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 There was no alphabet. No written language. No metal for tools. No clay for pots. No wheels. Yet these prehistoric Pacific islanders voyaged across great oceans, created a sophisticated society and left a cultural heritage that still flourishes in the Hawaiian Islands. Archaeological evidence indicates the Hawaiian islands were well populated by A.D. 500, but the first settlers may have arrived several centuries earlier. Wood, stone, bone, fibers and feathers were the artisans' primary materials. The early Western explorers found the Hawaiian artistic traditions closely linked to the ancient religion of Hawaii. Dance, music and arts celebrated the elements, gods and human abilities. Today the maka'ainana, the artisans, carry forth the creative legacy of their ancestors who traveled far across the seas from legendary Havaiki, islands not anchored in any ocean-the home of all knowledge. Join us now as we explore some of the ancient arts and crafts practiced today by the Native Hawaiian peoples.  Hula-The Heartbeat of Hawaii
The ancient, 200-year old chant 'Ulei Pahu is a prophecy given by a Kauai priest who foresaw the coming of Captain James Cook in 1778 and the drastic changes that would follow in the lives of the Hawaiians. It is chanted, among others, by one of the island's most traditional kumu hula (teacher), Mapuana de Silva, as her fern, ti and maile leaf leibedecked dancers step onto a modern stage to tell an ancient story. She and her husband Kihei have dedicated their lives to the preservation of traditional hula. Through their hula halau (school) Halau Mohala 'Ilima, in the town of Kaneohe on Oahu, they are keepers of the flame, continuing a hula lineage passed down from a time long before Western contact.
"When we present our hula," explains Mapu, "it is based on what we know from Kihei's intense research and from my hula education." Mapu carries on the tradition of the late hula master Aunty Maiki Aiu Lake. She has shared hula with many hundreds of haumana (students) in her 28 years of teaching. Some of her students begin to dance at age four. "We share hula and more," she explains. "Our dancers learn Hawaiian language, Hawaiian values and the joy of making their own feather lei and hula implements to use when they dance." Mapu and her husband, a Hawaiian language teacher and educator, have been a driving and steady force in the 20-plus-year struggle for cultural preservation that is called the Hawaiian Renaissance. Hula, language and many of the ancient art forms came dangerously close to dying out. Noted Hawaiian businesswoman Maile Meyer, owner of Na Mea Hawaii, Native Books in Honolulu, says, "The dedication of Hawaiians like the de Silvas, totally committed to our culture, saved us from being an endangered species. They are workers, people who not only lead, but roll up their sleeves and dig in for the long haul." Hula halau are plentiful and prospering on all of the Hawaiian islands. Each spring the Merrie Monarch Hula Festival brings thousands of "hulaholics" to Hilo on the Big Island of Hawaii for a week of dance competition. Once hidden and forbidden, the best of hula can now be enjoyed year 'round.
 Lei-Woven with Love
Artist Robert Elwes, visiting the Hawaiian islands in 1849, wrote that Hawaiian women "delight in flowers, and wear wreaths on their headsin the most beautiful way." Art curator Deborah Dunn once wrote, "The lei is worn on the body but is felt in the heart and endures in the memory." Beyond the lei greeting for visitors, wearing flower lei is a living tradition. "Giving a lei," says noted flower lei maker Bill Char, "may mean congratulations, thank you, or just 'how are you my friend and have a great day.'" May Day is celebrated as Lei Day in the Hawaiian Islands. Everyone is bedecked in flower lei, from bank presidents to bus drivers. Hotels offer free lei-stringing classes. Lei-making contests are held, lei queens are crowned and lei-bedecked hula dancers perform in parks, malls and schools.
