Woven hina'i mycelium chambers for mycoremediation experiment and ceremonial planting/burial ceremony

co- written by Corinne Takara and 7th and 8th graders of the Montessori School of Maui

OVERVIEW:

On April 1st, 7th and 8th grade students at the Montessori School of Maui explored this workshop that blended weaving and mycelium growing.  You can read more about the materials and procedures of this lesson plan here: Mycelium Woven Grow Chambers. This workshop was a follow up to the classroom silt-sock experimentation and is a prototype lesson for pathways to integrate Ecology, Engineering, Sustainable Design and Hawaiian Studies. This was a hands-on experiment using natural local materials to create woven mycelium chambers that can be incorporated into Hawaiian bioremediation systems centered in locally sourced materials and Hawaiian knowledge systems and ritual.

Students at the Maui Montessori School of Maui wove local palm frond chambers to grow mycelium as bioremediation units. These units will be placed into fire burn scar soils. Using Hawaiian and Polynesian weaving techniques students create woven palm frond chambers to incubate local Abalone Oyster (Pleurotus cystidiosus) and Bloody Polypore mushroom and will test if these natural fiber woven chambers have a change in pH over a course of three weeks and imagine how such mycelium planting in woven chambers might help also remediate the hydrophobic nature of burn scar soils. Through the use of pH strips and quaternary, students will also explore pH and chemical change in soil after a period of 3 weeks. Additionally, students in Tahiti at the Centre des Metiers des Arts also participated in the workshop and we were able to share with the Maui students what the Tahiti students created as their woven chambers for their local mycelium.

 

above: students weaving and filling chambers with mycelium substrate in Tahiti.

Woven hīna’i lauhala chambers are made for ceremonial "planting" burials. The Hawaiian traditional burial of the deceased is considered a planting and is followed by physical and spiritual growth. It is believed descendants are nourished from foods fertilized by the bones and remains of ancestors. So there are a lot of beautiful connections to traditional Hawaiian frameworks in the process of planting mycelium bioremediation woven chambers into the land.  

WHY DO THIS?

After recent fire disasters and oil disasters in Hawai’i, much of the expertise, solution tools, and frameworks come from the Continental US to address contamination of the ʻĀina. There is an opportunity to make a concerted effort to center local knowledge in bioremediation as part of solutions. Might Hawaiian Indigenous weaving practices be adapted to create mycelium growth chambers for classroom explorations elevate conversations of Indigenous Innovation in K-12 classrooms while also growing student knowledge in mycelium propagation technique and Hawaiian place-based practices? 

In workshops 1 and 2, students demonstrated that they can successfully grow locally sourced mycelium in a range of pasteurized local plant materials. Students then chose the two best mycelium growing feedstock to create prototype silt socks for experimentation. In this workshop, we are further exploring mycelium growth rates. Might woven palm frond chambers facilitate quicker mycelium growth, adjust pH, and improve moisture in hydrophobic fire impacted soils? Might students envision a system of woven chambers full of mycelium that are added into existing myco-socks as we imagine multi-species remediation systems growing out of these substrate socks?

This project also centers a way we can be pono, balanced and righteous, with the biology in our science experiments and it creates an opportunity to develop science rituals of gratitude embedded in Hawaiian frameworks and ‘ike, knowledge. 

A hands-on experience with weaving also creates an opportunity to share the history of hīnaʻi in Hawaiian burials and the legacy of colonialism disruption of burials on people and land. 

 

Above: David Pollimiller bringing in the coconut fronds! Right: Chase McLean brought Bloody Polypore mycelium grain for the workshops. This was a sun loving, heat tolerant mushroom which students found in a campus-wide mushroom survey with Chase and David in a prior workshop of this series. 

 

Above: Students collecting fronds for the chambers and beginning to start their chambers.

 

Above: Students start to fill their chambers with the bloody polypore mushroom into their mushroom chamber.

 

Above: Students pack in the mycelium and tighten their chambers closed.

 

Above: As they tighten their chamber they spray water inside so it stays moist

 

Above: they secure their chambers by cutting off the ends so that it looks neat.

 

Above: The students test the PH and put it in a plastic bag and then put their names on it so they know whose it is.

VISUAL STEP BY STEP and step by step video and visual step by steps 

In addition to weaving their own palm frond hina’i and filling these with mycelium, students also filled the special lauhala woven hina’i made of pu hala collected by keanahala and woven by KĪPUKA of the Pu’uhonua Society. Below are a few images of the two workshops at KĪPUKA where weavers cleaned and prepared the lau and then wove the hina’i. Each February  workshop was two hours long. We are super grateful to the community of weavers who contributed their time and expertise to creating these novel loose weave chambers. 

