Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 33, Number 3, 1 March 2016 — Kāko‘o ‘Ōiwi: Restoring an ahupua‘a [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Kāko‘o ‘Ōiwi: Restoring an ahupua‘a

ByTreenaShapiro On a 404-acre parcel in He'eia, Kāko'o 'Ōiwi is in the process of restoring an ahupua'a, using a 1928 image as a guide to recreate taro patches where traditional structures were in use until the mid-1800s. Subsequent uses - sugar eane, pineapple, rice and cattle - led to fights over water rights, erosion, flooding and runoff, all of whieh negatively impacted the heahh and productivity of the He'eia fishpond and Kāne'ohe Bay. Meanwhile mangrove trees - originally introduced to control erosion - spread andchokedthe He'eia Streamchan-

nel at its mouth. In January 2010, Kāko'o 'Ōiwi leased the land with plans to restore it to traditional and historic uses through eommuni-ty-driven efforts. "Basically at Kāko'o 'Ōiwi, what we focus on is the development and perpetuation of Hawaiian culture for all generations and all people in Hawai'i," the nonprofit's executive director Kanekoa Kukea-Shultz said in a video interview. "We're very focused right now on building that food aspect of our people's culture."

Today, many traditional Hawaiian starches are grown in He'eia: pia (arrowroot), kalo (taro), 'uala (sweet potato), ulu (breadfruit), as well as other native and non-native produce. Using sustainable farming practices, Kāko'o 'Ōiwi harvested 68,200 pounds of food in 2015. But Kāko'o 'Ōiwi's mission goes beyond restoring the land to its formerproductivity. Kukea-Shultz sees it as his kuleana to help Hawaiians understand where they eame from. "This is the land that has sustained me and it's important that kids have that opportunity to practice what our ancestors have practiced and not just to read it or see a beautiful Herb Kāne painting, but to be able to feel how the mud feels with your toes, how it smells and in what aspects this land talks back to us," he said.

In addition to producing healthy food for the community, Kāko'o 'Ōiwi wants to help the community take ownership of the food they eat. This could mean encouraging more people to farm and helping other farmers obtain equipment and materials. It could also mean providing grants to other community groups. In time, a handful of families could work on the land. "We are looking to invite about four families as a test project to have them start to farm areas and to develop an understanding of what it means to farm and provide food for their families and then obviously prepare it and eat with their families, whieh is a mueh more important aspect of an ahupua'a - the whole feeding and sharing and taking care of eaeh other," Kukea-Shultz said. Kāko'o 'Ōiwi already has the support of some food industry professionals dedicated to cooking with locally grown produce. Mark "Gooch" Noguchi, chef and co-founder of the Pili Group, has been running industry work days in He'eia every

other month for the past four years. Held on Mondays - and now renamed Hanohano He'eia Work Days - the events attract 25-30 food industry workers who are leaming what it takes to have locally sourced ingredients. "Everybody who comes, comes to hana. No one comes to milimili or do it for the 'gram (to post on

sociat meaia). tveryDoay puts īn. tnat s wnat s important to me." Noguchi does more than assist Kāko'o 'Ōiwi with physical labor. "When you source products locally, it makes you understand that you cannot get everything you like, when you like," he said. If what he wants isn't available locally, he looks for something else. And, if the folks in He'eia have grown something they're finding hard to sell, Noguchi takes it off their hands to see what he ean do with it. "I think being aggressive and actually sourcing locally educates you to understand just how frail our ecosystem is," Noguchi said. "I don't eall our produce guys and have them get something from America just because. That's why I think loeal sourcing is important - reinforcing the fact of understanding where we eome from and how fragile it is." Before becoming the director of marketing for Kāko'o 'Ōiwi, Lindsey Ozawa was execu-

tive chef at Nobu Waikīkī and chef and owner at Primo in Kailua. "I worked with food pretty mueh my entire working career," he said. But he points out the past two years in He'eia have been his introduction to producing and growing the food himself. "I've always used as mueh locally grown product as I ean in my career. This is a 180, but it's in the same realm as what I was doing before." Leaming about native plants and foods and gaining a fuller appreciation of where food comes from is what drew Ozawa to Kāko'o 'Ōiwi, but increasing the amount of food produced locally has a practical benefit. "As a chef, you always want what's going to taste best. If it's from here it's probably going to taste better than something that's in a container. Then you have the whole sustainability issue,

whieh is equally important," he said. Kāko'o 'Ōiwi's mission has many partners, particularly the Hawai'i Community Loundation, the National Oeeanie and Atmospheric Association, the Nature Conservancy and the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, whieh collectively provide the haekhone of funding that has allowed the nonprofit to learn and grow. Lor more information or to get involved, visit www.kakoooiwi.org or email info@kakoooiwi.org. Community workdays are held on second Saturdays from 8 a.m. to noon. Kāko'o 'Ōiwi is just one community program supported by funding from the Office of Hawaiian Affairs. In fiscal year 20 15, OHA' s Grants Program awarded $ 10.3 million to statewide initiatives that meet the needs of Hawaiians and the community at large. Visit www.oha.org for more information. Watch video of Kāko'o 'Ōiwi at www.vimeo.com/ ohahawaii. ■

This is the land that has sustained me and it s important that kids have that that opportunity to practice what our ancestors have practiced and not just to read it... ." — Executive director Kanekoa Kukea-Shultz

OHA GRANTEE SPOTLIGHT

Kāko'o 'Ōiwi strives to give children a plaee to practice the ancestral knowledge passed down by kupuna,- Photos: Courtesy Kāko'o 'Oiwi