{"id":17235,"date":"2020-05-05T05:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-05-05T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/workable-level.flywheelsites.com\/?p=17235"},"modified":"2020-05-05T13:19:53","modified_gmt":"2020-05-05T23:19:53","slug":"ka-hue-anaha-the-life-giving-plant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kapionews.com\/index.php\/2020\/05\/05\/ka-hue-anaha-the-life-giving-plant\/","title":{"rendered":"Ka Hue Anah\u0101: The Life-Giving Plant"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

[This student submission, created for English 100 Composition class, was selected to appear in Ka Hue Anah\u0101 student journal, which publishes academic and research writing in all disciplines and programs except STEM-related courses. For inquiries and information about submissions, contact the Board of Student Publications.]<\/a>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

By Parker Hanzawa<\/h5>\n

Ho\u02bboh\u014dk\u016blani was inconsolable as she stood holding her stillborn son in her arms. Ho\u02bboh\u014dk\u016blani\u2019s father W\u0101kea, who was also the father of the infant, comforted her as they decided what to do. Together, they buried their son in the soil behind their house and named him Haloanakalaukapalili.\u00a0 Suddenly, Ho\u02bboh\u014dk\u016blani and W\u0101kea noticed that a plant began to grow from their son\u2019s grave. This plant was taro. Soon after, Ho\u02bboh\u014dk\u016blani gave birth to another son, and named him H\u0101loa, after his elder brother. H\u0101loa cultivated the taro and took care of the islands of Hawai\u2018i while Haloanakalaukapalili provided food and nourishment. This reciprocal relationship of brother taking care of brother has endured until this day because Hawaiian people believe that they are direct descendants of H\u0101loa. The agricultural practice of taro farming that helped sustain Hawaiians culturally and socially can be directly applied to today\u2019s society. This can be done by practicing Hawaiian values and using indigenous agricultural land to grow produce locally, which will help build a sustainable future.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Taro, or Kalo in Hawaiian, is the main staple of the Native Hawaiian diet.\u00a0According to Cho et al. (2007), taro is believed to be one of the most ancient cultivated crops in the world, with origins tracing back to Southeast Asia.\u00a0Beginning in 1600-1200 BC, long-distance voyaging canoes were developed and migrating voyagers reached the islands of Fiji, Western Polynesia, and Eastern Polynesia, and brought taro with them. Taro eventually found its way to Hawai\u2018i around 900 to 1000 AD, which was brought by voyagers from the Marquesas Islands (Cho et al., 2007, p. 1). Over the next millennia, taro cultivation in Hawai\u2018i turned into a sophisticated and intricate system, which supported a population comparable to today\u2019s population in the islands.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Hawaiians cultivated both wetland and dryland taro, the most common being wetland. This was done in taro terraces, or lo\u02bbi\u2019s.\u00a0 Creating and maintaining a lo\u02bbi required extensive physical labor. Wetland taro needed a steady source of fresh water, so areas chosen for creating lo\u02bbi\u2019s were usually close to a mountain stream. Once an area was chosen for a lo\u02bbi, it would be flooded for several days. Then, Hawaiian men would use o\u02bbo, or digging sticks, to dig up the wet mud and create a border or embankment around the area. Leaves and fine soil were then stomped into the sides and floor of the lo`i to make them watertight. Water flowing from the kahawai (river) is slowed by m\u0101nowai (loose wall or rocks), which diverts the water into the po\u02bbowai (headwater) and down the \u02bbauwai (rock lined canal), into the lo\u02bbi. The water would then flow through the lo\u02bbi, keeping the taro at a suitably cool temperature, and eventually returned to the stream.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Taro was such an essential part of Hawaiian culture that everyone in the community would tend to the lo\u02bbi\u2019s. It was at these lo\u02bbi\u2019s that men, women, and children worked and connected with the land. While working in lo\u02bbi\u2019s, Hawaiians built relationships not only with each other, but with the gods and the world around them. The Hawaiian word \u02bbohana, meaning family, is derived from the world \u02bboh\u0101, which were the shoots growing out of the main corm of the taro plant, also known as the makua or parent. Due to taro\u2019s social importance in Hawaiian culture, different types of taro served different purposes. Some were used for ceremonial purposes, others were only eaten by the ali\u02bbi or chiefs, while others served medicinal purposes. Working in lo\u02bbi\u2019s taught Hawaiians essential values such as aloha \u02bb\u0101ina (love the land), m\u0101lama \u02bb\u0101ina (take care of the land), laulima (working together), and k\u014dkua (to help).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The values that Hawaiians learned while working in lo\u02bbi\u2019s were also taught to me. During high school, I took a field trip to the He\u02bbeia lo\u02bbi in K\u0101ne\u02bbohe. I can recall the sun peeking over the staggering cliffs of the Ko\u02bbolau mountain range and the Ulumano breeze of K\u0101ne\u02bbohe grazing my face as I began working in the lo\u02bbi. As I stepped in, mud instantly engulfed my feet. Walking was difficult as my feet sank deeper with each step. The stench of mud was overwhelming as the heat of the sun struck the lo\u02bbi. My class and I worked tirelessly removing weeds the entire day. As the day came to an end and I stepped out of the lo\u02bbi, mud crusting my entire body, I remember feeling a sense of gratitude towards my ancestors.<\/span><\/p>\n

