Sometimes it just is not practical to bring our fresh lei from home, but we don’t always want to use our permanant lei or lei made from artificial materials. Well, the lei maker is adaptable and uses what is at hand!
At a performance in Japan, a lovely bouquet of roses was given to Kumu Leilehua Yuen. She would be out and about so much, and pretty much only sleeping when she returned to the hotel, to she crafted wewehi of the roses so that she could wear and enjoy them each day. The ribbon was from a package of biscuits she and Manu and been given by the host hālau.
Most recently, nā Kumu Leilehua and Kimo Pihana were invited to Wenchang, Hainan, China, to share cultural perspectives on the International Lunar Observatory and Lunar development.
Kumu Leilehua decided to make her lei from the materials at hand on the hotel grounds. The gracious management and staff of the hotel were concerned that they had no one on hand who knew how to make lei for her, but once they learned she would be crafting it herself, they told her to enjoy the grounds and harvest whatever she liked.
A little section of the grounds of our hotel in Wenchang. We were there in early December. In September a typhoon had ravaged the island. It was amazing how hard the people worked and beautifully cleaned up their communities. Foliage gathered from the grounds at the hotel.Using paper bag to twist into kaula to haku the lei.Lei made from foliage gathered at the Wyndham Grand Wenchang.Chanting in WenchangUncle Kimo Pihana shares at the Galaxy Forum.
There are many names for this lovely sweet-scented lei blossom which originated in the Americas. It is native to the neotropical realm, including Mexico, Central America, Brazil, the Carribbean, and Florida. During the 15th Century Spanish colonists spread them through south-east Asia. In the 19th Century they were introduced to Polynesia, including Hawaiʻi. They are now found throughout the tropic zone, including desert areas where they do well with irrigation.
Called Singapore Plumeria in Hawaiʻi, this variety is noted for retaining its leaves throughout the year. It is valued primarily for its fragrance and as a landscape tree, as the flowers bruise and wilt more quickly than other varieties.
Hardy and easy to grow as long as they have both plenty of water and good drainage, in Hawaiʻi, the trees formerly were commonly planted in graveyards for their beauty, fragrance, and shade. This lead to many Hawaiʻi people not wanting to wear them due to association with death, and their nickname, “make-man flower” [MAH-kay man], “dead man’s flower.” Other families, however, do not have that association for them, and so they are a popular flower for lei and wewehi.
For many people who grew up in the islands prior to the 1990s, the fragrance of the plumeria wafting into the plane after a long flight from America or Asia immediately gave a sense of being home.
Plumeria, today, is a favored lei flower because of its relatively low cost and its durability. The plumeria can be picked up to three days before use, if kept in a cool location. Due to the open throat they are easy to sew into garlands, and due to the length of the throat they also can be wrapped into lei wili and other styles.
Yellow Pua Melia being bound into a kūpeʻe in the wiliwili style. The yellow is one of the more hardy blooms.A woman watches the setup for the Hilo Lei Day Festival, held each May 1 in Kalākaua Park in Hilo, Hawaiʻi. Her lovely pāpale lau hala is adorned with a lei pua melia in the kui style.
