Maikoha by Heidi Buscher

Acrylic and gold leaf on canvas
36” h x 24” w

"An old legend tells of Maikoha, a farmer who lived in Nu‘uanu Valley. At that time, people of old did not have kapa to clothe themselves; they bore the driving rains of Nu‘uanu without the benefit of kapa as protection. Upon his death bed, Maikoha grew weary of the cold. To his daughters he foretold a plant that would grow from his grave. He instructed them to use this plant to make kapa from its inner bark. As prophesied, the wauke plant grew from his burial place. Maikoha’s daughters followed his guidance and learned the ways of kapa-making. From this, the wauke plant spread throughout the islands and the methods to make its bark into the finest kapa were learned. So renowned was his gift of wauke that Maikoha became known as the chief ‘aumakua of the kapa makers: Maikoha, the Kapa-Maker’s God." - Heidi Buscher