Kaanapali Hyatt to sponsor canoe festival
Kaanapali Hyatt to sponsor canoe festival
- 2004-04-21 - Pacific Business News (Honolulu)
Hyatt Regency Maui Resort & Spa will sponsor the International Festival of Canoes, a two-week festival that brings together master carvers from around the Pacific from May 15 through May 30, the Kaanapali Coast hotel said Tuesday.
"This festival not only celebrates Polynesia's rich history and diversity, but also symbolizes everything that makes Hawaii such an attractive destination for visitors," Hyatt Regency Maui GM Barry Lewin said.
The International Festival of Canoes is coordinated by Lahaina Town Action Committee, a non-profit organization with a 15-year track record of creating and producing community events which are attended by visitors and local residents. Currently, Lahaina Town Action Committee coordinates and produces 10 annual events a year and manages the Lahaina Visitor Center.
The carvers will showcase their craftsmanship by creating canoes from tree logs. This year the resort will sponsor the Ainu carvers, the first team from Japan to ever participate in the festival.
For centuries, the Ainu, an indigenous group of people from a remote island in northern Japan, have crafted their canoes for fishing and trading in the Eastern and Northern Pacific. The Ainu's traditional dugout canoes, called itaomacip, were 50 feet long and used an overlapping plank design to broaden the canoe's width. Not only were the canoes essential for the livelihood of the Ainu, but they also played an important cultural role.
Customary dress and ceremonies still accompany the construction of a canoe today. Before beginning to carve, the craftsman dress in traditional multicolor robes and kneel on a mat in front of the log. Using prayer sticks, burning willow shavings and drinking sake (a Japanese fermented rice beverage), the carvers give thanks to the gods for the future canoe.
The International Festival of Canoes, one of Maui's signature cultural heritage events, honors the voyaging canoes that united all of Polynesia. Master carvers from Marshall Islands, Tonga, Cook Islands, New Zealand, Hawaii and, for the first-time, Japan converge on Maui for the festival. Using both ancient and modern tools, each group will construct a canoe from an Albizzia log, a tree grown on Kauai, that reflects the style of their native islands.
The carving begins at Kamehameha Iki Park with an opening 'awa ceremony, a traditional practice throughout Polynesia. Participants will drink a mixture made from 'awa, a sparingly branched shrub that is part of the pepper family and used for medicinal purposes, as thanks to the gods and to open communication with others and nature. Carving will continue through May 30 at Lahaina's Banyan Tree Park. Throughout the festival, visitors and residents can watch the master canoe carvers transform logs into sturdy sailing vessels. Festivities also include Hawaiian drum making and house thatching, surfboard shaping, and other cultural demonstrations.
- 2004-04-21 - Pacific Business News (Honolulu)
Hyatt Regency Maui Resort & Spa will sponsor the International Festival of Canoes, a two-week festival that brings together master carvers from around the Pacific from May 15 through May 30, the Kaanapali Coast hotel said Tuesday.
"This festival not only celebrates Polynesia's rich history and diversity, but also symbolizes everything that makes Hawaii such an attractive destination for visitors," Hyatt Regency Maui GM Barry Lewin said.
The International Festival of Canoes is coordinated by Lahaina Town Action Committee, a non-profit organization with a 15-year track record of creating and producing community events which are attended by visitors and local residents. Currently, Lahaina Town Action Committee coordinates and produces 10 annual events a year and manages the Lahaina Visitor Center.
The carvers will showcase their craftsmanship by creating canoes from tree logs. This year the resort will sponsor the Ainu carvers, the first team from Japan to ever participate in the festival.
For centuries, the Ainu, an indigenous group of people from a remote island in northern Japan, have crafted their canoes for fishing and trading in the Eastern and Northern Pacific. The Ainu's traditional dugout canoes, called itaomacip, were 50 feet long and used an overlapping plank design to broaden the canoe's width. Not only were the canoes essential for the livelihood of the Ainu, but they also played an important cultural role.
Customary dress and ceremonies still accompany the construction of a canoe today. Before beginning to carve, the craftsman dress in traditional multicolor robes and kneel on a mat in front of the log. Using prayer sticks, burning willow shavings and drinking sake (a Japanese fermented rice beverage), the carvers give thanks to the gods for the future canoe.
The International Festival of Canoes, one of Maui's signature cultural heritage events, honors the voyaging canoes that united all of Polynesia. Master carvers from Marshall Islands, Tonga, Cook Islands, New Zealand, Hawaii and, for the first-time, Japan converge on Maui for the festival. Using both ancient and modern tools, each group will construct a canoe from an Albizzia log, a tree grown on Kauai, that reflects the style of their native islands.
The carving begins at Kamehameha Iki Park with an opening 'awa ceremony, a traditional practice throughout Polynesia. Participants will drink a mixture made from 'awa, a sparingly branched shrub that is part of the pepper family and used for medicinal purposes, as thanks to the gods and to open communication with others and nature. Carving will continue through May 30 at Lahaina's Banyan Tree Park. Throughout the festival, visitors and residents can watch the master canoe carvers transform logs into sturdy sailing vessels. Festivities also include Hawaiian drum making and house thatching, surfboard shaping, and other cultural demonstrations.
posted by DP at 3:44 PM
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