Kapa

Not to be confused with Kappa.

Kapa is a fabric that was made by Native Hawaiians from the bast fibres of certain species of trees and shrubs in the orders Rosales and Malvales. It is similar to tapa found elsewhere in Polynesia but differs in the methods used in its creation. (The Hawaiian /k/ phoneme corresponds to Polynesian /t/.) Kapa was used primarily for clothing like the malo worn by men as a loincloth and the pāʻū worn by women as a wraparound. Kapa was also used for kīhei used over the shoulders. Other uses for kapa depended on caste and a person's place in ancient Hawaiian society. Kapa moe (bed covers) were reserved for the aliʻi or chiefly caste while kapa robes were used by kāhuna or priestly caste.

Cultural anthropologists over the course of the twentieth century identified techniques in the creation of kapa that was unique to the Hawaiian Islands. Wauke (Broussonetia papyrifera) was the preferred source of bast fibres for kapa, but it was also made from ʻulu (Artocarpus altilis),^[1] ōpuhe (Urera spp.),^[2], maʻaloa (Neraudia melastomifolia),^[3] māmaki (Pipturus albidus),^[4] ʻākala (Rubus hawaiensis), ʻākalakala (R. macraei), and hau (Hibiscus tiliaceus).^[5] The wauke tree was cut and soaked in water. It was then laid on a kua kūkū (polished stone tablet) and beaten with a hōhoa (rounded beater). After the first phase of beating, the kapa was transferred to a sacred house to be beaten a second time but in a religious manner. Each kapa manufacturer used a beater called an ʻiʻe kūkū, a beater with four flat sides that were each carved differently. The carvings left an impression in the cloth that was hers alone. After the European discovery of the Hawaiian Islands, Western traders travelled to Hawaiʻi especially for kapa.

Images

Hawaiian kapa, 18th century, Cook-Foster Collection at Georg-August University in Göttingen, Germany

Hawaiian kapa, 18th century, Cook-Foster Collection at Georg-August University in Göttingen, Germany

References

• Arkinstall, Patricia Lorraine, A Study of Bark Cloth from Hawaii, Samoa, Tonga and Fiji, An Exploration of the Regional Development of Distinctive Styles of Bark Cloth and its Relationship to Other Cultural Factors, Ithaca, N.Y., Cornell University, 1966.
• Brigham, William Tufts, Ka hana kapa, Making of Bark-cloth in Hawaii, Honolulu, Bishop Museum Press, 1911.
• Kaeppler, Adrienne Lois, The Fabrics of Hawaii (Bark Cloth), Leigh-on-Sea, England, F. Lewis, 1975.

External links

• Cook-Foster Collection at Georg-August University in Göttingen, Germany
• Kapa Connection
• Hawaiian Kapa Making
• Hawaiian Kapa History
• Contemporary Hawaiian Kapa
• "Kapa: Fabric of a Culture" Article about the art of kapa making and kapa master Pua Van Dorpe by Rita Goldman. Maui No Ka 'Oi Magazine Vol.12, No.1 (January 2008)
• "Kapa: More to Learn" Pua Van Dorpe's kapa collection honoring 11 Maui chiefs. Maui No Ka 'Oi Magazine Vol.12, No.1 (January 2008)