Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 19, Number 5, 1 May 2002 — Ua ʻIke Anei ʻOe? [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Ua ʻIke Anei ʻOe?

(Did you Know?)

"When did May Day heeome Lei Day in Hawai'i?"

In 1928, Don Blanding, an American poet, dubbed May 1 "Lei Day" in Hawai'i - a celebration of island flora, music and culture. Pageants throughout the islands presented island princesses and Lei Day Queens festooned in flowers and eolors specially selected. For more than 70 years, this "modem" tradition has influenced song writing, hula costuming and overall design in Hawai'i. The lei and colors of eaeh island, as assigned in 1928, are: Hawai'i, red, 'ōhi'a lehua; Maui, pink, lokelani (Maui rose); O'ahu, yellow, 'ilima; Kaua'i, purple, mokihana; Moloka'i, green, kukui; Lāna'i, orange, kauna'oa; Ni'ihau, white, pūpū o Ni'ihau (Ni'ihau shells); and Kaho'olawe, gray, hinahina. ■

The crimson 'ōhi'a lehua blossom represents the island ot Hawai'i, though its association with that island reaches back to ancient lore relating to Pana'ewa torest, and several akua including Kū, Pele, Hi'iaka, Hōpoe and Laka.