 Historic references, dating back to 1778, describe the lei po'o (head lei) and lei a'i (worn around the neck) as being created of flowers, seeds, ivory, shell and feathers. The ali'i nui, ruling kings, wore feathered helmets and ceremonial cloaks made of thousands of clusters of bird feathers, tied on to a net-like backing. Many of the bird species have been eliminated by introduced predators, like the mongoose, but the magnificent cloaks can be found in the collections of both the Bishop Museum and 'Iolani Palace. On the tiny, private island of Ni'ihau, the tradition of sewing the tiny shells, pu'pu o Ni'ihau, into leis of breathtaking beauty has gone on for hundreds of years. The shells are found only on this island. Strung only by Ni'ihauans, they can cost from hundreds to many thousands of dollars and are considered more precious than pearls. Na Mea Hawaii, at Ward Warehouse in Honolulu, carries the authentic, registered shells and finished jewelry.
 The traditional feather art can still be found in the welcoming Honolulu feather shop of Aunty Mary Louise Kekuewa. Na Lima Mili Hulu No'eau (Skilled Hands Touch the Feathers) is a tiny, tightly packed supply shop and showcase for the work of one of Hawaii's living treasures. For more than 30 years, Aunty Mary Lou, assisted by her daughter, Paulette Kahalepuna, has been teaching the ways of the lei to beginners, hula dancers, visitors and friends. People fly in from the other Hawaiian islands to buy much-needed supplies and learn some of Aunty's fine points. "In the past," she explains, "feathers were gathered during the molting seasons of the native birds." The bird catchers would even cover their arm with a sticky sap of the breadfruit tree, tempt the bird with food and catch and hold it just long enough to pluck a few feathers but not harm the bird. She adds, sadly, "Now, no more." Natural and dyed feathers are now imported but the ancient featherwork methods are preserved. Aunty (a term of respect in the islands) has a wall of honors and awards, as well as photos of one gown of 30,000 white feathers that would put Hollywood to shame. It took her 13 years for her to complete her first traditional feather cloak. The masterpiece, on display at the shop, is named after her mother, Ahu'ula O Mailelani. Six days a week, Aunty's fingers fly as she makes lei. She will still sit for hours, helping a young hula dancer complete his or her first feather lei for a performance. "After that, they're on their own. Come in for check-ups, I tell them," she says with a smile. Ukulele-The Jumping Flea
The strum of ukulele strings brings an instant vision of swaying palms, lovely hula girls, a long, white beach and blue ocean. Hawaii is the only U.S. state with its own music, its own language and its own dance. But the early rhythms were basic. As Hawaii's "Ambassador of Aloha," entertainer Don Ho says nightly to his packed Waikiki showroom, "To all you missionary descendants, thank you. If it wasn't for church singing and musical instruments, we would all still be dancing and singing to the beat of a drum." Though the missionaries arrived in the early 1800s, bringing the written word and new musical forms, it was the 1879 arrival of Portuguese master craftsman Manuel Nunes that brought the ukulele (the jumping flea) to Hawaiian life. The name came from the speed that fingers move on the strings. In the early 1900s, a young apprentice named Samuel Kamaka studied with Nunes. Today his grandson, Sam Jr., carries on the Kamaka legacy, making fine instruments treasured by musicians worldwide.
 Perhaps Hawaii's most extraordinary ukulele master is Eddie Kamae of Honolulu. Singer/songwriter Keith Haugen says, "There may be players who can pick faster than Eddie (say young Jake Shimabukuro or one of Roy Sakuma's Ukulele School students), but none plays with the kind of soul and Hawaiian feeling that Eddie imparts." As a young man in the 1940s, Kamae developed a jazz picking style that forever changed the status of the ukulele. Kamae says, "In 1949, I was on the road, playing in cold, cold Longmont, Colorado. I wasn't making money, wasn't happy and wasn't warm. I went home to Hawaii and never went back on the road." Despite the fact that you had to visit Hawaii to hear him and his legendary band, The Sons of Hawaii, Kamae achieved folk-hero status. Going island to island looking for the old songs led Kamae to his new career as an internationally known documentary filmmaker. His Hawaiian and Cherokee heritage gives him a reverence for the kupuna, elders, and the "knowing" that their wisdom must be perpetuated for the next generation. At age 77, he has garnered dozens of film awards, released a best-selling book and has five new films in the works. "What I am doing is feeding the soul," Kamae says. "Humor. Keep it light and keep it fun." Wood Carving-Honoring the Ancients
Early ki'i (carvings) depicting the 'aumakua, or family protector, may be considered "tribal art" or "primitive" by some, but to the eye practiced in Polynesian sculpture, Hawaiian wood carving is lyrical in form and function. The young carvers of today, like Rocky Jensen and Alani Apio, may use modern tools, or may work in the old way with the ko'i (adze) made of dense basalt. They are inspired by the ancient carvers but step into the future with modern depictions of akua (great gods) such as Ku, Kane, Lono and Kanaloa.  The tradition of wood carving in Hawaii has been blessed by the work of a man-the late Wright Bowman, Sr.-who could look into a solid log and see a canoe waiting to be carved out. He could carve the o'o (digging stick) just as the ancient Hawaiians did. He knew the secret of repairing a crack in one of the precious koa calabash bowls. His canoe paddles cut through waves with power and grace. Born in 1907 in Hilo, Bowman watched canoe makers as a child. He took up woodworking during the Depression and later spent 22 years teaching generations of talented student artists at Kamehameha Schools on the slopes high above Honolulu. His basement woodshop gave birth to museum-quality koa treasures.
