Taro | Page 2 | Images of Old Hawaiʻi

January 21, 2017 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Old-Young – Wet-Dry – East-West

“Agriculture was a matter of great importance in Hawai‘i, because by it a man obtained the means of supporting himself and his wife, his children, friends and domestic animals. It was associated, however, with the worship of idols.” (Malo)

“In the Hawaiian Islands agriculture was conducted differently on lands where there were streams of water and on dry lands. On lands supplied with running water agriculture was easy and could be carried on at all times …”

“… and the only reason for a scarcity of food among the people on such lands was idleness. Sometimes, however, the water-supply failed; but the drought did not last long.” (Malo)

All Polynesian societies descend from an ancestral culture which had first settled the western archipelagoes of Samoa and Tonga by about 1200 BC. Throughout this varied region, root-crop horticulture was transferred and adapted to local environmental conditions and challenges. (Kirch)

Most Polynesian archipelagoes have a volcanic ‘hot spot’ origin and, due to tectonic plate movement, islands increase in age as one progresses further from the hot spot of volcanic activity. The Hawaiian Islands illustrate this geological age progression, and associated opportunities for crop production.

The geographically older westerly islands (Kauai, O‘ahu, Molokai and west Maui) are more heavily weathered, with permanent stream flow and alluvium valleys, on which irrigation could be developed.

The agricultural emphasis was on taro irrigation, with shifting cultivation and other forms of dryland gardening providing a secondary role.

In the geologically younger islands to the east (east Maui and Hawai‘i), irrigation was only a minor contributor to subsistence production and highly labor-intensive, short-fallow dryland field systems predominated.

Most of the arable terrain is volcanically younger, lacking stream flow and prohibited the development of extensive irrigation works. Thus, irrigation systems in east Maui and Hawai‘i, while present in restricted areas, contributed in only minor.

Initial settlement was confined for the most part to the windward valley regions, with their more favorable ecological conditions (ample stream flow, higher rainfall, extensive alluvial soils.)

Later, there was a major expansion into leeward regions throughout the archipelago. The initial stages of this expansion focused on leeward valleys or around bays with rich marine resources.

By about AD 1400, settlements were moving into increasingly marginal environments, including the interiors of leeward valleys and the higher elevation slopes of the easterly islands.

It was a period of tremendous significance in Hawaiian history; during this time, (1) the population underwent a geometric rate of increase; (2) virtually all habitable and arable lands were occupied and territorially claimed; and (3) the territorial pattern of chiefdom (moku) and sub-chiefdom units (ahupua‘a) appears to have been established.

In addition, toward the end of this period the Hawaiian sociopolitical system was transformed from a simple, ancestral Polynesian chiefdom to a highly stratified society with virtual class differentiation between ali‘i (chiefs) and maka‘āinana (commoners.)

There were other differences in the political and religious structure of the eastern and western chiefdoms. In particular, the elaborate makahiki, or wet-season harvest ritual, as well as the emphasis accorded the cult of the war god Kū with its associated luakini temple ritual, was especially developed on Hawai‘i and Maui, less so on the westerly islands of O‘ahu and Kauai.

Of the four great Hawaiian gods (Lono, Kāne, Kanaloa and Kū,) Lono and Kane were both associated with agriculture, each showing different symbolic linkages, the one centered on Lono involving rainfall, sweet potato (and to a lesser extent dryland taro) and dryland cultivation, the other centered on Kāne involving flowing waters, taro and irrigation.

Lono was specifically the god of dryland cultivation and associated with “clouds bearing rain,” thunder, the sweet potato (the primary dryland crop,) the rise of Pleiades and the rainy season.

Kāne who was associated with pondfield irrigation of taro, running water (wai,) springs, fishponds, male procreative powers and irrigation. As noted by Handy & Pukui, “the family bowl of poi (starch staple made from taro) in the household was sacred to Haloa, who is Kāne, an ancestor in the line senior to man”.

“The control of agricultural production was one of the sources of power for the leasers if Hawaiian societies, societies which were among the most highly stratified in Polynesia at the time of European exploration.” (Tuggle)

The political formations and moves for territorial expansion just before ‘contact,’ show a pattern that corresponds closely to the fundamental differences in agricultural base. The aggressive, expansionist, Ku-cult centered chieftainships of Maui and Hawai‘i were precisely those polities most dependent upon intensified dryland field cultivation.

The frequent objects of their aggression were the western islands of Molokai, O‘ahu and Kauai, and their resource-rich centers of irrigation agriculture and fishpond aquaculture.

