Oronā

Kii: East Maui Watershed

Olona is said to be found only in Hawaii, but there was a plant termed orona in ancient Tahiti that is not known today. It is thought to be a variety of mamaki that looks similar to olona.

Handy and Handy (1972) reported that olona grows in "boggy interior valleys" and "upland areas", and Kamakau (1976) described olona habitat as rainy, marshy, mossy, in mountainous areas, often near banana trees. Although it is not common today, this rain forest shrub is still found in wild patches, on all the major Hawaiian islands. Stalks were encouraged to grow straight and tall and close to one another to reduce branching. Lateral branches were regularly removed from upright stems to reduce the number of branch holes in the fiber, which will make the fiber weak at these areas. In eighteen months, the plants were mature enough to harvest. They grew up to 10 feet tall, and the bark could be easily stripped at this young age.

Olona, Touchardia latifolia, is a wood shrub endemic to Hawaii. Though it is a member of the Urticaceae, stinging nettle family, olona is free of stinging hairs. The plant is characterized by its prominent stipules, which are two to three inches long. The leaves are large, 9 to 16 inches long and 5 to 9 inches wide, ovate in shape with serrated (fine-toothed) margins, three distinct veins, and green on both sides. Male flowers are borne in dense clusters, 1/2 to 1 inch in diameter and 3 to 5 inches long. Female flowers are borne on smaller heads in shorter clusters. The fruit is roundish and mulberry-like, and at maturity it is bright to dull orange and is fleshy.

Kii: British Museum

Fishing-line, hank of olona fibre bound up with a specimen of two-stranded cord of the same fibre.

Small processing shacks for olona preparation were normally built near running water, since water was used in the process of extracting the fibers from the mature olona stems. The bark was first carefully stripped and hung to drain in the shed. After draining, the strips were laid in the running water for a day or two. Next the strips were placed on a narrow board, which was about 12 to 14 feet long, fastened securely at the top of the board, and then scraped with a tool called the uhi, made from the backbone of a turtle or a segment of its shell. After drying and after the removal of the outside bark, the resulting product was a mass of fine white fibers, which were then dried in the sun. At the same time workers were separating the clean strong fibers into various widths, and bundling them into rolls for the return to the village. There they were bleached in the sunlight and later twisted by the village women into fine cordage of varying thicknesses.

Peter Young writes, in Images of Old Hawaii, that " [f] irst among the Hawaiians’ cordage resources, however, was an endemic forest plant, olonā. Its excellence made olonā cordage a highly valued item, not only among the Hawaiians themselves but also, later, among Western sailors, and its virtues enabled Hawaiians to create some of the finest pre-contact handcraft in the Pacific. (Abbott) “Olonā was a thing highly prized by one and all. It was very valuable and planters raised it extensively. … There were, however, few places where olonā would grow and hence, not all people cultivated.”

The ancient Hawaiians undoubtedly discovered the valuable fiber of this plant at a very early time. They were intimately familiar with the local flora and its economic utilization. The olonā is mentioned in many of the old songs and legends.

“It grew in rainy districts and in marsh lands and in those parts of the mountain which were saturated with moisture; it did not grow on bare mountain sides but on those ridges where bananas grew and water ran constantly and where there was plenty of moisture. It throve on the windward side of the islands and few places besides.” “When people in old days planted olonā they first looked for a good place in the mountains to plant, a valley where it was fertile and flat, perhaps below a cliff in the bed of a stream.”

“Here they cut down the pulu ferns, chopped down the trees and cleared out the weeds. The planting was done like the planting of the wauke from the young shoots or cuttings from the ground stem.”

“A field of olonā that grew uniformly with every stalk and every leaf alike was the planter’s delight, and if it grew on a level, two or three acres or more of it, his joy knew no bounds. It all grew up like the hairs on the head, with straight stalks and rounded leaves. In a year or more it was full-grown and the leaves began to turn yellow.” (Kamakau; Bishop Museum).

