Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 28, Number 3, 1 March 2011 — WEAVING A WAY OF LIFE FOR FERGERSTROM [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

WEAVING A WAY OF LIFE FOR

FERGERSTROM

Josephine Kaukali Fergerstrom learned how to press her woven goods with a charcoal iron. - Photo: LisaAsato

Josephine Kaukali Fergerstrom of Kailua-Kona learned to weave lauhala by heeding her mother's advice. "Sit. Watch. Listen," her mother, Elizabeth, would say. By the time she was 10 years old, Fergerstrom started paying attention. One day, prompted by her hānai grandmother in Hilo to give weaving a try, the young Fergerstrom found she had "good hands." "I just knew what I was doing," recalls Fergerstrom, whose favorite item to weave is pāpale, or hats. Today, with thousands of pāpale carefully woven by her hands, Fergerstrom has been recognized for helping to preserve the Hawaiian weaving tradition through practice and teaching. She was named

a Living Treasure of Hawai'i along with Claire Hughes, Masaru Oshiro, Dr. Jack Scaff Jr. and Dr. Livingston Wong. At the awards luneheon, Fergerstrom, 84, was described as a generous person who gifted many of her hats to others. True to form, after the formal program ended, she was seen removing the lauhala hat she was wearing and giving it as a gift to Hughes, gently placing it on her head. The two shared some words and a good laugh. Fergerstrom had earlier told the crowd of her family. "I remember my grandmother telling me: 'Mo'opuna, learn to weave the pāpale. Someday this will be your mea ola.' I think she meant that it would take care of me, and she was right because here I am." — LisaAsato