kanu: To plant, bury; planting, burial. Fig., hereditary. Mea kanu, crops, plants. Kanu papahu wili, to set solidly into the ground by twisting in and then tamping with a post; lit., plant stick twist. He moʻopuna na kō lākou haku kanu, he was a grandson of their hereditary lord.
hoʻokanu. To cause to plant or bury, (Proto-Polynesian tanu).
Kanu e ka mala wauke. (Plant the wauke garden.)
ʻāwīwī: To hurry; speedy, swift, quick, fast.
ʻĀwīwī kēia ka’a. This car is fast.
Today I am experimenting with various dyes and creating colors that will be used to dye the kapa I have made. I will hoʻawa, extract dye colors from plants, to make ka waihoʻoluʻu, the dye, using ʻōlena for yellow, ʻukiʻuki for blue… overlapped they might make green… we shall see…will post photos later…
The botanical names for these dye plants are:
ʻōlena ~ Curcuma longa
ʻōlena plant
ʻukiʻuki ~ Dianella sandwicensis
~ALOHA~
pōpoki: Cat (said by some to be derived from English “poor pussy”). Pōpoki kī, a spitting cat [spiteful, malignant person]. Pōpoki lehu, Maltese cat; lit., ash cat. Pōpoki nāwaliwali, weak cat [a weakling]. Pōpoki peʻelua, gray cat with darker markings, as a tabby cat; lit., caterpillar cat.
ko’u pōpoki, my cat
Faʻa Samoa…In the Samoan Way…
Natural Dye
Dyes used in Samoan siapo come from nature. They are extracted or ground from nuts, tree bark, tree sap, roots, and seeds. There are five colors collected: oʻa is brown, lama is black, ago is yellow, loa is red, and soaʻa is purple. The traditional designs are symbols that reflect Samoan natural environment. There are 13 symbols used in siapo and they represent nets, coconut leaf and sennit, the trochus shell, pandanus blooms, pandanus leaves, breadfruit leaf, sandpiper bird designs, starfish, banana pod, rolled pandanus leaves, worm (this is almost extinct), centipede (which has been discontinued), and lastly, logologo (not found in modern siapo to the point that the meaning of this design has been lost). Original siapo artworks are made by combining these design elements (siapo.com).
Design Methods
There are two kinds of siapo design application methods practiced in Samoa and they are Siapo ʻElei (the rubbing method) and Siapo Mamanu (the freehand method). The Siapo ʻElei method leaves an imprint on the uʻa (bark cloth material). This is done by laying the uʻa on a design printing block that is carved into wood, called an upeti, and rubbing the uʻa with a swab that has been dipped in oʻa. Oʻa is a brown dye that is extracted from the bark of the Bishofia javanica, or blood tree. This is a pest in the Hawaiian Islands where it is known as the Bishop Tree or is called koko (blood). It is also called koko in Tonga and other island languages. The oʻa changes color over time from a pale tan to a rich, dark brown.
The next step in the process is to rub a red color over to define the design. Arrowroot plant is used as glue and is dabbed on any small holes, and then a second layer is placed on top and rubbing the oʻa is repeated, this time pressing the two layers together. Sections are joined using arrowroot and rubbing. This is usually the end of the process for large pieces known as ululima and uluselau. But for smaller pieces called vala, the design might be highlighted with more brown dye. Upeti in the older form was of both the sewn midrib variety as in Tongan kupesi, and also carved wood. Today, the men have been carving the upeti and have become the main artist of siapo ʻelei designs. However, they still base their designs on the traditional symbols. One upeti carving can yield many different imprints as dye can be applied to certain areas only to create an interesting design using the positive and negative space (Pacific Tapa, p. 16, 1997).
Siapo Mamanu is the freehand method of design and is creatively applied by hand using a dried pandanus brush, called a paogo. The design is created by the artist using black dye to sketch the design, and then the artist may choose to use a veriety of color to finish the piece (siapo.com)
These two methods of desing can also be combined to create unique artwork that is reinvented with each piece of uʻa. Siapo is one of the oldest art forms and symbols of Samoan culture. Used for clothing, burial shrouds, bed covers, ceremonial garments, and much more… (siapo.com)
Siapo is the common name used for bark cloth in Samoa. The siapo is the paper mulberry tree bark for the material called uʻa. The bark is prepared in the common way of removing and preparing the bast. The tools used to beat out the uʻa is the anvil called a tutua, which is about 3 feet long for a single person to work, or six feet long for two or three people to work together. The beater used is called an is called an iʻe. The iʻe has two smooth sides and two grooved sides. After the uʻa is beaten into a sheet, it is dried in the sun and made ready for design applications.
Samoan Siapo
Would you like to learn more about this topic? Check out this amazing website full of great info: siapo.com
loko iʻa: Fish pond.
Loko Iʻa ʻAlekoko also known as “Menehune Fishpond” on Kauaʻi
Loko iʻa are ecosystems created by Hawaiians for subsistence fishing. One of the most noteworthy Hawaiian innovations in this system of aquaculture is the pani wai, or dam, sluice, levee, dike. Of these, the sluice gate to ponds was a masterful invention. It allows for the minnows or baby fish to swim in, grow large within the pond, reaching a size that is too large to swim out.
The Hawaiians’ irrigation system rotated water from streams and sometimes through hand built ʻauwai (canals), to irrigate crops in the lo’i (taro patches), then returned it to the stream of origin. This system relies on a steady natural flow of nutrients to course through the stream to the sea, helping limu (algae) to grow, and fish and lobster to feed. Hawaiians took advantage of these stream-nourished coastal areas and streams to build fishponds for bountiful harvests of food. Fishponds on some islands were as large as 48 acres in coastal areas.
Classification of fish ponds at coastal areas:
loko kuapa: fish pond made by building a wall on a reef
loko wai: freshwater pond or lake
loko iʻa kalo: combination fish pond and taro patch
loko ʻume iki: fishpond with lanes leading in and / or out, used for trapping fish
Classification of fish ponds at upland areas:
akuli: to dam a stream with leaves making a forest pool
mano: dam, stream or water source, headwaters, place where water is obstructed for distribution in channels. Mud dams were made for fish and crustaceans; fish shelters were built in mud shoals.
http://sheri-majewski-art-edu.webstarts.com/community_heritage_2.html
kapa kulture 