 

Above top left: Leialoha Mahuka leading the workshops. Top right: Kūkaʻa prepped for stripping to proper width.

 

Above left: weavers Jillian Breithaupt sharing the loose weave protocol they designed. Above right: Chai Blair-Stahn with work in progress.

 

Above: Here is a picture of the students putting mycelium into the lauhala hina'i. Above right: pH labeled hina'i.

 

Above: At two weeks' growth, one of the lauhala hina’i had a bit of mold growing on it. Student Owen wiped it down and sprayed it with hydrogen peroxide and checked all the hina’i.

 

Above: palm frond hina'i growing Bloody Polypore mushroom after two weeks.

 

Above: hina'i growing local Oyster and Bloody Polypore after three weeks.

STUDENT REFLECTIONS:

Student reflections were gathered via a google form and here are some of the responses to the questions posed. 

What was most difficult? When asked what was the most challenging aspect of the workshop, many students shared that the weaving was. A few shared that touching the live mycelium was the most difficult aspect. One shared that they felt a lot was going on at once and it was difficult to keep up. Another shared: “I think it was easy but one thing that was a little hard was putting the mycelium in the weaved baskets and making sure it didʻt fall out.” Another shared that making the box and doing the pH test was difficult. 

What surprised you? Students shared that they were surprised that a mushroom could potentially help wildfires in Maui. Some were surprised how simple and fun the weaving was and others felt it was complex and difficult. A few felt the smell of Bloody Polypore was surprisingly unpleasant.

What did you learn? Students overall felt that they learned about mycelium and how it can help the environment. In this workshop a few said this was their first weaving activity and the first time using a Ph using strips. One student shared "I learned a lot about mushrooms and mycelium and I believe that this could truly help us one day."

If you were to revise this workshop for another class of your grade level, what would you add or revise? Students shared a lot of suggestions, such as adding an option to use a different weaving material to make it more fun, make the baskets a little bigger, add different types of mushrooms into the mix, and more independant projects. One shared that they would like more organization across all the workshops of the series and another believed that it would be best for all to work and collaborate all on one thing and make it more challenging as well. A few had nothing to add as they woudl keep it the same because it was really fun and I learned a lot.

If you were to revise this workshop for a younger grade what might you add or revise? How might we improve upon this workshop? A few felt the weaving process would be difficult for younger ages. Another suggested it would be good to explain what ph is more and to go slower and more as one group to do the weaving so it is easier to understand. Along similar lines, another student suggested making more steps and more adult assistant help. Another thought we should add different colors, and make it a little bit more engaging. More worksheets and more hands-on experience for a lower level was advised. A few felt nothing would need to be revised. In terms of the whole workshop series, a few believed more hands-on experiments for lower ages would be needed.

Anything else you would like to share? In response to this question, many students shared that this was a fun experience. One student shared "This was really fun and I think it will be even better with all of the classes' opinions and changes, this was a great first trial!" Another shared"I loved doing this and learning how to make the basket!" A few said that they really enjoyed learning about mycelium.

ON THE HORIZON:

In future workshops, it will be a goal to eliminate the plastic baggies and introduce the weaving of multiple outer palm hina’i to create the desired higher Co2 concentration needed to amplify mycelium growth.  For future similar experiments, pre and post soil sampling data can be secured in collaboration with agencies or university departments to illuminate what, if any, remediation occurs in the soil. As this project progressed, there was an evolution of knowledge regarding burn scar safety protocols that precluded some of the testing and engagements initially outlined and planned. As a volunteer educator on this project [I wrote much of this project’s grant proposal, but was not permitted to receive compensation payment from experiment.com because I had a concurrent grant from them], I appreciated the kindness, troubleshooting, and mutual respect that the students and classroom teacher shared as they collaborated with me. While the culminating planting/burial ceremony occured outside the scope of this project and with several Kulu groups ( Mālama Kula and the Kula Community Watershed Alliance ) I coordinated with, we hope that this student journey elevates the importance of conducting culturally centered healing practices for the land and people impacted by fires today and in the future. 

 

Above poem was a collaboration by Naia Lickle, Ayla Ohad and Gabby Wienert. This is an example of some of the independent projects students explored which grew out of these workshop series.

Note: 7th and 8th grade students Lola Traina, Maya Sucher, Zander Wienert, Thane Burkert, Athena Areus, Ethan Smith, and Tiago Santin wrote all of the image captions.