Cultural Traditions and Food: Kānaka Maoli and the Production of Poi in the Heʻeʻia Wetland

Abstract

For five years, a Native Hawaiian non-profit organization has been working to restore wetland taro farming in the ahupuaʻa of Heeʻia. This article argues that the cultivation of taro and the production of poi are critical means of resilience and Indigenous resurgence for Kānaka Maoli. Participant observations indicate that the modern-day farming of taro for poi is a struggling and backbreaking enterprise often hampered by funding shortages, lack of infrastructure, management challenges, an insufficient supply of taro and, more critically, access to fresh clean water. The primary objective of this article is to articulate how the agronomics of taro farming and poi milling manifests as resilience in and through the kanaka ʻōiwi body. What drives this kind of commitment to such an arduous undertaking? Through ethnographic field observations, field notes, surveys, and interviews the authors show how resilience is an embodied and regenerative experience; one that transforms both kalo and kanaka. The obstacles and grueling realities in the cultivation of kalo and the production of poi are highlighted from an Indigenous perspective, one that articulates the daily difficulties and successes in integrating Kānaka ʻŌiwi customary traditions or practices with modern-day management strategies but, more critically, identifies as cognate the relationship between kalo and kanaka.

Keywords:

• Native Hawaiian foodways
• taro cultivation
• poi
• tradition
• customary
• contemporary practices

Acknowledgements

We want to thank the Kākoʻo ʻŌiwi staff for sharing their time with us and for trusting us with their manaʻo (thoughts insights).

Notes

1. The associative meanings and spellings of Heeia, Heʻeia, Heʻeʻia reflectå the orthography of the Hawaiian language. In this essay we use Heʻeʻia because it reflects the geographical, topographical, and cultural significance of this place. The word heʻe is commonly known as octopus and also means to slide, surf, slip or flee (Pukui 1983, 63). ʻIa is a particle marking passive/imperative and eia is an idiom that means here, here is, here are, this place. As such, it is understood that the Heʻeʻia is a place with abundant heʻe and a place that is slippery from the numerous streams and springs

2. In this essay we use Kānaka Maoli and Kānaka ʻŌiwi interchangably to refer to the Indigenous peoples of Hawaiʻi. Kanaka, when used as a noun, refers to person; kānaka is the plural form. Moali and ʻōiwi are adjectives that refer to the real or true people of this place.

3. For a discussion of Indigenous resurgence as a new paradigm in Indigenous politics see Alfred (2005); Simpson (2011); Corntassel (2012).

4. For an extended discussion of the Māhele see Kameʻeleihiwa (1992); Preza (2010); (Perkins 2013); Beamer (2014).

5. All of Pauahi’s lands were transferred to Kamehameha Schools Bishop Estate Trust (KSBE) after her death in 1884. The KSBE Trust managed all of Pauahi’s lands (King and Roth 2006).

6. In 1991, Governor John Waiheʻe, on behalf of the state of Hawaiʻi, entered into an agreement with the landowners Kamehameha Schools-Bishop Estate to swap state-owned land in Kakaʻako, a neighborhood in Honolulu adjacent to Waikīkī, with the 400 acres of wetland. The land swap was in response to community opposition against KSBE’s plans to dredge the wetland in order to develop luxury condomiums, harbors, and a golf course. Although there were efforts to turn the wetland into a public park or to restore the loʻi, they were not successful.

7. The name Māhuahua ʻAi o Hoi was given to the project area by Kumu Hula Kawaikapuokalani Hewett, a lineal descendant, Native Hawaiian language expert and noted loea from the Heʻeʻia ahupuaʻa.

8. We argue that the orientation for community workday volunteers is a critical piece in the introduction of Heʻeʻia Uli or Hoi to those who come there to work and to learn. Given the familial relationship between kānaka and place it is important for visitors to be properly introduced to the ʻāina. Who you are and where you come from is particularly significant and, as such, protocols for entering a place are paramount because it is respectful of the ʻāina. The simplest or basic forms of protocol should consist of a kāhea (a recited greeting) from the visitor, a pane (response or answer) from the host, noi (asking permission from the ʻāina, the gods, as particularly associated with Heʻeʻia Uli), all done with hoʻihi (reverence and respect).

9. Kākoʻo ʻŌiwi’s mission is to perpetuate the cultural and spiritual practices of Native Hawaiians. The family of descendants of the ʻāiss and the community at large stressed the need for the project to grow kalo and make poi once again in Heʻeʻia Uli. The kūpuna or elders of the community who have the most ancestral ties to Heʻeʻia are guiding the project using integrated resource management and place-based approaches. This includes the use of science, collaborative partnerships with educational institutions, community organizations, and volunteers and preserving the cultural landscape by keeping as much open space as possible.

10. This research was funded in part by a grant from the University of Hawaiʻi Sea Grant Program.

11. Where possible we omit names of Kākoʻo ʻŌiwi staff members. When the narrative suffers for lack of clarity pseudonyms are used.