Each winter, storm waves crash onto the bank of Hawaii's "Taboo Island," Niihau. Tremendous amounts of vacant, scaled down ocean snail shells are heaved shoreward by the waves and appear on specific shorelines. Niihau—covering only 70 square miles [180 km2]—is the littlest of the seven occupied Hawaiian Islands. How fitting, at that point, that this volcanic island ought to be home to a portion of the world's most minor treasures—the choice shells of Niihau.
In contrast to Niihau's nearest neighbour island, Kauai, 17 miles [27 km] toward the upper east, Niihau is generally low-lying and bone-dry. In any case, for what reason is it called the Forbidden Island? Niihau is exclusive and shut to excluded guests. The independent occupants of the island have no focal power plant, no running water, no stores, and no mail station. With an end goal to protect their old culture, the 230 or so local Hawaiians who live there chat in the Hawaiian language. When they are not tending sheep and steers, most are engaged with tapping their "gold mine" of modest shells. *
During the warm Hawaiian winter months, families walk or bicycle down dusty streets to the immaculate shorelines and rough bays, where they spend long days gathering shells. When the shells are accumulated, they are spread out in the shade to dry. Afterward, they will be arranged, evaluated, and hung into fragile leis, or pieces of jewelry. On increasingly verdant islands, most leis are made of blooms. On Niihau, shells fill in as the "blossoms."
“Jewels” From the Sea
Shells have long been used as jewelry in Hawaii. In the late 18th century, seafaring explorers—including Captain James Cook—encountered shell ornaments here and wrote about them in their journals. They also brought back samples, some of which may have come from Niihau. As time went by, Niihau’s beguiling leis began to appear around the necks of Hawaii’s notable women, including dancers and even royalty. In the 20th century, thanks to curio shops, tourism, and soldiers who passed through Hawaii during World War II, these special “jewels” found a niche in a wider market. Today the lovely necklaces that once graced Hawaii’s nobility are worn by admirers in lands near and far.
The shells most often used in making Niihau leis are called momi, laiki, and kahelelani in Hawaiian. Variations in colour and pattern present an enjoyable challenge for the leimaker—usually female—who meticulously threads the shells into a work of art. Some 20 different varieties of pearly, oval-shaped momi are used, ranging from brilliant white to dark brown. When strung in the highly prized Lei Pikake style, the momi’s oillike sheen and small size—only 3/8 of an inch [10 mm] in length—produce leis that look much like strands of fragrant white jasmine, or pikake.
Multiple strands of glossy ricelike laiki often adorn brides in Hawaii. These lustrous shells vary in hue from pure white and ivory to yellowish beige, with some having brown striations. Kahelelani shells, perhaps named after an ancient Hawaiian chief, measure a mere 3/16 of an inch [5 mm] in length. These delicate, turban-shaped shells are the most difficult to string, and leis made from them are the most costly. They range in colour from deep burgundy to the rarest colour, hot pink, which fetches a price three times that of other colours.
Making a Niihau-Shell Lei
Once the lei-maker decides on a pattern, she removes all the sand from the shells and pierces them with a fine-pointed awl. Although she works carefully and skillfully, 1 out of 3 shell breaks. Thus, many extra shells must be on hand just to complete one lei, a process that may take years! To string the lei, she uses a nylon thread stiffened with fast-drying cement or beeswax. Traditionally, a small button-shaped shell, such as a sundial or a puka, is attached to each end of the strand, and one or two cowrie shells are added where the ends of the lei are joined together.
There are nearly as many ways of stringing leis as there are variations in the shells themselves. Styles include classic single-strung white momi leis ranging from 60 to 75 inches [150 to 190 cm] in length, rope leis consisting of hundreds of minute kahelelani shells, and garlands woven in symmetrical geometric patterns—some with mixtures of shells and seeds. Lei making is painstaking, time-consuming, and eye-straining work. But the creative and patient Niihau artisans regularly create intricate leis of uncommon beauty. Each lei is unique, and it is easy to understand why they can rival precious gems and heirloom jewelry in value, some costing thousands of dollars.
Niihau may be relatively bare, sparsely populated, and tucked away in a remote corner of Hawaii. But thanks to its imaginative, artistic lei makers, people far beyond Niihau’s sunny shores can share the beauty of treasures of the “Forbidden Island.”
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