The History of Kahelelani Shell Leis

The Hawaiian Islands have a rich and valuable indigenous culture that survives today as seen in the hula, surfing, chanting, and lei making. As with other ancient peoples Hawaiians adorned themselves with items they found in nature. Their baubles were constructed of shells, seeds, coral, feathers, teeth, hair, bark, bone and whale ivory. Hawaiians created exquisite shell jewelry using Kahelelani shells. These jewels from the sea are still collected and strung in the same manner as the ancients employed. The shells, commonly referred to as Niihau shells after the forbidden island of Niihau, are technically known as leptothyra verruca, a member of the family turbinidae. The true name of this precious gem of the ocean is the Kahelelani shell, named after an ancient chief of Niihau.

Kahelelani. translated is "pathway to heaven". Although these shells are found on four of the Hawaiian Islands: Niihau, Kauai, Molokai and Lanai, it was the artisans from Niihau who first introduced these shells to the world.

The Kahelelani shell is the most sought after of the rare Niihau and Kauaian shells. It is the smallest and therefore the most diffucult to collect and sew. The Kahelelani is also the most colorful shell used in Niihau and Kauaian shell leis. Kahelelani shell leis have a rich history dating back hundreds of years. Members of Captain Cook's expedition recorded in detail their observations of the lives and customs of the people and collected examples of their traditional culture, which included a string of tiny red Kahelelani shells.

Other explorers and adventurers that followed his expedition noted the shell jewelry in their accounts. In 1873, Isabella Bird wrote in her book Six Months in the Sandwich Islands, "Niihau is famous…for the necklaces of shells six yards long as well as for the extreme beauty and variety of the shells which are found there." When Queen Emma and Kamehameha were received by Brittanic majesty, her necklaces of Kahelelani shells created quite a sensation. More than any other member of Hawaiian royalty, Queen Emma was and avid collector and patron of the traditional arts. She took a particular interest in the shell jewelry of Niihau, known as lei pupu 'o Niihau. By the 1900's Niihau and it's inhabitants were synonymous with the manufacture of shell leis. Although Niihau has been privately owned for almost 100 years, the change of ownership has done nothing to discourage the tradition of making lei pupu 'o Niihau. The art has even traveled to the neighboring Garden Island of Kauai, where Kahelelani shells are found and sewn into jewelry much as they were in days of old.

Today, as in the past the knowledge and skills required to make these leis is very rare. Through to the present, the Kahelelani shell lei is perceived with the value and lure of a precious stone. In history only the highest members of Hawaiian society such as the Ali'i and kahuna could wear Kahelelani shells. In some pacific island societies shells indicated the wearer's position in a complex social hierarchy. Shells were insignias of power and often traded as commodities. In Hawaii shells are said to have mana, a potent spiritual power. Kahelelani shell jewelry represents the one of last genuine Hawaiian art forms available.