Special interest is attached to the olonā fiber as it is generally recognized to be the strongest and most durable fiber in the world. No other fiber is recorded to exceed it in these two important characteristics.

This fiber is the best of all fibers known at the present time. The three dominant features are (1) the great tensile strength (about three times the strength of commercial Manila – about eight times as strong as hemp;) (2) its great resistance to deterioration in salt water; and (3) its pliability, and thus its adaptability for spinning by hand. Among the Hawaiians it was put to a great variety of uses. All fishing lines and nets of the best quality were invariably made of olonā, because of its high resistance to the action of salt water. (MacCaughey, 1918) Fishing lines and nets made from this fiber by expert Hawaiians present an appearance of so uniform a caliber and twist that it would lead one to believe that the fiber had been made by the most intricate machinery. Olonā lines and nets which have been in more or less constant use for over a century are almost as good as new, and are handed down from generation to generation as precious objects. Most of the natives are very unwilling to part with any of their fishing gear that is made of olonā.

The very serviceable carrying-nets, koho, in which the wooden calabashes and other objects were borne, were commonly made of olonā fiber. Olonā was not used for making the bark-cloth or kapa itself, but threads and cords of olonā were used for sewing the kapa. A stout cord of olonā was usually attached to the wooden war-clubs and dagger-like swords, for suspending the weapon from the wrist. This prevented the loss of the weapon during the fray. For fastening the stone adz, ‘o‘o, to its wooden handle, olonā was always the preferred fiber.

Kii: Bishop Museum-  David Franzen photo

Three balls of olonā cordage; Hawai‘i. [Artifact no. 00772, Accession no. 1889.006, J.S. Emerson Collection; Artifact no. B.06853, Accession no. 1923.362, Kapi‘olani-Kalaniana‘ole Collection; Artifact no. B.06854, Accession no. 1923.362, Kapi‘olani-Kalaniana‘ole Collection, Bishop Museum]. Photo by David Franzen, June 13, 2011.

Collection: J.S. Emerson Collection, Kapi‘olani-Kalaniana‘ole CollecCall Number: Q 205658Artifact Number: 00772, B.06853, B.06854Accession Number: 1889.006, 1923.362, 1923.362

It was used for the very fine and pliable netting which served as a groundwork for the feathers, in the construction of the splendid garments and insignia of the ancient royalty and ali‘i. The brilliant scarlet and yellow feathers were skillfully woven by the women upon the imperishable framework of olonā. (MacCaughey, 1918)

“Olonā is so universally the basis of Hawaiian feather cloaks, that feathers mounted on any other substance would be at once classed as foreign to the group.” The fineness of the net varies as does the size of the thread used for cloaks.

In featherwork, feathers are mounted and tied with olonā cordage to nets made of well twisted, closely netted olonā. Feathers are inserted in rows and bound by two or three turns of the olonā threads. (Brigham)

 In this artical called "The Olona, Hawaii's Unexcelled Fiber-Plant" by Vaughan MacCaughey in Science, New Series, Vol. 48, No. 1236 (Sep. 6, 1918), pp. 236-238, he writes "The Hawaiian People formally made use of a considerable range of fiber plants. Some of these were brought by the natives from the South Pacific, others were discovered in the new island home. The paper mulberry, Broussonettia papyrifera, is an excellent ex-ample of a fiber-plant widespread in the Pacific region. From its copious bast was made the typical kapa or bark cloth of Polynesia. The olona (o-lo-na) Touchardia latifolia Gaud., on the other hand, is wholly confined to the Hawaiian Islands; the genus is monotypic and endemic.

