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NA LEI |
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The Lei Making Methods KUI, the stringing method. The material was pierced with a needle (manai) through the center or side and held together by a single string. The method was simple, but frequently time consuming. Metal needles were not known in ancient Hawai'i; instead, one fashioned from the coconut ni'au, (midrib of the coconut leaf), or stems from flowers of native grasses was used. The string was hau bast. Sometimes, 'ilima was strung on the thin, stringy fiber from the aerial roots of the pandanus. Straight stringing, lengthwise through the centers of the flowers was called kui pololei. Round stringing, crosswise through the stems or ovaries of flowers and arranging as spokes in a wheel was call kui poepoe. Flat stringing, crosswise through the stems or ovaries of the flowers and arranging them alternating from side to side of the string, as in the lei maunaloa, is called kui lau (leaf). Lei 'ilima, lei kou, lei hala, and lei mokihana are kui pololei. Reference: Ka Lei, The Leis of Hawaii by Marie A. McDonald |