In these western islands, the possibilities for greater agricultural intensification remained substantial, despite high levels of population density, owing to the environmental conditions favoring irrigation.

The complex linkages between varied agricultural landscapes and the social relations of production – effectively, the ecological and cultural contrasts between ‘the wet and the dry’ – illustrate the role intensification played in the political evolution of chiefdom societies.

(The inspiration and information here is from Patrick Kirch’s book “The Wet and the Dry.” Maps are Natalie Kurashima’s Traditional Agriculture Maps.)

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May 3, 2014 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Wetland Taro

Wākea and Papa, sky-father and earth-mother, who by the ʻOpūkahonua lineage were half-brother and half-sister, were said to be the parents of islands, Hawaiʻi and Maui (and later Kauaʻi, Niʻihau, Lehua, and Kaʻula – the rest were added later.) According to tradition, their first human offspring was a daughter, Hoʻohōkūkalani (to generate stars in the sky.)

Wākea seduced his daughter, Hoʻohōkūkalani. Their first child was born prematurely; they named him Hāloa-naka (quivering long stalk.) They buried him in the earth and from that spot grew the first kalo (taro) plant. The second child, named Hāloa in honor of his elder brother, was the first Hawaiian Aliʻi Nui and became the ancestor of all the Hawaiian people.

Thus kalo, which was the main staple of the people of old, is also the older brother of the Hawaiian race.

Traditions on the island of Oʻahu provide the names of a dynasty of ruling chiefs including Mā’ilikūkahi, around 1500 (about the time Columbus crossed the Atlantic.) Māʻilikūkahi is said to have enacted a code of laws in which theft from the people by chiefs was forbidden.

A son of Mā’ilikūkahi was Kalona-nui, who in turn had a son called Kalamakua. Kalamakua is said to have been responsible for developing large taro gardens in what was once a vast area of wet-taro cultivation on Oʻahu: the Waikiki-Kapahulu-Mōʻiliʻili-Mānoa area. The extensive pond fields were irrigated by water drawn from the Mānoa and Pālolo Valley streams and large springs in the area.

Other chiefs mentioned in Oʻahu traditions were associated with organizing activities in more systematic ways than those in times previous to them; one such high chief was Kākuhihewa.

Another great chief of Oʻahu, Kualiʻi, was famous for the kolowalu law: “If a man says, ‘I am hungry for food’ feed (him) with food, lest he hungers and claims his rights by swearing the kolowalu law by his mouth, whereby that food becomes free, so that the owner thereof must observe the law faithfully.”

In pre-contact (prior to Captain Cook) times, kalo played a vital role in Hawaiian culture. It was not only the Hawaiians’ staple food, but the cultivation of kalo was at the very core of Hawaiian culture and identity.

The early Hawaiians probably planted kalo in marshes near the mouths of rivers. Over years of progressive expansion of kalo lo‘i (flooded taro patches) up slopes and along rivers, kalo cultivation in Hawai‘i reached a unique level of engineering and sustainable sophistication.

Hawaiians knew the productive advantages of growing wetland taro and placed the greater effort in this area very early, when required to increase food production capabilities for the rapidly increasing number of people. By the time of Captain Cook’s visits in 1778 and 1779, every large river valley in the islands contained many loʻi (pond fields,) and each was systematically irrigated by means of ditches delivering water to the fields spread throughout the valley.

Usually, water was fed into an irrigation ditch from a stream. A loose-rock dam built across the stream allowed water to flow between and over the top of the rocks to provide for farmers living downstream. The dam functioned to raise the water level just high enough at that point to permit water to flow into the ditch leading to the terraces.

In this way the amount and speed of the water could be controlled. If too much water was found to be flowing into the ditch, a few stones could be removed from the dam, thus lowering the water level and reducing the volume of water entering the ditch.

The speed of the flow of water into the pondfields was controlled by the length and slope of the ditch. By varying the length and grade of the ditch, its builders were able to maintain a constant and low-level gradient over variegated terrain. The flow through the pond fields was controlled by the height of the terraces.

Kalo lo‘i systems are typically a set of adjoining terraces that are typically reinforced with stone walls and soil berms. Wetland taro thrives on flooded conditions, and cool, circulating water is optimal for taro growth, thus a system may include one or more ʻauwai (irrigation ditches) to divert water into and out of the planting area. (McElroy)

The ʻauwai construction and maintenance formed foundations around which an entire economy, class system and culture functioned. The ʻauwai, lo‘i and the taro plant’s mythical and spiritual connections in Hawaiian society influenced individual and social activity within the ahupua‘a. (Handy, HART)

The different representatives in the ahupuaʻa taking part in the work furnished men according to the number of kalo growers on each land. (The quantity of water awarded to irrigate the loʻi was according to the number of workers and the amount of work put into the building of the ʻauwai.)

