Puanani Kanemura Van Dorpe - Honolulu, Oahu, HI
Posted by: 
denben
N 21° 16.972 W 157° 50.208
4Q E 620666 N 2353898
Bronze statues honoring Puanani Kanemura Van Dorpe, a master tapa maker, were erected on the grounds of the Hilton Hawaiian Village in the Waikiki District of Honolulu, Oahu.
Waymark Code: WMRJH6
Location: Hawaii, United States
Date Posted: 06/28/2016
Views: 4
Abstract of the article titled "Sculpture Celebrates Master Kapa Maker" written on November 13, 2006:
"It was an afternoon of kanikapila and aloha yesterday at the Hilton Hawaiian Village when master kapa maker Puanani Kanemura Van Dorpe was honored at the unveiling of "The Tapa Makers," a sculpture commissioned by Hilton Hawaii from the artist KaMille.
The dramatic oversized work represents Van Dorpe pounding kapa while watched over by the Lauhuki a me La'ahana, the patron goddesses of kapa makers.
Van Dorpe is known for having engaged in a 30-plus year study of kapa-making, studying all the available sources on Hawaiian bark cloth manufacturing and putting them to the practical test until she was able to reproduce the particularly silky and fine cloth that characterized Hawaii." (
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The sign reads:
"The Legend of Tapa Making / Sculpted by KaMille / In the ancient time, a Hawaiian man named Maikoha instructed his two daughters, Lauhuki and Laahana, that upon his death, they should bury his body next to a stream. He told them to watch for a sapling tree to grow out of the grave. They were told to tend the tree and groom the branches. When the sapling attained the heigh of a Warrior Chief, the bark was to be stripped, scraped clean and soaked in stream water. It was then to be beaten, bleached in the sun, dyed, decorated and given a finish that would keep the colors bright. The cloth that resulted from this process would, he promised, make even the highest Alii Chief feel great pride. / Lauhuki and Laahana followed all of their Father's instructions. They divided the tasks and as they perfected the process, Lauhuki became the Loea (master) of the secrets of fermentation, felting, beating and embossing. Laahana became the Loea of dyes, inks, design and printing. / Our generations, Hawaiian women who became practitioners of this art form venerated the sisters for the gift of Tapa to the Hawaiian people. The sisters were deified and are recognized to this day as the Aumakua (spirits) of this ancient Hawaiian art. / It is said that women who seek their direction from the sisters through meditation, prayer or dreams will be guided to success in Tapa making. / Puanani Van Dorpe has rediscovered many of the ancient techniques of Hawaiian Tapa making and has been designated a "Living Hawaiian Treasure". She credits her Hawaiian Aumakua, the sisters Lauhuki and Laahana as the source of her success. / Puanani told this ancient legend to the sculptor KaMille, and it became the inspiration for the statues."