The Hawaiian gazette., 1909-06-04
TAPA.MAKING A LOST ART
IN THE ISLES OF HAWAII

Tho Daughters ~ Hawaii held thcirl
NTH anniversary On the lanai of Mrs
=. C. Aliens beautiful home on sat.
urday An interesting program was
enjoyed By those present and tho
gracious hospitality Of Mrs Allen
added not n lit.ic to the pleasure ~
the occasion.
A few appropriate remnrls from the
regent. Mira n r. Dillingham;. led to
the reading Of the report Of the
Treasurer Mrs =. c. Jones. and 60
the dispo'nl ~ the business on hand.
Mrs Lindsay. accompanied by Mrs.
Howard Hitchcock on the piano. then
gave la her own charming manner. n
spring song Following this. two ar
tioles. read by Mrs. =. w. Macfarlane
and taken from an old copy OF the
Friend, were pleaslngly reminiscent,
and paper on "Tapa In the Early
Days" by Miss Paris. historian OF the
society. revived still further the
memories OF old Hawaii. Mrs. Weaver
closed the program in an effective
manner by brief history OF the
motto of the nation-"Ua mau Ike ca.
O ka alma ka pono," as given by Ka-
uikcaoull to his people.
Delicate refreshments and social
chat closed the afternoon.
Following is Miss Paris essay on
tapa,
Tapa In the Early Days.
II is not long since tapa-making-
| u lost art today-was one of the in
dustrial achievements OF Hawaii.
Though the manufacture OF cloth from
bark was practiced throughout the
! Pacific, yet this art reached its high
est perfection here. Indeed we have
no less an authority than DIR. Brig
ham OF the Bishop Museum in saying
that for fineness OF quality and deli
cacy and variety of coloring, the Ha-
waiian tapas excelled all others. The
| times were primitive and nature
yielded her stores readily TO those liv-
ing in close companionship with her
Secrets were wrested from her which
are a marvel to us now, and th,
beautiful shades OF red, blue, pink
gray and brown extracted for the col
orlng Of tapa, from the roots. leave,
and berries of indigenous plants, show
an intimacy with her we well may
envy today.
Earth was used in the mixing o
colors and also for some of the darke
shades, while in the wonderful preser
walton of these tints, we see the ingen
ious use of natures never failing re
sources.
From two plants, the wauke or pa
per mulberry and the mamake, tap
was made. The mamake tapa
though of coarse fiber, was remark
ably strong and useful in many ways
but for the finer and more desirabl
| grades the wauke was especially cul
r tivated, and not only did the bark G
| this plant furnish material for all tn
, beautiful tapas of Hawaii. but 10
5 most of its cloth.
BY the careful removal of a
| branches from its earliest growth, an
that one unbroken stem might be pre-
duced, this small shrub or tree some
times attained height of ten q
, twelve feet, though the usual heigf
| WIS NOT HlOTt llldIl Sin. ne DdT
was then cut from end to end of tn
/ tree with a sharp shell and remove
in a single piece. These strips role
into coils and left for some days t
: become fit, We're then, with the cute
covering removed, immersed in waite
. In this way a resinous substance wa
extracted from the bark and 1t wa
n prepared for the most important pro
r cess of all-that of beating. For tn
| operation mal!ets of heavy wood wei
O ! used. These beaters. usually foul
q sided, We're marked on three sides
: grooves or squares, to give a certal
q finish to the cloth. The fibrous strip
taken from the water and laid upon
plank or kua papa, were by the SIX!
full use of the mallet converted int
= tapa, the time and labor varying wit
the quality desired, though severi
days were required for the heating {
;, even an ordinary piece of cloth. III
. bark increased in size under the ma
= let and single strips of wauke wei
. often transformed into thin sheets I
:, rare quality, while for a cloth Of III
largest size. strip after strip was add
% ed. The hbers of these numberle,
pieces becoming closely united by II
:, beating process, Dr. Brigham tells l
tapas OF over one hundred and twent!
five square feet were thus produce
TO cover such surface with some II
trlcate pattern, in the old way, mu
have been a tedious process.
;, The pattern was first cut on the 1
u side of bamboo stick, then dipped
u the coloring matter, transferred to Il
y cloth and closely pressed upon II Wi
~ the fingers. This process was repea
u ed until the entire piece was cover'
II with the design.
% As the uses Of tapa were manifol
% cloth manufactured for different pu
y poses varied In color, quality and siz
The KAPPA moe, or sleeping tapa, WI
% usually three or four yards squar
five sheets of this size fastened I
gether formed what was called
n kuina. These sheets were usually Will
II or some pale shade, with the exec
o, ton of the top one corresponding
a. our counterpart, which was oft
d. beautifully colored and called XII
10 hama, meaning the best.
d. The WailiIlii tapa, thicker than O