Learn secrets of kukui dyeing techniques Aug. 4

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Residents and visitors are invited to join Bernice Akamine for an informative and entertaining day of waiho’olu’u, or natural kukui dye making, at Amy B.H. Greenwell Ethnobotanical Garden in Captain Cook on Saturday, Aug. 4, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Residents and visitors are invited to join Bernice Akamine for an informative and entertaining day of waiho‘olu‘u, or natural kukui dye making, at Amy B.H. Greenwell Ethnobotanical Garden in Captain Cook on Saturday, Aug. 4, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

The kukui tree is a symbol of enlightenment and still plays an important role in Hawaiian culture.

Workshop participants will learn about the different cultural uses of the kukui tree, and then create waiho‘olu‘u using the nut, the rind or outer husk of the nut, the tree bark and the roots. Fabric will be provided to create small color swatches of the dyes that are created, and kapa swatches are available for purchase in the gift shop.

Participants are asked to wear old clothes and come prepared to work and have a good time. Tuition for the workshop is: $45 (general); $30 (kamaaina); $25 (Bishop Museum or Amy Greenwell Garden members). Advanced registration is required at 323-3318 or agg@bishopmuseum.org.

Amy Greenwell Ethnobotanical Garden is located at 81-6160 Mamalahoa Highway near the 110-mile marker in Captain Cook. It is open for self-guided visitors Tuesday through Sunday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and hosts Guided Native Plant Walks daily at 1 p.m. The garden is closed Mondays and holidays. There is a $7 admission fee for adults and reduced fees for seniors, kamaaina, military and children. For more information, please call or visit www.bishopmuseum.org/greenwell.

Anyone who requires an auxiliary aid or service for effective communication or a modification of policies and procedures to participate in the Guided Native Plant Walks should contact Peter Van Dyke at the number above at least two weeks before the planned visit.

Amy B.H. Greenwell Ethnobotanical Garden is part of the Bishop Museum in Honolulu and is named for a Kona resident who did extensive research and writing about Hawaiian botany and ethnobotany as well as important fieldwork. She left the garden site to Bishop Museum in 1974.