Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 6, Number 4, 1 April 1989 — Naturally Hawaiian [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Naturally Hawaiian

By Patrick Ching Artist/ Environmentalist

A "Respectable" Swine

Pigs inhabit various terrain on the islands of Hawai'i, Maui, Moloka'i, O'ahu and Kaua'i. They onee lived on Kaho'olawe and Lana'i but no longer exist there. The first pigs were brought to Hawai'i by early Polynesian voyagers aboard large sailing canoes. The Polynesian pigs whieh the Hawaiians eall pua'a, were a relatively small variety that were domestic and kept close to houses or villages. With the arrival of foreigners to Hawai'i, these Polynesian pigs bred readily with the introduced European boar whieh was known to reach several hundred pounds in weight. Today, most feral pigs in Hawai'i are the combined descendants of both Polynesian and European stock. In old Hawai'i, pigs were highly respected creatures and were a symbol of wealth and status. They were used as food and also as important sacrificial offerings. The eating of pork, before the fall of the kapu system, was restricted to adult males and, according to Luomala, was forbidden during the time of makahiki. Obviously, pigs were very important in Hawaiian culture and very prominent in Hawaiian lore. (The demi-god Kamapua'a, is known to take many forms, and his encounters with the fire goddess Pele are known throughout the islands). Though a pig's diet consists mainly of plant material, they are also known to eat available "meat," such as snails, worms, ground nesting birds and eggs. While foraging for food, the pigs

uproot and kill many native plants and thus destroy thousands of acres of native forests whieh are crucial habitat for many endangered Hawaiian animals. Mueh money and energy has been put into fencing and eradication projects designed to keep feral pigs out of important native forest reserves. A constant battle has been going on between hunters who want a sustained wild pig population to insure good hunting and preservation of their sport, and conservationists who feel there is little or no room for feral pigs in the fragile Hawaiian environment. It is a situation where both sides have valid arguments, but without jsome eompromise, neither side may be satisfied.

Pua'a