I got leid in Hawaii', proclaims a favorite bumper sticker that many visitors take back to the mainland. From the earliest times, men and women worldwide have adorned themselves with leis. Perhaps what has made Hawaii's leis so unique in history, is the fact that its rich culture was isolated so many centuries from other civilizations. The tropics offered an abundance of blossoms, beads, and leaves.
Hawaii leis mark any important event in a person's life.
There are leis of grief, and leis of love, leis of love-making, leis of marriage, of dying, and of birthing. There are leis for political, community, social, personal, farming, and religious ceremony. In old Hawaii, all those activities overlapped. The farmer blessing the new crop, the fisherman praying for safety, and the chief chanting in the heiau, all belonged to a people united by a deep-rooted belief in their gods. Each Hawaiian flower and leaf has a specific symbolic meaning, with its own legends and oral history.