Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 19, Number 12, 1 Kekemapa 2002 — Innovative kalo cultivation course at Känewai promotes traditional knowledge [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Innovative kalo cultivation course at Känewai promotes traditional knowledge

By Sterling Kini Wong Editor's note: This education fea - ture was produced by OHA Public īnformation Office īntern Sterling Kini Wong, a journalism and Hawaiian studies major at the Uni versi ty of Ha wai 'i at Mānoa. Kaleo Wong used a scoop net to gather azolla, an aquatic fern, from one of the lo'i at Ka Papa Lo'i o Kānewai and put them into a bucket. Wong, 20, explained that the azolla create a carpet~like cover over the water of the lo'i, blocking out sunlight. The shade the azolla provide prevents weeds from grow~ ing and helps to regulate the water temperature in the lo'i. Wong is one of 27 students learn~ ing about kalo cultfration through a class called Klahi'ai Kalo, a Hawaiian Studies class at the University of Hawai'i at Klanoa. The class, whieh is taught at Kānewai lo'i adjacent to the Center for Hawaiian Studies on Dole Street, is a hands~on class that teach.es students all the basic elements of maintaining a lo'i, every~ thing from planting huli to pound~ ing poi. Mahi'ai Kalo is one of a handful of courses offered through Hawaiian Studies that focuses on traditional aspects of Hawaiian eulture. Lilikalā Kame'eleihiwa, the

director of the Kamakakūokalani Centar for Hawaiian Studies, said classes such as Ho'okele (naviga~ tion and weather), Loko I'a (fish ponds) and Lā'au Lapa'au (tradi~ tional medicine), institutionalize traditional knowledge within the university so that it the knowledge not lost. "This is how we at the university ensure that there is poi for genera~

tions to eome," saidKame'eleihiwa. There is a wide array of students taking advantage of this knowledge, both Hawaiians and non~Hawaiians majoring in everything from history to journalism to Hawaiian language. Kris Mlaile, a junior majoring in engineering, said this class is giving him an opportunity to learn about kalo, something he really never

thought he'd have a ehanee to learn about. "I never thought I'd be making my own pōhaku ku'i 'ai, (poi pounder)," said Maile of one of the class' three final projects. The other two projects are the creation of a papa ku'i 'ai, a poi pounding board and an 'ō' 6, a digging stick. Mlahi'ai Kalo is a two semester course; the firstsemester focuses on backyard farming, the second semester is geared towards the eommercial aspect of farming. On any MIonday or Wednesday afternoon, students might be har~ vesting kalo; learning about the dynamics of the 'auwai, or irriga~ tion ditch, system; or matching a kalo variety with its description in the book Taro Varieties in Hawai' i, whieh was provided for the class by the College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources. The class also visits lo'i around the islands to learn the different styles and techniques of other farm~ ers as well as to help individual farmers. Last year the class helped elean kalo in Waiāhole, open up a lo'i in Hanapēpē on Kaua'i and gather 58 different varieties of kalo from Mloloka'i. This year the class helped huki, or hanfest, kalo at Kalei Bajo's lo'i in Waialua. Bajo said the way the students jumped into the lo'i without hesita~ tion make all kalo farmers proud.

"When I am working in the lo'i by myself I wonder if people care what I am doing," Bajo said. "Watching these students makes me feel like I am not alone; that people do care." Pōmaika'i Kani'aupi'oCrozier, the Kānewai lo'i coordinator and teacher of the class, said this class is intended to not only create a deep appreciation and undemtanding within eaeh stu~ dent for the intricacies of kalo culti~ vation, but also to educate the next generation of kalo farmers. "We want this class to be an estu~ ary for future kalo farmers," Kani"aupi'o~Crozier said. Wong, a Hawaiian studies and Hawaiian language major, is one of those future farmers. This past spring he was put in charge of the native Hawaiian section at Lyon Arboretum, whieh contains five lo'i. His knowledge of how to maintain and run a lo'i was very limited. He tried in vainto bring kūpuna and farmem to his lo'i in Mlānoa to help him out. "People always told me they were going to eome down," Wong said. "But they were just too busy to make it." Wong is now getting a crash course in kalo cultivation through this class. One of the first things he did was take that bucket of azolla to his lo'i at Lyon. ■

Classes such as Ho 'okele (navlgatlon and weather), Loko I'a (fishponds) and Lā'au Lapa 'au (traditional med - ieine), institutionalize traditional knowledge within the university so that the knowledge is not lost.

^ Ho'ona'auao

i I f