Submitted by Melissa Rolwood on the 2016 winter session program in Hawaii sponsored by the Department of Behavioral Health and Nutrition…
Aloha! I am writing from Honolulu, Hawaii after a quick jump from the Big Island to Oahu.
This past week, we were able to experience the Hawaiian tradition of lauhala weaving. “Lau” means leaf in Hawaiian, while “hala” is the name of the tree that produces long, flat leaves ideal for weaving. When the two words are combined, it refers to the method of weaving leaves from the hala tree. The hala tree is native to Hawaii and served many important uses in ancient Hawaii. As a nutrition major, I found it interesting that the fruit of the hala tree was eaten by early Hawaiians on their sea voyages. Unbeknownst to them, the vitamin C in the fruits prevented the gum disease of scurvy that plagued many other sailors in the same century.
As a class, we wove our own hala bracelets to take home. The whole process took about three hours, and our instructor had already prepared and dyed all of the lau before we arrived! Early Hawaiians used the method of lauhala to create boat sails, baskets, hats and mats. They were innovative in their use of native Hawaiian plants. As we discovered during the lauhala session, using the land’s resources was an important skill for the early Hawaiians and is still a source of cultural pride.