Aloha !
I am pooped ! I just came back a short while ago from gathering some of the Hau branches that I needed to make my hula skirt.
OMG. I'm too tired to even put an exclamation mark as that looks more energy involved that a simple period , even though all it takes is the same effort of a finger. What can I say ? Intense might be a good word. Extremely strenuous would be another two words.
Here's some info about the Hau tree.
http://mauimike6.wordpress.com/2010/02/18/hau-hibiscus-tiliaceus-not-just-another-hawaiian-hibiscus/
The place where the Halau went for the branches is about a 20 minutes drive away from Kalani. It was a drive over hill and dale , black lava ones, that is. The roads were mini roller coasters , undulating up and down , cresting , falling and disappearing , dipping and dropping , one's stomach along with it. It was not simply just up and down , the roads were also narrow , swervy and curvy too.
I went with Ayako , Max and their beautiful boy , Ariya. It was a procession of about 7 cars, each following one another, with Kumu leading us . When we arrived at our destination , it was so beautiful . It was a jungle of Hau trees , crisscrossing everywhere , a jigsaw puzzle of branches in a maze where it challenges one to see where the beginning is, or where it eventually ends. We went down a ways , walking carefully along a very muddy path . I could see some of my footprints being left behind as I walked. Along the muddy path were roots crisscrossing on top and below . Ah, the most beautiful of all , and this will be forever imprinted in my heart and mind , is the deep red orange Hau flowers everywhere along the muddy path . It was magical and so very beautiful to me. Hau flowers only last for a day . They start out yellow , and when they become deep red orange, they fall to the ground below.
At the beginning of the path leading into the Hau tree jungle , We joined hands and did two Hawaiian chants One of them was E Ho Mai.. It was very spiritual and I felt a very deep connection to the aina . ( Land ) Kumu told us that where there are mounds of rocks , do not step on them or disturb them as they are burial sites. There were burial sites everywhere This was sacred land . I was surprised that it didn't give me the heevie jeevies. All I felt was a great calm and a wonderful peace. The only sound was the birds singing .
Kumu showed us what the best branches were to cut .. The best ones were straight , curving a wee bit is o.k. too , and with very few if any , knots. The branches have to be at least the circumference of ones' wrist or bigger. The best ones are the ones approximately 3 inches in diameter .
It was daunting, as I soon found out. First, I had to hunt for the perfect branches , then came the cutting down of the branches. Beth had lent me her hand saw that she used in the Horticulture Dept in Kalani. I started sawing away and soon found out how difficult it was with a small collapsible hand saw. It took all of me to saw one single cut , and the saw kept getting stuck part way through. I found myself giving myself silent pep talks. :" I can do this ! Yes I can ! I can do this ! Slowly but surely , for sure slowly, I can do this ! " We were to cut 20 branches. We were also advised that we would have to come back 2 more times another time to do a total of at least 40 plus more . It requires approximately 65 to 75 branches for the hula skirt and the leis. I felt the physical energy drain out of me when Kumu told us this. I didn't know how I was going to even do 20 branches. As it turned out , I ended up doing 12 branches only . :( Two of the branches
were gifted to me by one of the guys. They cut the thickest branches for me. There was no way that my little handsaw would cut through the size of branches that they gave me. I was so grateful . I forgot to mention too that each branch had to be at least seven feet long or more. Ha ha ! I have to laugh . And then came the demonstration of the stripping part. Stripping the bark, that is.
OMG again. The seven plus feet long branch had to be lean against something for leverage. In the jungle, that would be another tree. So, you have to lean the branch against another tree, cut off the top of the branch with a sharp knife , cutting approximately a inch and a half wide splits. From the splits, you pull with you right hand , stripping ( pulling )the bark , while using your left hand simultaneously to perpetuate the stripping and to assist in the lifting of the bark from the tree. You cannot remove too thick of the bark as that would bring along with it thick fibres. What you want to do is to lift enough bark so that only the finer fibres come removed with the bark. Meanwhile , I am also straddling the branch . Oh, and that's not even the end of this.
So once you have stripped the bark perfectly in loooong straight strips ( that too can be challenging ) it will go through a 3 week long salt water bath . On the first day , you soak the fibres in a salt water bath in a big tub . On the second day , you add two more tubs . ( Where am I gonna put all these tubs ???) Out of the first tub in which the fibres were soaked in the previous night , it goes into tub #2 which is filled with salted water . In tub # 2 , you remove all the slime from the fibres , rinsing thoroughly in tub # 2 . Then you put it in tub #3 which has clean fresh salted water. It will sit in tub # 3 overnight. And the process gets repeated on a daily basis for approximately 3 weeks with daily fresh salted water...........Once the fibres start separating from the bark , we separate the brown barkish fibres from the whitish fibres and put them in bunches to make it easier to de-slime , otherwise, it will be all in one huge tangly mess. So, sytematically , you would untie each bunch , hold the bunch in the middle , and dip and rinse and de-slime , lomi lomi with you hand , as Kumu called it. The brownish fibres will be used for cordage , while the whitish fibres will be used for our hula skirts .
The fibres will eventually, through this process, become soft like raffia , and wills separate naturally into thin strands. After all of this minimum 3 week procedure, the soft fibres are hung outside to naturally dry.
Kumu has asked us to not work on the hau when we are not right with our hearts as that would be transferred deep into the fibres. It should be always full of good mana.
So, I left Kalani approximately 8:45 this morning and came back around 2:00 p.m . I can feel small callous forming on my soft city hands. I am covered in moss and mud and dirt all over. I am also soaked as it started raining heavily towards the end . It would have been worse without the tangled canopy of Lau branches semi -sheltering over us.
In closing we held hands and did a Hawaiian chant before we left the jungle. It took me three trips to bring all my branches out of the jungle to Max's car. I was happy and extremely grateful that I didn't injure myself in this process. Ayako got hit hard in the face as a thick branch rebounded and hit her when she finished cutting one branch , and Max had a deep cut on his hand from his saw that slipped. And Molly, the City Girl , using a small hand saw for the first time ever in her Life, was spared. There truly is a God. Mahalo, God.
Wow , Wow and Wow !!!!!!!! What an experience ! What can I say ? It was truly special . I have to admit that a part of me is dreading repeating this two more times , perhaps three more times or even more. I have only gathered 12 branches out of the necessary possible 60 plus branches..........So far, I have only stripped one branch............ Please send me thoughts of strength and fortitude !
This is only the beginning .......................Where there's a Will, there's a Way . A great sense of humour helps too ! What am I getting myself into ?????? :)
With much Aloha ,
x0x0x0x0x0
Molly
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