By: Faith Aloha Paredes Grade 4,

When the first humans came to Hawaii the island were covered with ‘Iliahi or Sandwood. The ‘Iliahi was sold to India and China. The ‘Iliahi flower was a great for making leis. Also there are sandalwood export to help with the ‘Iliahi. The bark of the ‘iliahi was sometimes used to scent kapa. It was also used to color dye kapa too. The leaves and bark of `iliahi were used to treat dandruff and hair nits by early Hawaiians. Hawaiian healers are also reported to have used wood shavings of `iliahi to treat venereal disease and skin sores

‘Iliahi are native shrubs or trees. Roots of the ‘iliahi eat other plants around it. The ‘Iliahi tree has hairy leaves with vein in the think pale green leaf.’Iliahi leaf can be a yellowish color. ‘Iliahi are not easy to grow, according to Heidi Bornhorst in "Growing Native Hawaiian Plants: A How-to Guide for the Gardener," because it is often difficult to find the seeds. It is also slow-growing, with wood that is considered very valuable. HLH does not plan to harvest the trees. Hawaiians used sandalwood mainly for minor medicinal treatments and to scent kapa, the bark cloth used for clothing and bedding Most of the sandalwood sold in China was white and was imported from India and the East Indies Facts

I think the ‘Iliahi is endangered because in old Hawaii ‘Iliahi was traded for lots of money for a long time. The ‘Iliahi got so rare because of the ‘Iliahi traded that it was kapu to pick the ‘Iliahi tree so it can grow back. I found out that my brother, dad, and my great great great great grandfather are named kekuaokalaau’ala’iliahi because the kings in Hawaii used to send people to go and cut down the ‘iliahi tree and carry it down on there backs to the king and my ohana think one of those men is part of my ohana. Kekuaokalaau’ala’iliahi means scents of the ‘iliahi because the ones who cut down the tree were called kekuaokalaau’ala’iliahi because they carry the tree on there backs, that their backs smell like the ‘iliahi. Also my mom and dad have a halua named kekuaokalaau’ala’iliahi because they want everyone to know that you should put God first and to love your ohana. I was so lucky to have an experience to help make dyes of the ‘Iliahi for the skirts for the girls in my mom and dads halau for the merrie monorch competition in Hilo, Hawaii. I could help the ‘Iliahi by to plant more ‘Iliahi trees so the population will grow more and more so the ‘Iliahi tree will be thriving for a long time. I could also help by putting up posters so that people will know that not to step or run over an ‘iliahi tree. I would love to educated people to know more about the ‘iliahi and how it is endanger and to help regrow it’s population so it will be still here for a long time.

Books: Beatrice H. Krauss, Plants in Hawaiian Culture, un pgs Noa Kekuewa lincoin,Native Hawaiian Plants, pgs Websites: ”’Iliahi a loe’’, “’Iliahi-the-forest-mediator”, “Hawaiihistory.org”, pageid=274 pageid=274