Fedora Hat Designs

Hoa

To tie, bind, secure, lash.

A friend, partner, or companion.

Hoa, amongst its many meanings, is a term used in my halau when binding hau around lauhala creating a handle on an 'ulī'ulī (gourd rattle - hula implement). This is one of the last steps used to bind everything together securing and creating the final product. The word hoa also means a friend, companion, or partner. Throughout this design process, I found myself deeply appreciating the connections, the ties, and the binding of thoughts, and goals that I can exchange and converse about with my friends and family. I am thankful for the relationships we have all built by lashing such thoughts and actions together. 

Kumulipo

Origin, genisis, source of life.

From the depths of the darkness to the first ray of light, the Kumulipo is our creation story orating the birth of our land, our resources, and our initial being. It's humbling to reflect upon a time when the heat stirred the earth, from the first coral polyp to a time where only Akua could enter this realm, and on to the time when the first Kanaka was born. The Kumulipo is our foundation intertwined in our DNA, all 16 verses of it. Our genealogy is a continuation of that story for which we are still telling today guided by the mana reverberated through every gate of transmission.

Lono

O ke au o Makali’i ka po. 

The time of the rise of the Pleiades. 

This is the indication of a new year. The sun sets in the west and Makali’i rises on the horizon in the east. It is the beginning of the Makahiki Season honoring our god of peace and fertility, Lono. Bringing forth a shift in weather and a time to tend to relationships and each other while allowing our ‘aina to breathe. This is a time to enjoy each other, the vitality in the rains, the stories carried by the wind and the significance in replenishing all that feeds us. 

This design is dedicated to Lono. He is present in the misty lights that shine beneath the clouds while they soar through the sky and the voice we hear in the storms. He is the rain that is sent to the ground and the vitality sent to feed all of that which lays below the horizon. During this time of the year he is present in all the shifts of weather. This simple design has been replicated into different forms of Lono just like all the different forms he shares with us.