LIHUE—Lei Hulu Practitioner Laura “Kawaillehua” Wolfgang shepherded several tablefuls of wahine, creating “half pua,” or half flowers, on Sunday at the Lihue Neighborhood Center.
Working with yellow and red feathers, the colors of Hawaiian alii, Wolfgang said the half pua needs to be completed by March 16 when another assembly will assemble them as whole pua before being attached to branches.
Wolfgang said the goal of the King Kamehameha Celebration Committee is to create a pair of kahili, each one measuring more than eight feet tall. The kahili will be used by the County of Kauai during protocol ceremonies and will be housed in the historic County Building, or the Mayor’s Office.
The county had two kahili decommissioned and given to the Kauai Museum.
“This is the first large-scale kahili project,” said Wolfgang, a lei hulu practitioner for the past seven years. “I know a lot about the pua and the branches. We just need to put it together in time for the King Kamehameha Day parade when the public will have its first viewing of the royal standards.”
The launch of the kahili construction serves as an announcement for the King Kamehameha Celebration Floral Parade, and Hoolaulea that will take place on June 14 starting from 9 a.m. The hoolaulea featuring many local craft vendors and food will take place on the lawn of the historic County Building from 10 a.m. and run until 2 p.m.
As the owner of Na Hulu Arts, Wolfgang actively teaches at the Kauai Museum and offers private lessons. She is also a Kauai Made program vendor and serves at many Kauai Made and Hawaiian cultural events, including participation at the Merrie Monarch Hula Festival in Hilo.
Wolfgang said besides creating new kahili, the project serves as a platform for creating documentation on creating large-scale kahili.
“While researching the project, there is very little available about how the kahili is made,” she said. “By documenting the different steps, there will be documentation available on how to create the kahili.”
According to the county’s Office of Economic Development, Wolfgang’s interest and love of feathers started 60 years ago during a school visit to the Bishop Museum in Honolulu.
Since that time, Wolfgang has visited the museum, with most annual visits back to Hawaii while she was living on the mainland, serving in the U.S. Navy as a Navy Nurse Practitioner.
Her fascination with feather art continued, and following her research discovered an online course on creating lei hulu, or feather lei. He kumu, Auntie Pattie Hannah-Gomez of Maui Feather Lei recognized her talents and pushed her skills and creativity. She was granted permission to teach and finished her uniki process in 2024.
“Although she has never constructed a large kahili, she is well-versed at making smaller kahili, and creating the ‘bundles’ and ‘branches’ that are used in the large kahili,” the King Kamehameha Celebration Committee said. “With her teaching skills, she will help to lead the creation of two beautiful large kahili for the county to display for many years to come.”
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Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer can be reached at 808-245-0453 or dfujimoto@thegardenisland.com.
