Only women of higher rank (ali'i wahine) were allowed to paint or stamp the color patterns. The amount of sacred cloth that aristocratic families piled up in large rolled-up bales on the rafters of their homes was also a sign of their prestige. These bales of bark bast were cut for religious ceremonies, funerals, or representative gifts, depending on rank and occasion.
Captain Cook and his companions were able to acquire various kapa fabrics in Hawai'i. This was largely possible due to the Hawai'ian’s assumption that the British sailor was a glorious returning ancestor god, Lono-i-ka-Makahiki, when he arrived in Kealakekua Bay on Big Island in January 1779. Such a holy man was also given sacred kapa fabric. The captain was also wrapped in yards of mana-bearing fabric by his hosts, so he could hardly move, for ceremonies and before meetings with the highest leaders.
On his return to London, James Burney, Cook’s officer on the second and third voyages, gave a few yards of bark bast to his sister, who had it made into a dress for the British Queen’s masquerade ball. It was a sacrilege, really, because it was something very rare: the ceremonial fabric from Hawai'i had been made before first contact with Europeans. In a way, however, the Burneys were at least following Polynesian rules, as the kapa was appropriately celebrated at a highly aristocratic event.