The Pacific and the Mojave may seem like opposites, but they have in common warmth — not only the temperature, but also the aloha spirit that more than 40,000 migrants from Hawai’i have carried across the ocean to their desert home. Since the 1970s, Las Vegas has attracted Hawaiians with its bright lights and affordable lifestyle. The cost of this opportunity is the struggle to keep their Hawaiian culture alive. Tyra Stovall-Ha’o (above left) is doing her part by practicing the Hawaiian tradition of lei-making.
A lei is a flower garland made with materials from the land. It can be worn on various parts of the body, such as one’s ‘ā‘ī (neck) or po‘o (head). In Hawaiian culture, lei is both an art form and a gift symbolizing love, respect, and aloha. It’s an ancient tradition brought to Hawai’i by early Polynesian voyagers more than 800 years ago. Today, it’s being carried to places outside the Pacific, including Las Vegas, where Stovall-Ha’o’s mother, Levani Ha’o (above right), started 702 Haku Lei in 2014.
Stovall-Ha’o moved from O’ahu to Las Vegas when she was 8 years old. She was only a teenager when her mother had the idea for a lei-making business. Stovall-Ha’o’s cousin was approaching her high school graduation, a popular occasion for decorating others with lei. Being new to Las Vegas and having trouble finding lei-makers in the area, Levani Ha’o decided to make her own. The business was born.
“She taught me how to make lei growing up,” Stovall-Ha’o said. “Seeing how she taught others, I kind of kept that instilled in my head.”
Stovall-Ha’o took over 702 Haku Lei in 2023. Now 25 years old, she’s running the business. Not only does she get to focus on the craft of lei-making, but also, she finds connection to her ancestry. She believes it’s important to keep the tradition alive, especially so far from home, in a place where many think leis are just a “trendy accessory.” Her friend and fellow lei-maker, Lindsey Oshiro-Nacapuy, agrees. “We’re here to share our ‘ike, our knowledge,” Oshiro-Nacapuy says.
Lei were originally worn by people with status in ancient Hawai’i such as chiefs, kings, and queens, Oshiro-Nacapuy says. Today, a person doesn’t need to be of such status or even Hawaiian to wear lei, she says; anyone can participate, provided they understand the significance of what they are giving and/or wearing. Though most lei born of the so-called “ninth island” can’t be woven from flowers of the tropics, the spirit of lei can be captured using flowers available locally.
Stovall-Ha’o says lei-making is not just something anyone can immediately pick up. There are tedious steps to achieve the final form. She describes it as a “labor of love.”
This comes through in both the product and the community that Stovall-Ha’o and Oshiro-Nacapuy have created.
“They never gatekeep their lei knowledge,” Las Vegas local Ashley Mendoza says. Mendoza has been a customer of 702 Haku Lei since 2023. She enjoys supporting a small local business and appreciates how they always give back to the community. “That makes me love them even more.”