His legacy, known around the world, is the Polynesian Voyaging Society canoe, Hokule'a. Begun in 1973 as a scientific experiment to build a replica of a traditional voyaging canoe for a one-time sail to Tahiti, it became the catalyst for cultural renewal, voyaging 100,000 miles to "connect" the peoples of the Pacific. In the 1990s, Ka'ili Chun was completing her master's degree in art at the University of Hawaii. She asked Bowman to teach her how to make Hawaiian spears. The informal apprenticeship grew into a special friendship and a formal apprenticeship under the State Foundation on Culture and the Arts Folk Arts Program. Now teaching at the University of Hawaii, Chun carries on the Bowman method. Describing her gift of knowledge, she says, "In the Western way, you feel it's your right to an education. In the Hawaiian way, I feel I don't have that right. I have to earn it, and I have a responsibility to my elders and my family to do the best job I can." David Behlke, director of the Koa Gallery on Honolulu, says of Bowman, "He set a standard of craftsmanship coupled with content that is the torchbearer for generations of people." Hawaiian carving demonstrations can be seen at the outstanding Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum and at Na Mea Hawaii at Ward Warehouse, both in Honolulu, at the Polynesian Cultural Center on the north shore of Oahu, and at Pacific Handcrafters Guild events held quarterly at Thomas Square Park near downtown Honolulu. Tattoo-Adorning the Body
Based on historical accounts, Hawaiians were less tattooed than other peoples of the Pacific, though both men and women are depicted with kakau (tattoos) in artists´ renderings of early voyages. With the current popularity of cultural tattoos, that trend is rapidly changing. Keone Nunes of Oahu is perhaps Hawaii's most renowned practitioner of the ancient tattoo traditions. For Nunes, the responsibility of giving a tattoo is coupled with a responsibility for those receiving one. His work doesn't happen as a "lark." Before the design is sketched, he talks with the individual, gets a sense of his or her character and motive for receiving a permanent commitment to a belief. Nunes says, "Knowing their family genealogy is a crucial piece of the equation. If they don't know what designs are associated with their family, I send them out to research. My responsibility as a tattooist is to make sure everything I suggest is appropriate for the individual."
 He feels that it is important to young people, especially Hawaiians, to look upon tattoo as more than just a fad. "I ask them to consider how the tattoo relates to their culture, or the culture that they have embraced by making Hawaii their home." He gives them advice on looking deeper into themselves and to consider what impact the tattoo will have on their life, their family and their goals beyond the moment. He uses the traditional methods to apply the tattoo, with razor-sharp "needles" attached to a stick. The design is drawn on the skin, then the tapping begins, first setting the design then working slowly to create the intricate patterns. The ink can be the traditional soot from burning kukui nuts, mixed with sugar cane juice and coconut milk, or modern tattoo ink. P.F. "Ski" Kwiatkowski, author of The Hawaiian Tattoo and a self-tattooed man, placed his 'aumakua, the owl, on his leg when the bird saved him from a car crash. Hawaii painter and printmaker Kandi Everett of Honolulu is another sought-after skin artist. She learned her trade in the days when sailors frequented the tattoo parlors of Honolulu's Chinatown. Her designs run the gamut from hula girls to the most traditional Pacific tattoo art. She describes the old days as "fast" art and today as "real." Her work can be seen in photographs and prints in several Honolulu art museums.
