I've opened a Vacation Rental Nov.2007! Click HERE to check it out. I wrote in this blog for 2 years and now after 3 years I'm excited to say I AM HERE Permanently! Come over and visit, I know you'll love it! Dawn 10/20/08
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I've opened a Vacation Rental Nov.2007! Click HERE to check it out. I wrote in this blog for 2 years and now after 3 years I'm excited to say I AM HERE Permanently! Come over and visit, I know you'll love it! Dawn 10/20/08 |
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November, 2006: Lauhala Weaving This was our first lesson in making items from Lauhala. We got a group of us - Troy, Rhian, Sam, Myself, and Debbie. Debbie Tuzon was our teacher. She had taught this skill to the Japanese student tour I helped to organize at the college last summer. She was kind enough to do a private lesson with our friends. Here we are holding up our art. Great picture from Troy's phone! |
| Picture of Debbie's samples |
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About Lauhala:
 Indigenous (Found In Hawai'i and Elsewhere) |
Common Name: | Hala Tree
(ha-la) (Screwpine) |
 Hala Tree Fronds |
| Scientific: | Pandanus odoratissimus | ||
| Size: | Up to 20 ft tall | ||
| Flower: | White on male, small and inconspicuous on female | ||
| Habitat: | Sea level to 2,000 ft | ||
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The Hala Tree is a very important tree to the Hawaiians who used the tree in numerous ways. The tree most likely arrived in Hawai'i on it's own due to the fact that the seeds of the Hala Tree float. The Hala Tree can be found throughout the Pacific. The Hala Tree is very distinctive looking. Growing up to 20 feet tall each tree has thick aerial roots that spread out into the ground. There are male and female versions of the Hala Tree. The fronds of each have long bent leaves and the female produces an 8 inch pineapple looking fruit in the center of the fronds. The Hawaiians used the entire tree in a variety of ways. The leaves were woven into hats, mats, and roofing materials. The segments of the fruit were used as paint brushes and for food. Leis have been made with the individual sections of the fruit and the wood of the tree has been used to create water pipes, posts and calabashes. The pollen of the sweet smelling male Hala flower (Hinano) was used to preserve feathers and leis.
page duplicated from site: http://www.instanthawaii.com/cgi-bin/hawaii?Plants.hala
NOTE FROM DAWN The hala leaves are called lauhala and we used these as prepared by the museum for sale. Debbie taught us how to prepare them if we want to do it ourselves. Those we used came dried and rolled up in a huge roll. Debbie is a great teacher so I'd say it wasn't a hard class but we definitely had to do tasks repetitively to complete our project with much concentration. It was great fun! We can't wait for lesson II. |
 Fruit of the Female Hala
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