David Malo explained how a taro garden could keep a large number of people in vegetable food continuously: “Some farmers did not plant a great deal at a time. They would plant a little, and after waiting a few months, they planted more land. So they continued to plant a little at a time during the months suitable for planting. The food did not all ripen at once, and by this plan the supply was kept up for a long time and they had no lack of food.”

On the question of the productivity of wet-land taro versus dry-land taro, some missionaries recorded their experiences and observations in 1847 and 1848. They helped answer the question: What number of people could be fed by one acre of land, of average quality in the district, if cultivated for kalo?

Rev. Armstrong suggested that there would be ‘food enough for ten persons’ on an acre of average taro land in Honolulu, that is, subsistence for ten persons. “With proper management, kalo (taro) land needs no rest. So the natives tell me. Let the water be kept constantly upon it and the weeds cleared out and that is all that is needed. The kalo plants, however, must be changed every crop. It requires about a year to bring a crop of kalo to maturity.” (Armstrong)

Rev. Johnson of Hanalei, Kauaʻi, a noted wetland taro-producing valley, suggested that 25 people subsist on an acre of good taro land.

Writing from his experiences on the well-watered windward side of Oʻahu, Rev. Parker wrote: “An acre of kalo land would furnish food for from twenty to thirty persons, if properly taken care of. It will produce crops for a great many years in succession, without lying fallow any time.”

Rev. Bishop, writing from ʻEwa District on Oʻahu, suggested that 15-20 people could be fed from an acre of taro: “Good kalo land, irrigated by water, improves by cultivation. It only requires time enough between crops to rot the weeds, which serve as manure.”

Rev. Emerson lived and worked in Waialua District on Oʻahu where several large rivers and numerous springs watered the land.

He wrote: “Twenty persons, I think can be fed on an acre of good kalo land. The land can generally be cultivated perpetually, if it has two or three months between each crop, in which to decompose the weeds which might grow during the time the kalo was ripening.”

“I have a large kalo patch that has not been left to rest one month at a time for fifteen years, and yet it produces as largely as fifteen years since. I presume the same parch was cultivated centuries before I knew it. It requires one year for kalo to come to maturity.”

In 6 to 12-months, depending upon plant variety along with soil and water conditions, the taro is generally ready to harvest. Each parent tuber produces from two to 15 ʻohā, side tubers of corms, up to 6 inches in diameter.

The Hawaiian concept of family, ‘ohana, is derived from the word ‘ohā (Fig., offspring, youngsters,) the axillary shoots of kalo that sprout from the main corm, the makua (parent.) Huli, cut from the tops of mauka and ‘ohā are then used for replanting to regenerate the cycle of kalo production.

Taro or Kalo has been a traditional form of food sustenance and nutrition, particularly in ancient Hawaiian culture. Reportedly, it is the world’s fourteenth most-consumed vegetable. All parts of the plant are eaten, including poi, table taro (the cooked corm,) taro chips and luau leaf.

The foregoing information (primarily from Marion Kelly and Lilikalā Kameʻeleihiwa (with some help from some others to fill some gaps)) helps answer some of the When, Why, Where and How Much questions related to wetland taro farming.

The 22nd Annual East Maui Taro Festival is being held May 3-4, 2014.

The image shows kalo (Markell.) In addition, I have included more related images in a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook and Google+ pages.

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April 20, 2013 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Kalo (Taro)

Hawaiian traditions describe the birth of the islands and the life that exists on them in terms of genealogical accounts.

All natural forms of the environment are believed to be embodiments of gods and deities. From godly forces the Hawaiian Islands are born of Wākea (the expanse of the sky‐father) and Papahānaumoku (Papa who gave birth to the islands).

Wākea and Papa are credited for being the parents of the first man, Hāloa, the ancestor of all people. Commoners and aliʻi were all descended from the same ancestors, Wākea (sky father) and Papa (earth mother.)

It is from this genealogical line that Hawaiians address the environment and it forms the basis of the Hawaiian system of land use.