Lynn Cook () is a cultural tourism, travel writer and photographer who has lived in Honolulu for more than 30 years. Her feature stories cover Hawaii, the Western U.S., Canada and the Pacific. In addition to her writing, she researches and photographs ancient rock art petroglyph images around the Pacific Rim. As a printmaker, she translates this research onto fine art on handmade papers.
 Places to Visit
The art of kapa, barkcloth made from the soft inner bark of the mulberry tree, pounded as thin and strong as silk fibers, lives on today in the work of a few artist-scholars who continue to research and re-create the old methods. Ulana, the craftswoman, weaves the lauhala (lau means leaf, hala is the pandanus tree) for clothing and shelter. Canoe carvers and craftsmen continue to make 'aha, braided coconut fiber, used as lashings on the canoes. Kahuna la'au lapa'au, the healer, still holds and shares the knowledge of healing plants and medicines. Words, spoken by a kahuna or priest, hold sacred mana or power. All of this can be seen and experienced at Bishop Museum and other historical and cultural museums around the state. Here's some suggestions on places to visit and experience these arts, the works described above and other traditional Native Hawaiian arts, which continue to infuse Hawaiian life and culture today with their unique flavor.
OAHU
Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum,
Honolulu Academy of Arts, www.honoluluacademy.org
Hawaii State Art Museum, www.state.hi.us/sfca
'Iolani Palace, www.iolanipalace.org
Polynesian Cultural Center,
Mission Houses Museum,
Queen Emma Summer Palace,
Washington Place, BIG ISLAND
Hulihe'e Palace, Kona,
Volcano Art Center, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park,
Lyman House Memorial Museum, Hilo,
Pu'uhonua o Honaunau National Historical Park, Kona, KAUAI
Kaua'i Historical Society, Lihu'e, www.nps.gov/puho
Koke'e Natural History Museum, Kekaha, MAUI
Bailey House Museum, Wailuku,
Hawaii Nature Center, 'Iao Valley,
Hui No'eau Visual Arts Center, Makawao, www.huinoeau.com
Maui Arts & Cultural Center, Kahalui, www.mauiarts.org Events to Attend
The days of Makahiki (harvest festival) were traditionally a time of peace and healing. The custom finds expression today as the Aloha Festivals. Beginning in mid-September, the culture of the islands is celebrated across the state with 300 events on six islands, spread over six weeks. Other don't-miss events held throughout the year include the following: Halau Mohala 'Ilima Merrie Monarch Concert-mid-March, Hawaii Theatre, Honolulu
Merrie Monarch Hula Festival-March or April, Hilo, Big Island
Celebration of the Arts-Easter weekend, The Ritz-Carlton Kapalua, Maui
The Brothers Cazimero May Day Concert-May 1, Waikiki Shell, Oahu
Kamehameha Day Hula Festival-June, Oahu
Prince Lot Hula Festival-July, Oahu
Roy Sakuma Ukulele Festival-August, Oahu
Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar Festival-August, Oahu
Masters of Slack Key Guitar-The Ritz-Carlton Kapalua, weekly, Maui Details: www.gohawaii.com On the Mainland
Four of the top names in contemporary Native Hawaiian music--Willie K., Amy Hanaialii Gilliom, Sean Naauao and Robi Kahakalau-are bringing the music of modern Hawaii to the world this summer in a show titled Aloha Live! The first two artists were nominated in January for the first Hawaiian Native music Grammy award. The tour kicks off in Vancouver on July 29 and continues through 13 West coast cities, ending in Sacramento on Aug. 15. It resumes in late August with shows in seven additional East coast locations. Details:
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