Sampler, 1841
Who made this sampler? Makaulia and Makalio, two girls on an 1841 student list at the Wailuku Female Seminary, a missionary school on the island of Maui, are possibilities. The sampler is signed just “Maka.” Cross-stitched alphabets were hardly needed by indigenous Hawaiians who did not use sheets or wear American fashions. Instead, the sampler was a tool for teaching literacy (using the Hawaiian alphabet) and Anglo-American culture.
It has not been possible to trace Maka after her school enrollment.
Made in Wailuku, Maui, Hawaii. Silk thread on cotton. Friends of the Museum Purchase 2017.11