“The first born son of Wākea was of premature birth (keiki alualu) and was given the name Hāloa-naka. The little thing died, however, and its body was buried in the ground at one end of the house. After a while from the child’s body shot up a taro plant, the leaf of which was named lau-kapa-lili, quivering leaf; but the stem was given the name Hāloa. After that another child was born to them, whom they called Hāloa, from the stalk of the taro. He is the progenitor of all the peoples of earth.” (Malo)

“The first Hāloa, born to Wākea and Ho‘ohokukalani, became the taro plant. His younger brother, also named Haloa, became the ancestor of the people. In this way, taro was the elder brother and man the younger–both being children of the same parents.”

“Because our chiefs were of the senior line, they were referred to in respect and affection as “kalo kanu o ka aina” (The taro grown in the homeland) by the junior branches of the family.”(Handy-Pukui)

In pre-Captain Cook times, taro played a vital role in Hawaiian culture. It was not only the Hawaiians’ staple food but the cultivation of kalo was at the very core of Hawaiian culture and identity.

The Hawaiian concept of family, ‘ohana, is derived from the word ‘ohā (Fig., offspring, youngsters,) the axillary shoots of kalo that sprout from the main corm, the makua (parent.) Huli, cut from the tops of mauka, and ‘ohā are then used for replanting to regenerate the cycle of kalo production.

Kalo lo‘i systems are typically a set of adjoining terraces that are typically reinforced with stone walls and soil berms. Wetland taro thrives on flooded conditions, and cool, circulating water is optimal for taro growth, thus a system may include one or more irrigation ditches, or ‘auwai, to divert water into and out of the planting area. (McElroy)

In 6 to 12 months, depending upon plant variety along with soil and water conditions, the taro is generally ready to harvest. Each parent tuber produces from two to 15 ʻohā, side tubers of corms, up to 6 inches in diameter.

Kalo patches are variously named on the basis of size, shape, planting method and other factors. Mo‘o ai are narrow strips of planted kalo, much longer than they are wide. Mo‘o kaupapa lo‘i are long rows of lo‘i or wet kalo patches. Other types of wet planting mounds include pu‘epu‘e hou and kipi or kipikipi. Of the wetland methods, lo‘i was most frequently occurring form.

Kalo starch is one of the most nutritious, easily digested food. Kalo corms are high in carbohydrate in the form of starch and low in fat and protein, similar to many other root crops.

The starch is 98.8 percent digestible, a quality attributed to its granule size, which is a tenth that of potato, making it ideal for people with digestive difficulties.

The corm is an excellent source of potassium (higher than banana), carbohydrate for energy and fiber. When eaten regularly, kalo corm provides a good source of calcium and iron. Kalo leaves (lū‘au leaves) are eaten as a vegetable.

The staple of the ancient Hawaiian people, poi, is a gentle food, hypoallergenic, gluten free and easily digestible. It has saved the lives of babies who have been allergic to everything else. Poi is just about for everyone – from the health-challenged to the super-fit endurance athlete. (Bishop Museum)

Kalo, like other plants in its family, is considered poisonous when raw because its tissues contain an acrid component; thorough steaming or boiling eliminates this and allows it to be eaten.

It is estimated that at the peak of kalo production, areas under its cultivation covered more than 20,000-acres (about 31 square miles) over six islands.

Since the early to mid-1800s, kalo cultivation and the demand for kalo has markedly declined, and many of the ceremonial, medicinal and upland kalo cultivars became neglected and were lost.

In the last 200 years, Waipi‘o has experienced many changes: new ownership of the land, assimilation of other ethnic groups into the indigenous Hawaiian population and the shift from subsistence taro farming to market production. (UH)

In 1900, it was estimated that about 1,280 acres were being used for kalo production. By 1907, rice had become a major crop, occupying about 10,000 acres.

At that time, Chinese farmers were growing about half the kalo crop and milling 80 percent of the poi. By 1937, the major kalo growers were Japanese.

With the outbreak of World War II in 1941, demand for kalo declined and production dropped to 920 acres. Today, less than 400 acres of kalo are planted.

The 21st Annual East Maui Taro Festival will be held in Hana, Maui, 9 am – 5 pm, April 20-21, 2013, Hana Ballpark – Hauoli Road & Uakea Street. Hawaiian entertainment & Hula, 20 Food Booths, 50 Arts & Crafts Booths, an Info Tent for non-profits, an Ag Tent & Farmers Market and hands-on Cultural demos such as poi-pounding, kapa cloth making, creating Hawaiian musical instruments, lauhala weaving. Family-friendly and no admission charge.

The image shows a couple of men pounding poi. (Lots of information here from CTAHR.) In addition, I have added some other related images in a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook and Google+ pages.

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