My Hawaiian ancestors understood the significance that agriculture had on the sustainability of the Hawaiian Islands.\u00a0The Hawaiian cultural saying, \u201ce pili \u2018ana \u0101pau,\u201d means everything is connected. Levin (2015) stated, \u201cThe soil, the rocks, and everything that grows upon it, the fresh waters that flow\u2026the peaks of the mountains\u2026the life-giving rains\u2026all of the energy moves within as part of a whole system\u201d (p. 87). Hawaiian taro farmers were able to incorporate strategies that preserved and restored the environment, something that is not presently practiced.<\/span><\/p>\n

However, evidence reported by Kurashima et. al (2019) has shown that Hawaiian agricultural systems used in the past, such as the cultivation of both wetland and dryland taro, can be used today as well.\u00a0 The food produced in these ancient Hawaiian systems can be compared to the total amount of food that Hawai\u2018i consumes today. For example, the non-indigenous crops that Hawai\u2018i depends on for modern consumption could be potentially harvested using the same systems that Native Hawaiians used to use.\u00a0These systems are highly adaptive and recover rapidly following disturbances; therefore, they can increase food production. The use of these lands to produce food will be able to meet consumer demands as well as contribute to a more sustainable future. Kurashima et al. (2019), concluded that \u201cThe utilization of former indigenous agricultural lands could provide an approach to produce more local food crops that are culturally appropriate for consumers today\u201d (p.194).\u00a0 Since only 13% of indigenous agricultural land can no longer be used, the remaining 87% can be used for farmers to produce more food locally, reducing Hawaii\u2019s dependence on imported food and reducing our ecological footprint (Kurashima et. al, 2019, p. 194).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

For this to happen, the values that Hawaiians learned while working in lo\u02bbi\u2019s must be implemented into our society.\u00a0 This is the main reason Hawaiians were able to sustain themselves for thousands of years. Loving the land, taking care of the land, working together and helping are values that aren\u2019t practiced by many today because of society\u2019s need to produce as much as it can, and as fast as it can. Sustainability depends on not only our ability to foster agricultural growth, but our ability to treat the world around us and most importantly, each other, with love and respect.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Hawaiians were able to demonstrate a sense of sustainability thousands of years before it became an issue. Not only did Hawaiians understand the ripple effects agriculture had on society, but also its effect on the natural world around them. Since Hawaiians traced their lineage to H\u0101loa, a sense of self was mirrored in the very food they cultivated and consumed, which transformed the way Hawaiians perceived nature. For Hawai\u2018i have a more sustainable future, a change must be made, which can be modeled after the past. A\u02bbohe hana nui ka alu`ia\u2014no task is too big when done together.<\/span><\/p>\n

References
<\/strong>Cho, J. J., Yamakawa, R.A., & Hollyer, J. (2007).\u00a0 Hawaiian Kalo, Past <\/span> and Future. <\/span>Sustainable Agriculture, <\/span><\/i>1 (SA-1), 1-8. https:\/\/<\/span> scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu\/bitstream\/10125\/12594\/SA-1.pdf<\/span><\/p>\n

Levin, P. (2015). <\/span>Thinking Like an Island: Navigating a Sustainable <\/span><\/i> Future in Hawai\u2018i<\/span><\/i>. University of Hawai\u2018i Press.<\/span><\/p>\n

Kurashima, N., Fortini, L., & Ticktin, T. (2019). The Potential of <\/span> Indigenous Agricultural Food Production Under Climate Change in <\/span> Hawai`i.\u00a0 <\/span>Nature Sustainability<\/span><\/i>, 2(3), 194.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[This student submission, created for English 100 Composition class, was selected to appear in Ka Hue Anah\u0101 student journal, which publishes academic and research writing in all disciplines and programs except STEM-related courses. For inquiries and information about submissions, contact the Board of Student Publications.]\u00a0 By Parker Hanzawa Ho\u02bboh\u014dk\u016blani was inconsolable as she stood holding […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":51,"featured_media":17247,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"off","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"wds_primary_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17235","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-studentsubmissions","et-has-post-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kapionews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17235","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kapionews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kapionews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kapionews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/51"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kapionews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17235"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kapionews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17235\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kapionews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17247"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kapionews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17235"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kapionews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17235"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kapionews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17235"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}