily catching the fire from the fire-sticks and, slowly consuming, held the fire conveniently.

Smaller strips were the wicks for the stone lamps so common on the group fifty years ago, the simple cups affording a ready way of increasing the light of a lamp by adding wick after wick around the rim.

A strip of white kapa tied around a tree indicated that the fruit was kapu; the same signal on a stick placed in a path indicated “no thoroughfare.”

In fastening the stone adze (koi) to the handle (au), a fold or two of kapa was interposed between stone and wood before binding together with sennet; when kapa could not be obtained hala leaves were substituted, but kapa was preferred.

The white, unstained kapa was used to bandage wounds, and was scraped into lint for stanching blood, precisely as we should use cotton or linen cloth at the present day. (Brigham)

Akia, wauke palaholo, mamaki – these plants grow in the forests on hills, in valleys, on side hills, on ridges, and in green meadows; also on the banks of taro patches.

They can be found growing on the eight inhabited islands and had grown there plentifully; but on some of those islands they grow more abundantly, and cover a large area of land, and on some they are scarce. (Brigham)

In Hawai‘i, wauke made the softest, finest, and most durable bark cloth, for dress, bed sheets, and for ceremonial purposes. The inner bark of other trees and ferns named above, and including ulu (breadfruit) and mamane, was used for making coarser cloth for other uses – or if wauke could not be obtained. (Handy)

The method of getting wauke is the same for the various kapas which a person desires; it is only during the process of beating out the kapa that a person could make use of the pattern which she prefers.

After cutting a tree, he next trimmed off the outside bark; the wauke was left in the water until soft; after six days, eight days, ten days or perhaps twenty days, it was taken out of the water. (Fornander)

The strips were laid edge to edge, and felted together by beating with wooden beaters of different sizes, square in cross section, having carved geometric designs on their four faces to give watermarking. Many successive beatings with lighter and lighter clubs were required to make the finest cloth. (Handy)

For the process of beating the kapa these things are prepared: The block on which to do the beating; this block is made broad and flat on top and the two ends are made thus: the top one is lengthened and the under one is shortened. Water is used through the beating process to keep the wauke continually wet. (Fornander)

The first i‘e (club – tapa beater) (a coarse-figured club) is used for hard pounding. After that is the i‘ekike, the dividing club, a smaller-figured club; then comes the printing club and the finishing club. The kapa is then cut. It is next taken to soak in water.

It is then spread to dry at a place prepared for drying it, that is the drying ground; there it is spread out and pressed down with rocks placed here and there so that the pa‘u would not wrinkle. This is continued until the pa‘u is dry. And this is done until there are five kapa; they are then sewn together. That is called a set of kapa.

Relating to the mamaki. Going after this kind of a plant is like going after the wauke. The method of preparation and making is the same. The kapa, however, is greatly favored by the chiefs. (Fornander)

Decoration of Hawaiian tapa, in addition to the watermarking, consisted of dyeing, felting on strips of colored tapa by beating, and stamping with small bamboo printing blocks (‘ohe kapala). (Handy)

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‘Woman_of_the_Sandwich_Islands_making_the_Natural_Cloth_with_which_they_are_Dressed’_by_Jacques_Arago

Hina-(HerbKane)

Alphonse_Pellion,_Îles_Sandwich;_Maisons_de_Kraïmokou,_Premier_Ministre_du_Roi;_Fabrication_des_Étoffes_(c._1819,_detail)

Kapa printers-kamahawaii

Kapa_or_Tapa_cloth,_Hawaii,_collected_before_1890_-_Pacific_collection_-_Peabody_Museum,_Harvard_University_-_DSC05747

Kapa Holoku-MissionHouses

Kapa Beater

Kapa beaters-ie kuku hooki-kapakulture

Kapa_or_Tapa_cloth,_Hawaii,_possibly_collected_by_Captain_James_Cook,_before_1869_-_Pacific_collection_-_Peabody_Museum,_Harvard_University_-_DSC05749

July 2, 2016 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Wauke

“Canoe crops” (Canoe Plants) is a term to describe the group of plants brought to Hawaiʻi by the early Polynesians. It is believed that these settlers, and the settlers that followed them, introduced a variety of plant species.

One such was Wauke (Paper Mulberry.) It’s a tree that can grow up to 50-feet. It thrives in places along streams, in woods, hollows or uneven grounds, in dry taro patches, in moist land where water flows. It is a species of the Hawaiian wet forests.

Legend identifies wauke with Hina, on the island of Maui. This may indicate that the paper mulberry, like one species of bamboo, was first brought to and planted on that island, which was Hina’s home.

The legend tells of Hina and her tapa making that anciently the sun hurried across the sky so fast that her tapa had no chance to dry. So her son Maui went to the place where the sun rises (Haleakala.) There he watched and caught the first ray that rose and broke it off, so that ever since the sun has traveled the sky more slowly.

The proper time for planting wauke is at the beginning of a rainy period. The shrub is said to mature within 18 months from the time the slip is planted.

Thereafter it continues to grow, young shoots springing from the roots to replace old ones. By recultivating an old patch, a flourishing crop of stems (for bark-stripping) may be had.

According to Thrum, in the upland plantations the whole plant was sometimes pulled out for harvesting and the roots lopped off and cut into segments for replanting. (Handy)

As the wauke tree grew, planters cut off the side branches, so a straight trunk stalk without branch holes could later be stripped. In 6-10 months the trunk shoots were cut down and the roots and tops removed.

The chief use and the main purpose of its cultivation were the making of cloth. In Hawai‘i, wauke made the softest, finest, and most durable kapa (tapa – bark cloth) for dress, bed sheets and for ceremonial purposes.

Indeed, the wealth of a household was often counted in the number and quality of its fine kapa materials, and in those made available, through the industry and skill of the womenfolk, as a store from which gifts might be made to ʻohana and revered ali‘i. (Handy)

It was pounded into kapa and made into a malo: a strip of cloth nine inches wide and nine feet long for the man, and pa‘u for the woman: a strip a little wider and somewhat longer.

The Hawaiians beat the fibers with beaters that had designs carved into them, this would leave a watermark on the cloth. Second, they used colors not found on other kapa, reds, blues, pink, green, and yellow.

The trunks were stripped of bark, as thick as a finger and about 4 feet long. The outer bark was slit and peeled off. The inner bark fibers, called bast, were then soaked in running water, such as a high tide pool, with stones placed on top of the fiber pile.

This part of the process breaks down the woody fibers and washes away the starch. A complicated process of soakings and fermentation followed, leaving the fine fibers of the moist inner bark still tough and resilient when finally removed from the waters.

At this time in the process, the women of Hawai`i would often twist cordage out of the fibers, for use as fish nets, upena and as carrying nets, koko, from which to hang calabashes of wood and gourds. (CanoePlants)

For Kapa, strips were laid edge to edge, and felted together by beating with wooden beaters of different sizes, square in cross section, having carved geometric designs on their four faces to give watermarking. Many successive beatings with lighter and lighter clubs were required to make the finest cloth. (Handy)

The sap is used medicinally as laxative. Ashes from burned tapa was used as medicine for ‘ea (thrush). Strips of coarse tapa were worn around a nursing mother’s neck for milk flow. (kcc.hawaii-edu)

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