Keaukaha Aloha Shirt

This aloha shirt is by Sig Zane Designs, a company founded by Sig Zane and wife Nalani Kanaka'ole, in 1985 in Hilo on Hawai'i Island. The company seeks to share 'the values of the Hawaiian people through art, by honoring the plants of the the islands, and providing a unique experience that is enhanced by teaching the symbolism of the Hawaiian name of the plant, and giving insight to other aspects of our lifestyle that will build upon the experience: all to express gratitude, appreciation, and compassion for allowing a life in this island environment along with the hosts of this culture.'

The shirt was gifted to Te Papa by Helena Kapuni-Reynolds, who wore the shirt in 2009 when he graduated from Ke Ana Laʻahana Public Charter School, a Hawaiian culture-based charter school located in the Hawaiian homestead community of Keaukaha, in Hilo.

The shirt represents a colloboration between Sig Zane and the graduating class of 2009. Helena Kapuni-Reynolds explains:

The Collaboration

'For many years, Uncle Sig collaborated with the students of Ke Ana Laʻahana to produce an original Sig Zane design that represented the identity and character of the graduating class. Beyond choosing a plant, text, or motif for the design because of its aesthetic qualities, Uncle Sig and the staff at Ke Ana Laʻahana pushed the students to develop a solid case for why they wanted a particular design and the cultural meaning and significance of the design. After meeting with the students to discuss their inspiration and design, Uncle Sig took the students’ ideas back and developed the design further. He, along with his team, would then fabricate shirts and dresses for the entire graduating class to wear on their graduation day, free of charge.

'After the graduation, Uncle Sig fabricated more shirts and dresses with the graduating classes’ design to sell in his shop. Rather than use the same fabric and design color, he selected different combinations of color and fabric so that the graduating classes’ shirts remained uniquely theirs. Thus, there are only 16 Sig Zane Keaukaha shirts/dresses that are made with dark blue fabric and contain the light-blue design. A portion of the funds that were generated through the sale of Sig Zane apparel containing the design of the graduating class was set aside and donated to the next graduating class. The collaboration between Uncle Sig and Ke Ana Laʻahana’s graduating classes existed for 11 years, between 2004 - 2015.

The design

'The design of the shirt is called "Keaukaha", named after the place that Ke Ana Laʻahana is located and where the Hawaiian homestead that shares its name has been for over 90 years. Keaukaha is a coastal Hawaiian community, rich in freshwater springs and brackish water resources that have sustained generations of Kanaka ʻŌiwi (Native Hawaiians). For my class, we named the design Keaukaha because we were each connected to the community somehow, whether it was through our upbringing in the community, our genealogy to Keaukaha, or our education at the one of the schools that are located there. For example, my family has been in Keaukaha for the past four generations. Prior to attending Ke Ana Laʻahana, I was also student at Ke Kula Kaiapuni o Keaukaha, the Hawaiian language immersion program in Keaukaha that was located at Keaukaha Elementary School. Ke Kula Kaiapuni o Keaukaha is now known as Ka ʻUmeke Kāʻeo Public Charter School and is no longer located at Keaukaha Elementary School. Like my own connection to Keaukaha, my classmates also shared similar ties, some of us having been together since we were in Kindergarten.

'The concept for the design was solidified sometime in March or April of 2009, when our senior class spent some time at Puhi Bay to talk about our graduation and our commencement apparel. We were accompanied by our senior advisor, Mapuana Waipā, who was then the Accountant/ Na Papa Naue Loa Coordinator for the school. We met under a 20 x 40 tent on picnic tables that were cared for by members of the Keaukaha community, listening to the sound of the waves as they gently came ashore.

'While we were at this tent, we talked about our connection to Keaukaha, and more specifically to Puhi Bay. Puhi Bay is considered by many in the community to be a piko, a navel center where the various facets of birth, life, and death are celebrated. Beyond frequenting its ice-cold waters throughout our lifetimes, it is also a place where lūʻau and funerals are held. During our time there, some of my classmates talked about how their families would camp at Puhi Bay and enjoy each other's company. Talking about these connections to Puhi Bay and to the community made us realize that Keaukaha is the one thing that bound us together as a class.

The motifs

'The wave pattern on the shirt represents the currents that travel along the Keaukaha coastline. It is a metaphor that speaks to our education and sense of responsibility to the community. Currents connect places to one another, bringing with them an abundant source of nutrients that the marine life in Keaukaha rely on. Currents are also bound to specific places; although one might travel along a current to reach a new destination, they can always find their way back home on these same currents. Our class likened ourselves to the ocean currents, drawing from this body of water to think of our school and community as currents that have provided nourishment to our minds and bodies as we completed our education in Keaukaha. And since we were preparing to leave Ke Ana Laʻahana and Keaukaha to enter the "real world," we saw ourselves as the current, venturing out into the world and returning to Keaukaha with rich nutrients (knowledge and education) to feed the next generation of Keaukaha’s youth.

"The second motif on the shirt is an ʻohe kapala (bamboo stamp) print that was designed by my classmate, Rory Kahakuloa Akau. The motif is an abstraction of an ʻahi kananā, which is a young ʻahi fish. Metaphorically, ʻahi kananā refers to a fierce or courageous fighter. Our class chose the ʻahi kananā to represent us because we were known to be stubborn and rebellious. We were not afraid to speak our mind and if we did not agree with one of the teachers, our discontent would be made known. Furthermore, we chose the ʻahi because ʻahi fish swim in schools. Likewise, we saw ourselves as a school of individuals, working and supporting one another through life. This is my story of the Keaukaha Sig Zane aloha shirt.'

Co-collecting in Hawai'i

This shirt was donated to Te Papa during a co-collecting trip to Hawai'i in 2017 based around the aloha shirt, and associated designs. Te Papa worked with Noelle Kahanu, a cultural specialist from the University of Hawai‘i, to develop an aloha shirt collection that reflects the ways in which Hawaiian culture has been historically represented, and misrepresented, through the aloha shirt, and the ways in which contemporary native Hawaiian designers are utilising the aloha shirt to communicate indigenous cultural values.

Te Papa’s co-collecting programmes are guided by the principle of mana taonga – the sharing authority with stakeholder communities.