Moena Pāwehe
Makaloa mat from the island of Ni'ihau
Beyond the beautiful shell lei that the island is renowned for, Niʻihau is also famous for the intricately woven mats made of the makaloa plant, called moena pāwehe. The makaloa sedge once grew abundantly on the island of Niʻihau in the wetland areas that dotted its coastline. However, after the island was purchased, most of its land became pastureland and many of these habitats deteriorated.
Throughout the rest of Hawai'i, the textile of choice for plaiting was the dried leaves of the hala tree. The arid climate on Ni'ihau, however, was not suited for the growth of the hala tree, and the makaloa plant was used instead. When constructing mats with lauhala, the weaving strips are usually an inch wide, but when using makaloa, the weaving strips can be as thin as an eighth of an inch.
The delicate size of the weaving strip lent itself well to the incorporation of intricate designs into the mats. Because of the time and skill required to produce these moena pāwehe, they were highly prized and treasured in Hawaiʻi. The designs and motifs that were weaved into the mats were similar to those designs carved into the ipu, or gourd. These geometric patterns were known as pāwehe, for which these beautiful mats are named. In mele of old Hawaiʻi, moena pāwahe were used as a symbol to represent someone that was highly esteemed and very loved.