Inoa | Name(s)

Haku hulu

Hōʻuluʻulu manaʻo

ʻO ka haku hulu, ʻo ia ka hana noʻeau o ka haku ʻana i nā hulu o ka manu i mau mea makamae, e like hoʻi me ka ʻahu ʻula, ka lei, ke kāhili, ka mahiole, ke akua hulu manu, ka pāʻū, ke kāʻei, a pēlā wale aku. He mea waiwai loa nā hulu. Ma ka wā kahiko, he hōʻailona nā mea hulu no nā aliʻi, e like me ka ʻōlelo noʻeau, “He hulu aliʻi.” Kaulana nō nā mea hulu i komo ʻia e nā aliʻi e like hoʻi me Kalaniʻōpuʻu no kona ʻahuʻula a me Liliʻuokalani no kona mau kāhili.

Description

Featherwork is the art of arranging bird feathers into precious items such as the feather cape, the lei, royal standards, helmets, feathered gods, skirts, sashes, and other items. Feather made materials are extremely valued. In older times, feathered material was associated with royal chiefs, as is seen in the proverb, “He hulu aliʻi.” Items worn and owned by royalty are especially well known, such as the cape of the high chief Kalaniʻōpuʻu and the kāhili standards belonging to Liliʻuokalani.

ʻŌlelo kuhikuhi

E koho i kēia huaʻōlelo no nā kumuwaiwai pili i ka haku ʻana i nā mea hulu manu. Inā pili ke kumuwaiwai i ka hana ʻana i nā lei, e koho pū iā “Hana lei.”

Instructions 

Use this term for resources related to Hawaiian feather work of any kind. For materials related to lei making with feathers, also select the term “Hana lei.”

Moʻokūʻauhau | Genealogy 

Akua | Deity: Kūkaʻilimoku

Hālau | Group/School: Nā Lima Mili Hulu Noʻeau

Kanaka | Person: Paulette Kahalepuna; Mary Louise Kaleonahenahe Kekuewa; Leilani O. Fernandez

Hana | Practice: Lawaiʻamanu/kiamanu; Hana lei; Haku lei hulu

Lako | Materials + tools / implements: Hulu ʻiʻiwi; Hulu ʻōʻō; Hulu ʻapapane; Hulu mamo; Hulu moa Hulu koaʻe; Olonā; ʻIeʻie; Niho ʻīlio; Lauoho kanaka; Mother-of-pearl shell; ʻAnoʻano

Lawena | Behavior: ʻUo; Haku

Kūmole | Source(s)

Holt, John Dominis. The Art of Featherwork in Old Hawaiʻi. 2nd ed. Honolulu, Hawaiʻi: Ku Paʻa Pub., 1997.

Kekuewa, Mary Louise Kaleonahenahe Peck, Paulette Nohealani Kekuewa Kahalepuna, and Karen A Edlefsen. Feather Lei as an Art. Rev. ed. Honolulu, Hawaii: Mutual Pub., 1993.

Pukui, Mary Kawena, and Samuel H. (Samuel Hoyt) Elbert. Hawaiian Dictionary : Hawaiian-English, English-Hawaiian. Rev. and enl. Ed. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1986.

Pukui, Mary Kawena. ’Olelo No’eau : Hawaiian Proverbs & Poetical Sayings. Honolulu, Hawai’i: Bishop Museum Press, 1983. #599

Royal Hawaiian Featherwork : Nā Hulu Aliʻi. San Francisco, CA: Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, 2015.

Hoʻopili ʻia i | Applied to: The art of featherwork in old Hawai’i; Royal Hawaiian Featherwork : Nā Hulu Aliʻi; Ruffling feathers : Hawaiian featherart, 1770-2012

Mea haku | Created by: Keahiahi Long; Annemarie Paikai