It is heartening to see a culture succeed in bringing an old tradition back to life: In Hawaii, Weaving New Life Into a Nearly Vanished Art Form The age-old practice of turning tree leaves into mats has been revived on the islands. "It teaches …
The age-old practice of turning tree leaves into mats has been revived on the islands. "It teaches you how to weave relationships, past and present," one master artisan says.
Just past daybreak, before they began to weave, Emma Broderick and her mother, Maile Meyer, gathered beneath a canopy of sinuous leaves to greet the pūhala tree, a touchstone of Hawaiian culture that for generations has provided the raw materials for weaving moena, the traditional floor mats that were once ubiquitous in Hawaiian homes.
Broderick introduced herself to the tree, with its lattice of stilt-like roots, addressing it as she might a loved one. "Of course, flattery never hurts," she said. She had a pink plumeria blossom with an intoxicating aroma tucked behind her ear.
"You want to come with me?" she asked the tree, seductively. "Would you like to live in a house and be in a mat?"
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