I have several spoons from Hawaii, but this is one was the first and also my favorite.
I got this hula girl spoon on a trip to Kauai with my parents when I was about 12 years old and my spoon collection was still in its infancy. It is so well-loved, the mother-of-pearl inlay has been glued back on multiple times.
The hula is a traditional dance that expresses the stories, genealogy, and history of the Hawaiian people. The first observance of the hula by foreigners was in January 1778, when Captain James Cook watched a performance on the island of Kauai. In 1830, Queen Regent Kaahumanu, at the urging of Protestant missionaries, banned public performances of the hula throughout the Hawaiian Islands. Hula was practiced in secret until the ban was lifted in 1883 by King David Kalakaua, who loved the hula and wanted it performed at his coronation.