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Contact: Jessica Ferracane, 808-985-6018
Hawaii National Park, HAWAI‘I – The second episode in a new video series produced, created and hosted by Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park rangers, shows viewers how to make lei lāʻī, an important adornment in hula.
In Lei Lāʻī, Ranger Sean Miday visits Kēōkea Beach in Kohala and learns to weave lei lāʻī hula adornments with hula practitioner Cheryl Cabrera, in the kūpeʻe style intended for the wrists. The kūpeʻe style is popular with hula dancers and is sure to be seen on stage during the upcoming Merrie Monarch Festival, the beloved annual hula competition held in Hilo.
The purpose of the new video series, titled ʻIke Hana Noʻeau (Experience the Skillful Work), is to share Hawaiian culture beyond the park to homes and classrooms anywhere.
The short documentary films are both “talk story” and tutorial and welcome a connection to traditional Hawaiian lifestyle practices. Viewers are introduced to three skilled local practitioners who delve into the methods of kuʻi kalo (making poi), weave lei lāʻī (ti leaf lei), and create an ipu heke ʻole (single gourd drums) in beautiful settings on the island of Hawaiʻi.
Viewers also learn about deep cultural connections to the practices. For instance, lei lāʻī is a hula adornment, but the leaves used also represent deities Laka (forest and hula) and Lono (harmony and agriculture), as well as kūpuna (ancestors).
In May, gourd master Kalim Smith shows Ranger Sean how to grow and shape ʻipu heke ʻole, a single gourd drum instrument vital to hula.
All three videos will be shared for free on the park website, go.nps.gov/ike and YouTube pages. Big Island Television, which airs in more than 6,000 hotel rooms on the island of Hawaiʻi and on Spectrum channel 130, will also broadcast the ʻIke Hana Noʻeau videos to a wide audience.
The videos were produced by the Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park ‘Ike Hana Noʻeau team which consists of Park Rangers Keoni Kaholoʻaʻā, Sean Miday, Daniel Anekelea Hübner, and Lanihuli Kanahele. The hui (team) members are kānaka maoli (native Hawaiians) who are passionate about the perpetuation and sharing of their culture through the use of media. Additional help on Lei Lāʻī was provided by Jessica Cogan during her service as a youth ranger at Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park. Each video is around 20 minutes in duration, and all are accessible with audio description, closed captions and ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi translation.
The park’s non-profit partners, the Friends of Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park and the Hawaiʻi Pacific Parks Association, helped support the success of the ʻIke Hana Noʻeau video project.
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Last updated: April 6, 2022