Links to the Past: The Work of Early Hawaiian Artisans

Baskets

La‘amaomao was the name of a calabash of wind belonging to Paka‘a; it was a real calabash (gourd) entirely covered over with wicker work, plaited like a basket, and it was named in honor of the mother of Paka‘a. In this calabash were kept the bones of his mother, La‘amaomao [goddess of winds]. quoted in Fornander [La‘amaomao] took the lid off a large calabash and took out a small whistling gourd, smoothly encased in woven ‘ie‘ie and having a small cover of its own ... In it are [grandmother’s] bones and all the winds of the islands that were her slaves. Moses Nakuina, 19th-century Hawaiian cultural historian Among the various curiosities brought by the natives to sell, were a kind of baskets, about eighteen inches high, and five or six inches in diameter, of a circular form, and exceedingly neatly made. The wicker work of which they were made was frequently variegated with twigs of a red colour, and had a pretty effect. These baskets were quite new to us, have seen nothing of this sort when at the islands before. William Beresford, supercargo (in Hawai‘i 1786 & 1787) 90 BASKETS Baskets Collected on Cook’s third voyage (1778–9). Once covered a gourd. 56cmH BrM Oc,Haw.50 Gourd inside. 53.3cmH BrM Oc,Haw.49 Hīna‘i The closely twined baskets found in Hawai‘i are unique in the Pacific. In its most basic configuration, twining consists of a pair of strands, one passing in front of a stake and the other in back, then changing places so the front one moves to the back and the back one to the front. This repeats with the pair always twisting in the same direction as it passes each new stake. The twining material most favored by Hawaiians was the long, durable aerial rootlet of the mountain vine ‘ie‘ie, which was also used to make helmets and fish traps. Small baskets were loosely twined with or without an inside foundation. Large ones (shown in this chapter) were closely twined, usually over a wooden bowl or gourd foundation. From small, coarsely made baskets about 28 cm high called hīna‘i ho‘omoe i‘a (baskets for holding fish) to large, well-made hīna‘i poepoe (round baskets) as high as 79 cm, nearly all (or at least nearly all known examples) had lids. These were kept in place by olona netting connected to olona cords looped through the upper parts of the baskets (not depicted here). Olona was the strongest and most durable cordage available to early Hawaiians. Many tightly twined baskets were enhanced by variations in the twining, such as twisting the strips in the opposite direction. Using more than two strips at a time or passing strips over two or more stakes at a time creates raised bands — as does using different-sized strips or whole rather than split strips. Another enhancement involved introducing dyed weft strips to create horizontal, vertical, and diagonal patterns. These patterns have completely faded from some baskets ; the remaining patterns now range from pale sepia to nearly black. Flat-bottomed baskets stored fine tapa, feather capes, and leis; those twined around bowls held other valuables such as the royal lei niho palaoa necklace or perhaps wooden deity images. Lidded hīna‘i twined around gourds were especially valuable for storing poi. The basketry protected the fragile gourd during transport and the netted lid kept out flies and dust and prevented the poi from developing a crust. Links to the Past 93 Loops for lid net remain at top of lower basket. Hawai‘i Island 44.5cmH BPBM 7651 Both parts over gourds. Olona net attached to top of lower basket. 40.6cmH BPBM 1404 Both parts over gourds. Black and brown pattern. Hanging net attached to top of lower basket. 43cmH Ulster 1911.1172 Loops for netting attached to top of lower basket. Both parts over gourds. 35.6cmH PE E.16218 Once covered a gourd. Believed used to store feather items. 30cmH BPBM 1409 94 Baskets Once covered a wooden bowl, loops for netting attached near top. 91cmH BPBM 1550 Over a gourd, color pattern barely visible. 70cmH BPBM 1405 Links to the Past 95 Loops for netting attached near top. 55cmH PH 38-80-70/937 Over a...