For Mary Amos it was love at first sight. The moment she saw an ipu (gourd) at a shop in Kailua-Kona in February 2006, she said, “;It reached out and wrapped around my heart and spirit. I was immediately enamored with it.”;

The ipu was one of 24 “;canoe plants”; that the first Polynesian voyagers brought to Hawaii to provide food, medicine, clothing and shelter. In ancient times the Hawaiians had some 40 uses for it, including ipu heke (hula drums); chamber pots; and containers for food, leis, religious objects, fishing gear and bait, and drinking and bath water. They cultivated gourds and used them more extensively than any other Pacific island group.

“;'Ipu' appears in 54 different listings in the Hawaiian dictionary,”; Amos said. “;That shows how common it once was in daily life in the islands.”;

As she began learning about the ipu, Amos was concerned to find there was little information readily available about it. “;Unlike other Hawaiian arts like the hula and kapa, which have been explored much more deeply, the ipu was largely ignored or simply not understood,”; she said.

At the time, a few artisans were buying ipu from California to make ipu heke and decorated ipu. Dismayed, Amos resolved to change that. “;Why should we buy ipu from somewhere else to use for our art and musical instruments?”; she said. “;Why can't we grow our own ipu?”;

To that end, Amos founded the Hawaii Gourd Society (HGS) in March 2006 and its nonprofit parent, Ipu Lani Inc., in January 2007. Their mission is to revitalize and perpetuate Hawaii's ipu culture by propagating the plant and educating the public about its history and wide variety of functional and artistic uses.

HGS' 300 members hail from all over the world, including China, Japan, France, Ohio, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Florida and all the inhabited islands in Hawaii. “;We're striving to bring back the joy of working with ipu and appreciation for the beauty of ipu art,”; Amos said. “;We're searching for appropriate growing areas and making every effort to begin cultivation there. Our goal is to maintain flourishing ipu gardens throughout the state to furnish ipu for Hawaiian cultural purposes.”;

In June 2008, Amos started growing ipu on a 1 1/4 -acre farm in Honaunau. Last year, working alone, she harvested 120 ipu; this year, with the help of one employee, she hopes the crop will increase to at least 300.

“;If you could visit the farm, you'd understand what the ipu brings out in people,”; Amos said. “;It's the most humble plant in the world, but it's so visceral; it reaches out and says, 'Put your arms around me.' It wants to be held. The ipu is compelling. It has an amazing personality.”;

The annual Ipu Cultural Festival, which Amos launched in 2007, was a natural outgrowth of her passion for the ipu. This year's celebration will feature ipu decorating and instrument-making classes; demonstrations of basket weaving on ipu and koko (net) weaving for carrying ipu; and sales of ipu art, seeds, plants and dried and green gourds.

Fishnet makers; koa artisans; olona, lau hala and coconut weavers; and other Hawaiian cultural practitioners also will be demonstrating and selling their work. In addition, attendees will enjoy storytelling, food and craft booths, a silent auction, prize giveaways, nonstop entertainment and books on ipu and Hawaiian arts.

Amos will be teaching four classes during the festival. Two will focus on ipu heke, and two on the unique Niihau pawehe method of decoration, which involves carving a design into green ipu and dyeing them (the color will be light where the skin is removed and dark where the skin remains). These beautiful ipu were coveted by the alii (royalty) and served as valuable items for trade.

The Niihau artists did not share their knowledge of the intricate process. Consequently, it was lost in the late 1800s as practitioners died, taking their secrets with them, and Westerners' metal and ceramic crockery replaced ipu.

Fast-forward a century. In 1989, Bruce Kaimiloa Chrisman, a Big Island doctor, studied museum pieces and old photos of traditional ipu vessels. Through trial and error, he re-created the Niihau pawehe technique, which other artists, including Amos, subsequently learned and perfected.

“;The ipu is a very inspiring canvas,”; Amos said. “;Designs are all around us—in flowers, leaves, geometric shapes and more. Each ipu is different; it tells me what design to create.”;

She hopes the Ipu Cultural Festival will ignite more interest in the ipu. Last year's event drew 1,200 people. This year she hopes 2,000 will come.

“;Everyone needs to learn more about the ipu,”; Amos said. “;It's important for them to realize if they need a bowl, they can grow it. I hope through the efforts of Ipu Lani and the Hawaii Gourd Society, more people will acknowledge the importance of the ipu. It's a simple plant yet at the same time so profound. We must never again overlook the ipu, a true Hawaiian cultural treasure.”;

Cheryl Chee Tsutsumi is a Honolulu-based freelance writer whose travel features for the Star-Bulletin have won multiple Society of American Travel Writers awards.