A spare moment leaded us to learning "Honu" the Hawaiian green sea turtle

Found a new blog on hei/whai. Looks like practitioner is a young man. http://maori-string-figures.blogspot.com/

ʻUala (Sweet potatoe)

Nice ʻuala (sweet potatoe) growing under ground and showing roots.

Hawaiian Performance Cartography of Kaua'i

I write about the relationship of hei to performance cartography. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1024801.pdf

A miniature version of Kauhale a Limaloa or House Complex of Limaloa, god of mirages

La'au a Kaleikini.

La'au a Kaleikini - Tree of Kaleikini is the only known string figure in Hawai'i and possibly the world that utilizes a prop. The stick represents trees that Kaleikini, a strong chief, would pull and plug blowholes near the ocean because the salt water spray would ruin local food crops. The lower string represent the blowholes. Performer is Frank Ka'iuokalani Damas.

Kaʻiulani Damas makes "Pae Mahu o Kauaʻi" a figure about spiritual healers from a far. The figure begins on the thumbs similar to figures made bythe Kwatkiutl. Could these healers have been Kwatkiutl carried to Kauaʻi on currents? Petroglyphs can be found at the foot of the Wailua River on Kauaʻi showing circular beings as shown in the loops of the figure.

Two versions of ʻUala (sweet potato) made by Kaʻiulani Takamori and Kaʻiu Damas.

Young Hei Learners at Smithsonian Folklife Festival

Here, Tuhi Kanahele shows "Hale Pa'akai" or "Kanaka" which she learned from her father, Tangaro Taupori of Hilo. Tuhi is in elementary school. The "door" of the house is able to be shut and opened. Here, another young participant at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival learns "Honu/Turtle" She is also in elementary school and demonstrated a propensity to learn quickly.

The Wayuu are from NE Columbia/NW Venezuela on the Guajira Peninsula. They learned to weave from a female ancestor who learned from a spider. Their string figures tell of this story as well as other arts taught to this woman. The Wayuu were one of 4 indigenous peoples from Columbia whose languages are endangered that performed and shared their language and arts at the 2013 Smithsonian Folklife Festival in Washington, D.C. The theme was "One World, Many Voices" and we Hawaiians were also represented.

ʻUmeke a Hina, or Calabash of the goddess Hina is a symbol of abundance. Hina was the wife of Kū, god of the forests, fishing, husbandry, war, and governance. The figure is one of a few that is made with the assistance of the toe. The calabash should sit on the earth with the wide mouth facing up to accept and receive the bounty of the land. I have seen string enthusiasts and "experts" on Hawaiian hei display this figure upside down; however, this action portends loss of abundance and wealth.

The string figure Lonomuku represents the woman in the moon. One leg (side) is shorter than the other because when she tried to escape from her abusive husband by leaping to the moon, he grabbed hold and tore it off. Her family maintains that she dismembered her leg as a pinned mo'o does to their tail when trapped. Picture taken outside of Pa'I Foundation where classes are held free of charge to interested learners.

Here I am in my first Papa Hei performing Koko a Makali'i, the net of Makali'i. Our kupuna (elders)tell us that Makali'i took all the food on earth and hung them in the sky. Only the rat people were able to save mankind from starvation by climbing upon the rainbow and nibbling on the net so that food would once again return to earth. The place that the rat people fell is called 'Iole (rat) on the island of Hawai'i. A portion of the net was embedded in a rock on the south side of the island.

Calabash holding net of Makali'i

Accordingn to tradition. all the foods of Hawai'i were gathered up by Makali'i, placed in a calabash and held in a net hung in the heavens. The small race of rats volunteered to get food back so they travelled on the back of a rainboe and gnawed at the net releasing all food to the earth. The fallen net can be found imprinted on a rock on the south point of Hawai'i island.

The large central figure held all the major foods. The smaller sides held the minor foods. It is one of a few figues made with the assistance of a toe.

Hawaiian Language Day

October 22 - High school, immersion school, parents gather to participate in various activities like hei. One young 1st grader creates his own pyramid. Another high school couple stunble upon another (triagle)after learning "Kauhale a Limaloa"

Nana I Ke Kumu Workshops

I was privileged to share hei at Kumu Hula Vicky Takamine's Pa'i Foundation's "Nana i Ke Kumu" workshops held at the University of Hawai'i Music Department. The weeklong workshops featured oli, hula, 'ukulele and other performing arts. Hei is a performing art. Here , students marvel at one of the stages of "Kauhale a Limaloa". They form what Dickey calls "Hale 'Ilikini" (teepee). It is actually a mauna (mountain).

Na Hiku o Makali'i

April hei workshop with Moku Yoshikawa. Here he forms 7-eyes or Na Hiku o Makali'i, The Seven Stars of the Pleiades. He also learned 1-eye. A traditional way to learn hei was from parents and grandparents as I did from kupuna (elder) Aina Keawe. She taught me 1 and 7 eyes saying that one should begin with 1 eye or Nenue (rudder fish). This custom of beginning learning with an established form is similar to quilt makers who first learn the 'ulu (breadfruit) design or feather lei makers who first start out with the poepoe (rounded) style. Of course the raison d'etre lies in the meaning: 'ulu (breadfruit) is similar to ulu (grow); poepoe (rounded) implies fulness; and the One-eye represents beginnings.

Hei Workshop on Maui

11/27/10 - Spent the day working with Keala'iliahi Paredes on hei for children. Here he makes 'Opae (Shrimp) which will be part of the story "'Öpae E". We also learned puhi (eel), honu (turtle), nenue (rudder fish).

Later that day Keali'i Reischel and Hulali joined us to learn "Kuhau Pi'o ka La". We began with "Kauhale o Limaloa." Keali'i is a well known composer, singer, producer, and kumu hula but is also an expert in Hawaiian knotting and netmaking. He found the skill to make hei different from knotting and commented that he found it harder.

many stars,salt cave,six diamonds tutorials string figures

This little boy demonstrates a Hawaiian string figure which he calls Salt Cave.

Navajo String Games by Grandma Margaret