Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 30, Number 8, 1 August 2013 — Lei makers applied their skills in war effort [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Lei makers applied their skills in war effort

By Sarah Paeheeo Arare breed of artisans, lei makers possess nimble fingers, eagle-like focus and a knaek for color, symmetry and precision. Their talent is fostered through tradition and honed over years of repetition, whieh leads to an innate knowledge of Hawai'i's flora, fauna and natural features. As luek would have it, these attributes that are hallmark to the very best lei makers also proved essential when war eame to Hawai'i's shores. Soon after the U.S. entered World War II in 1941, tourism to the Islands ceased and the demand for lei dramatically plummeted. However, lei makers were not out of work for long. "Prior to the attacks (on Pearl Harbor), there really was no effort to camouflage mueh on the island, but in California, they had been using Hollywood folk and art people to eome up with plans to eamou-

flage military bases there, and so the same kind of thing happened here in Hawai'i using the talents of the lei makers," says Sarah Razee, a high school history teacher at Kamehameha Schools-Kapālama Campus. Razee - together with Ilima Peterson, a senior at the University of San Francisco and 2010 graduate of KS-Kapālama, and Maile Spenser, a senior at the Kapālama campus - will weave the history of these lei makers and their involvement with the war-fighting efforts in the seminar "Lei Sellers as WWII Camouflage Net Makers: Adapting Traditional Hawaiian Art Forms" during the seventh annual Distinctive Women in Hawaiian History Program. "These little-known stories of the women of Hawai'i are an important part of our legacy," says Distinctive Women in Hawaiian History founder and director Jamie Conway. "Rediscovering women's stories that have fallen by the wayside need to be shared for a fuller

appreciation of our history." She added: "The war years altered the way women saw themselves and the world in whieh they lived. It remains today a fertile era for the cultivation of stories about women's contributions to the war effort and their families." Razee, Peterson and Spenser have devoted mueh of their summer break to researching the topic of the lei makers and how these wāhine evolved into the premier eamouflage net-makers in the Pacific theater. What their efforts have uncovered includes how the lei makers called upon their knowledge of the Hawaiian environment when dying the materials to make the nets, whieh were used to camouflage military installations and equipment on the Islands. "It's also worth noting that onee they were done with the war, they had all this extra material, so a lot of these women turned to making furniture, whieh they sent off to different bases," Peterson says.

They also discovered that loeal female figures Mary Kawena Pukui, Juanita Vitousek and Juliette May Fraser were among the troops of net makers on O'ahu. "Those three women were quite involved in the process of these camouflage netting, and by using

their skill and their artistic eye, they were able to be very useful," Razee says, adding that Agnes Makaiwi, head of the first lei sellers' association, was a woman she enjoyed learning about during the research process. "We found that Mrs. Makaiwi was instrumental in connecting the lei makers to this war work," Razee says. "Her love and advocacy for lei and the sellers really comes through in our research." The presenters don't want to reveal too mueh prior to the program later this month, as there are still bits of information to be strung together. What they will share, however, is the lasting impact this project has had on them and the newfound respect they have for this group of Hawaiian women. "The lei sellers were more than just typical loeal workers - they were heroes to the war effort," says Spenser. "It's interesting that now we ean look back and appreciate that these women had such great knowledge

and knew the Islands so well that they were commissioned to do this work," Peterson adds. "They were really hard workers and approached their job with song and high spirits," agrees Razee. "It's just interesting to go back in time and witness that portion of these women's lives." ■ Sarah Paeheeo, an 0'ahu-based freelance writer, is aformer assistant regional editor at MidWeek

Distinctive Women in Hawaiian History Program WHERE: Hawai'i Convention Center, Theater 310 atthe Jean Charlot Courtyard WHEN: Aug. 25, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. FEE: free with advanced registration REGISTRATION/INFO: email info@distinctivewomenhawaii. org or visit www.distinctive womenhawaii.org T0PICS: Sarah Razee's presentation on lei-makers-turned-net-makers is among the many discussions addressingthe various roles of women in World War II in Hawai'i. 0thertopics include: • The irrepressible U.S. Women Air Force Service Pilots (WASP) • Dora Kim Moon and the Korean Women's Relief Society • Sophie Judd Cooke, who established Moloka'i Ranch as a recuperation site for injured and battle-fatigued Army and Navyfliers and submariners • Japanese American Women of the Hawai'i lnternment Experience • The ladies of hula hālau Hui Menehune • Military nurses who were among the first responders on Dec. 7, 1941 • Notable female jazz and blues vocalists who impacted the music scene during the war

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Capt. Trick, U.S. district engineer, inspects the work done on camouflage nets by Miss Blanchert Porter. - All photos: District Engineer Camouflage Unit near Ft. DeRussy. Jan. 29, 1942. Courtesy ofU.S. ArmyMuseum ofHawai'i

i As part of the war effort, lei makers ehani neled their skills into making camouflage nets. Above, women hoist a completed net rolled and ready for drying. At left, women dye strips of cloth in a vat before weaving them into nets.