The natural habitat of the olona is the lower and middle forest zone, lying on the mountains between elevations of 800-1,800 feet. It is strongly hygrophytic and shade-loving; it never occurs naturally in the open or in dry sections. The favorite habitats are deep, cool, gloomy ravines, or moist slopes that are well screened by forest cover. The olona belongs to that ecologic section of the Hawaiian flora that luxuriates in the dense moist shade of the montane forests. The zonal limitations of olona are clean-cut; it does not occur on the lowlands, nor at the higher levels. It inhabits all of the larger islands of the archipelago. Representative regions are the rainforests of Wai-ale-ale, Kauai, Waianae and Koolau Ranges, Oahu; East Molokai; West Maui and Hale-a-ka-la; and the extensive forests on the island of Hawaii. It occurs in little patches or thickets here and there in the forest but is nowhere abundant. It does not form continuous stands; reproduction is not vegetative but apparently always from seed. In any one spot the collector is not likely to find more than a few score individual plants. The Hawaiians formerly cultivated the olona. in a primitive manner. They did not prepare the land or plant seed, but merely searched out good patches of the wild plants. Such a patch was cleared of any obstructing vegetation, not disturbing, however, the large trees which shaded the plants. If the olona plants were too crowded, they were thinned out. The old plants were pruned to give a number of young, straight shoots. At irregular intervals, as convenience or necessity dictated, the grove was visited, and the crop harvested. This process consisted in cutting all the long, straight shoots that had reached a diameter of about one inch. The bark of such shoots was rich in bast fibers, and these were of maximum length. Six feet was an average length. The bark was carefully stripped from the wands, in one or more pieces, packed into rolls or bundles, and carried down to the settlements on the lowlands, where the final operations were performed. A suitable situation was found along a stream or irrigation ditch. The bundles of bark were opened and spread out in the shallow running water, where they were allowed to partially macerate. This required several days; then the long strips were removed from the water and the remaining pulpy matter was scraped from them while still wet. The scraping was performed on a long, narrow, hardwood board, specially devised for this purpose and known as "la-au keahi olona." The scraper was made of pearl shell (Margaritifera fim- briate) or turtle-shell plate (Chelone mydas) and was called "uhi keahi olona kau honu." The prepared fiber was carefully dried and rolled into cordage of various sizes. In ancient Hawaii the olona was venerated as a sort of deity or lesser god. Before spinning the fibers, the natives made libations, and offered sacrifices of hogs, fowls, etc.  

The following excerpt of an old chant-the mele of Kawelo-vividly describes the preparation of the olona fishnet:

I, as chief, willingly Cast my net of olona; 

The olona springs up, it grows, It branches and is cut down.

(The paddles of the chief beat the sea.)

Stripped off is the bark of the olona,

Peeled is the bark of the yellow moki.

 The fire exhales a sweet odor.

 The sacrifice is ready.

 The bark is peeled, the board is made ready,

 The olona is carded And laid on the board.

 White is the cord. The cord is twisted on the thigh,

 Finished is the net! Cast it into the sea,

 Into the Sea of Papa; let him fall,

 Let him fall, that I may strangle the neck.

 Of Uhumakaikii.

Uhumakaikii was a legendary sea-monster, who could raise great waves and capsize canoes. Formerly every chief had in the mountains one or more plantations of olona, which were tended by his dependents, and which supplied him with enough of this valuable product.

Taxes were not infrequently paid with olona, as the fiber was nowhere so abundant as to depreciate its exchange value. Among the Hawaiians it was put to a great variety of uses. All fishing lines and nets of the best quality were invariably made of olona, because of its high resistance to the action of salt water. Olona lines and nets which have been in constant use for over a century are almost as good as new and are handed down from generation to generation as precious objects. Most of the natives are very unwilling to part with any of their fishing gear that is made of olona. The very serviceable carrying-nets, ko1co, in which the wooden cala- bashes and other objects were borne, were com- monly made of olona fiber. Olona was not used for making the bark-cloth or kapa itself. but threads and cords of olona were used for sewing the kapa. A stout cord of olona was usually attached to the wooden war-clubs and dagger-like swords, for suspending the weapon from the wrist. This prevented the loss of the weapon during the fray. For fastening the stone adz, oo, to its wooden handle, olona was always the preferred fiber. It was used for the very fine and pliable netting which served as a groundwork for the feathers, in the construction of the splendid garments and insignia of the ancient royalty and alii. The brilliant scarlet and yellow feathers were skillfully woven by the women upon the imperishable framework of olona.