[ipu beat]
The instrument that I'm holding is an ipu heke ʻole.
Each ipu takes about nine months to grow.
[ipu beat continues]
Ipu heke ʻole are important to the art and practice of hula
because it allows hula dancers to stay in sync
as they tell their story through the hula they are dancing.
Sometimes Iʻll make an ipu and
by the time it's done, I didn't even know how it got done.
I think that's why a lot of people do enjoy
working with ipu or working with gourds is because
you just take your time and you reveal the natural beauty.
Hula is a sound of these islands.
Thus, the heartbeat of the Hawaiian people.
Aloha. I'm Ranger Sean.
Aloha, I'm Kalim.
Join us as we make an ipu heke ʻole.