Niihau Shell Lei

An amazing thing happened to me today. First let me give you some history that will make sense of this story

There are many beautiful crafts specific to Hawaii. I have admired many, but one is more wondrous then them all,the Niihau Shell Lei.

Niihau is a tiny Hawaiian Island about 17 miles off the coast of Kauai (nicknamed "The Forbidden Island"). It is the smallest of the inhabited Hawaiian Islands and is home to a mere 226 residents. No outsiders are permitted to visit. The people of Niihau (pronounced "Nee-ee-how") have long been renowned for their lovely leis of seashells. The shell most treasured by Niihau's lei makers is a minute turban shell known as Kahelelani only found on the shores of Niihau and rarely on Kauai. It is a mere two-tenths of an inch long and even smaller in diameter. The colors range from brown to reddish-tan and occasionally pink. The reason that the kahelalani shell is so highly prized lies in the fact that the ladies of Niihau insist on perfection when making their shell leis. Each day one may collect a thimble-full of kahelelani shells, perhaps two dozen or so shells. These must be cleaned and then bored or drilled to make a hole for the thread. The extreme fragility of these shells results in large numbers being broken as they are prepared for stringing. So great is this loss that three or four usable shells are considered a very good return on the day's work. Collecting is a slow process, unbearably slow sometimes. The usable shells produced by a day's searching can often be counted on the fingers of one hand. This is the only shell that is insurable and can be considered a gem. Ornate shell leis are worth thousands of dollars. There are very few woman on the island that know the art of stringing the shells and this is passed down through the generations of women.

I have been admiring and shopping longingly for a strand of Niihau shells ever since I heard about them. Niihau and it's people are such a mystery in itself that I have really gotten very curious about it all.

Today I got a call from my friend (yes, my one friend) Jesica who invited us to meet her at the beach with some other friends. We parked ourselves at a picnic table under a canopy. At the table next to us I noticed some Hawaiian people sitting around a table working on something. On closer examination I saw that they were making shell leis. I recognized the tiny Kahelelani shell right away and wandered over to observe. I could tell the people were from Niihau - you can just tell. I started talking to the woman stringing the shells. I recognized her from some pictures I had seen in a book about Niihau shell leis. The people were very nice and invited us to stay and watch. They speak mostly their own dialect similar to Hawaiian so a young man with them did some translating for us. I was complimenting her and commenting on the beauty of her art. We went to swim and play a little and came back an hour later or so. She tapped me on the shoulder and when I turned around she took my hand, placed the shell lei in it, closed my hand and said "For you and your daughter". I gasped, my eyes immediately swelled with tears. I said "I can't take this!" She said "Please". I hugged her and told her how grateful I was. I was completely overwhelmed with the spirit of giving these people have. They have very little and this is their only means of income on their small island. She could have sold the lei to a jewelry store for hundreds of dollars. But she gave it to a hauli girl - a white stranger on the beach.

I have heard about the open hearts of the Hawaiian people my whole life. But today I experienced it in it's fullest. As I wear the lei around my neck I will always be reminded of the giving spirit of Hawaii and try to live my own life with Aloha.