Hawaiian Ni’ihau Gourds
Artist, Mike Harburg is working hard to bring back the art of dying and carving Hawaiian Ni’ihau gourds. Learn more about the process and the beautiful results.
What can you do with a green gourd and some strong coffee?
There are gourd decorating techniques that are as ancient as the gourds themselves. The Polynesians used bark dye or later they began using coffee because that too was now part of their culture. There are a few places in Hawaii where you can buy them, thanks to Mike’s work. Let’s learn how to do the process and see how a gourd artist can keep a gourd tradition alive. Maybe I can inspire you to try the technique of the Hawaiian Ni’ihau gourds.
If you want to read more about Hawaii gourd art, I offer this great article in a local Hawaiian magazine , Keola, The Life
The technique is called The Ni'ihau Method."
And below is the process described by two Polynesian artists.
Hawaiian Ni’ihau gourds take a long process to complete. You begin with picking a green gourd off the vine when the vine and leaves are brown and dried. The gourd is then transformed by scraping off parts of the skin and leaving other parts of the skin on.
The part that was carved away becomes the lighter color on the finished gourd. The part where Where the skin was left on the gourd surface becomes the dark brown color of dye that is poured and kept inside the gourd for at least 3 weeks. The dye goes through the gourd to the skin through osmosis. Traditionally, they used Hawaiian Sandalwood bark (iliahi bark) dye. Many artists today like using very strong coffee or gourd dye.
Keep the vessel filled. This means topping it off every other day. It’s a stinky process, so do it away from the house. You can put a cork in the end or cover it so that it doesn’t attract flies and such. It is best to leave the dye in for up to 8 weeks. After three weeks it might look ready to you, but leave it longer to make sure the contrast is visible
Hawaiian Ni’ihau gourds will need cleaning and attention
After the time is up, The Hawaiian artist will dump out all the dye and take it to the sea and scrub it clean. In ancient times they used coconut husks to scrub the skin off the gourd. The stained gourd is filled with seawater and left for a week. Because of the evasive worms and other pests that have come from other parts of the world, gourds in Hawaii are now prone to be eaten by certain pests unless they are cured correctly. The success rate of a gourd surviving the process is slim at best.
The old method is to soak in salt water for one week keeping it topped off. Another modern method for cleaning the inside is to use boric acid powder mixed in with water filling the gourd and leaving it there for 24 hours. Then the gourd needs to be cleaned out and allowed another week or two to completely dry out. This whole process takes several months. It is not instant gratification, this process.
Mike says, “So these Hawaiian Ni’ihau gourds cost a lot of money. I am committed to bringing back this endemic process. That means I will be looking for opportunities to teach this method to all who are willing to rekindle the old cultural methods that our forefathers handed down.
This Ni’ihau Method was only done in Hawaii so it is something to learn and pass down to our Keiki to keep it alive and well.”
Here are some extra tips to help you with the process of creating yourn own Hawaiian Ni’ihau gourd.
Dye Inside For 8 Weeks“After the carving is completed, let the gourd sit for a few days without dye in it. Then make some strong Kona coffee or I make my dye from Hawaiian Sandalwood Bark when I can get my hands on a good supply of bark. I soak the bark in a 5-gallon bucket of water and when my gourd is ready, in goes the dye.” |
Finished Gourds
“After 8 weeks, the skin has molded and the dye has moved out to the outside of the shell to give the gourd this beautiful color. This gourd is still soaking wet inside and will take about 2 weeks or so to dry out. There are seeds and goop inside as well that will be removed when dried. Then I soak the whole gourd in seawater for a week to cure it so the pests won’t eat it. Once it is completely dry inside and out, I rub the gourd with kukui nut oil.”
If you would like to see more images, visited this Pinterest board below to see the Private collection of Leslie Walberg provenance Estate of Morris Liedecker.
Ipu Pawehe, Decorated Gourd containers Hawaiian Islands .
The Lost Art of Ipu Pawehe: Tattooed Gourds of Hawaii
Nothing better than hearing the artist speak for himself. So enjoy the two videos below.
Have you tried this technique ? Perhaps you have purchased one and would share it with us on our Facebook group page. What impressed you about this artist?
Share your thoughts here in the comment box or share them with all the gourd artists on our Facebook Group Page.
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