Dalani Tanahay

Dalani Tanahy is a native of San Diego California with roots in Maui and O’ahu.  Her maternal grandparents are Edward Bailey and Emily Kane of Wailuku, Maui.  Her paternal grandparents are Emily and Arthur Enos of La’ie, O’ahu.  She grew up spending her summers in La`ie and knew she would return to live in Hawai’i one day.  As a child, she enjoyed the slow tedious work involved in crocheting, knitting, embroidering, and quilting.  Dalani made her first i`e kuku and hohoa beaters over sixteen years ago through the help of Kawai Aona-Ueoka.  Her first experience teaching kapa started at the Cultural Learning Center at Ka’ala in Wai’anae.  She found the perfect marriage of art and education through creating and sharing the art of kapa and was inspired to start Kapa Hawaii.  Kapa Hawaii teaches people about the types of Polynesian bark cloth collectively known as ‘tapa’ with a special emphasis on the tapa or ‘kapa’ made in the Hawaiian Islands.