Nā LeiMakamae (The Treasured Lei)
At her weekly classes, Maxeen Lauahi Shea shares more than just the art of lei-making.
TEXT BY EUNICA ESCALANTE
IMAGES BY CHRIS ROHRER
TRANSLATION BY ERI TOYAMA
One Friday morning in Waikīkī, Maxeen Lauahi Shea—affectionately known as Aunty Macky—gathers a group of eager haumāna (students) in a quiet second-floor setting of Royal Hawaiian Center. For nine years, she’s led this complimentary lei-making class, one of the center’s most popular cultural offerings, with all 24 seats quickly claimed each week. Today is no different. The two long tables are filled with a mix of first-timers, from Texas to Japan.
Auntie Macky begins the class with a brief history of Helumoa, the land beneath where the center now stands, once entrusted to Princess Bernice Pauahi, great-granddaughter of Kamehameha I, and later gifted by her to Kamehameha Schools. At 81, Auntie Macky is soft-spoken but no less commanding. She continues with a primer on essential terms in ‘ōlelo Hawai‘i (Hawaiian language). Pua, she says, means flower. She enunciates the word, then has the class repeat it, guiding them through its sound and meaning.
As the group learns more words, like u‘i (beautiful) and nani (pretty), Auntie Macky passes out woven baskets brimming with orchids, tuberose, and lantern ‘ilima. Some students lift the blooms for a fragrant inhale before arranging them into patterns. Auntie Macky demonstrates the kui method: “You are sewing the flowers,” she says, gently guiding the needle through each flower’s piko (center). Soon, the room settles into a quiet rhythm—just birdsong and mele (music) drifting above as needles thread through petals in meditative silence.
Auntie Macky, too, picks up her needle. Her movements are guided by instinct, muscle memories honed over the decades. She first began making lei at six years old, using flowers that she and her mother foraged around Pearl City. Yet, it wasn’t until she joined the Department of Parks and Recreation that her love for lei truly bloomed, thanks to her kumu (teacher) Marie McDonald, a Moloka‘i-born lei expert and celebrated author who had become the islands’ foremost scholar on the craft. “She was just wonderful,” Auntie Macky recalls. “I was so lucky to have learned under her then.” Auntie Macky would later chair the Lei Day festival at Kapi‘olani Park for 15 years, finding joy in honoring lei-making every May Day. After retiring, she continued volunteering at local institutions like the Bishop Museum and the Hawaiian Civic Club. Then, in 2016, she was invited to become a kumu for the center, where she has introduced the craft to hundreds of attendees. “I enjoy lei-making,” she says. “To me, this isn’t work.”
As the allotted hour comes to an end, Auntie Macky offers each student a pua kenikeni flower as a parting gift, the fragrant five-petal blooms freshly picked from her backyard trees. Many approach her with an earnest thank you; some shyly ask for a photograph. With their handmade lei hung proudly around their necks, the class leaves with more than just a new skill. They walk away with a piece of Hawaiian culture—the history, language, and craft—that Auntie Macky has so generously imparted.
