Making lei on the road

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 Wenchang
Uncle Kimo Pihana shares at the Galaxy Forum.

Would you like to learn more about the language of the lei?
Buy Hua ʻ Ōlelo Lei – A Lei Maker’s Dictionary on Amazon.