Ka`u Calendar News Briefs Sunday, Jan. 17, 2016

      Archaeologist Kamuela Plunkett said he entered the field to learn how Hawaiian methods of growing food in the past can help “understand how to feed ourselves.” He said that in old Hawai`i and today, it takes a community. He said “the word community is easy to say but difficult to live by;” it takes relationships, patience, aloha and forgiveness. He mentioned Ka`u Multicultural Society President Darlyne Vierra and praised the organization’s efforts to collect photos and documents on the history of local families in agriculture. He said history is important - important to know what the heritage is, whether one has been here a lifetime or only one year.
      He talked about massive farming systems found through archaeological research. One of them with sweet potatoes and sugar cane was 26 square miles, crossing 21 ahupua`a. He said remnants of the food systems can be seen today in pastures as ripples on the land. These were the terraces or walled in sweet potato planting areas with berms. Field walls and mounds not only provided protection but held moisture for dry times. Sugar cane was a windbreak, also collecting moisture and making mulch. He mentioned planting food lower, makai in wet years and more mauka in dry years. “Hawaiians called it common sense.” Scientists today call it "risk management," he said. “We look back not to stay in the back but to move forward.”
      He also noted that oral histories, the mo`olelo describing huge amounts of food grown in ancient Hawai`i, are not just stories; they are supported by findings of archaeological research.
      Earl Louis said, “Ka`u is the piko. Ka`u can be an example.” He urged going back to the ahupua`a system.
      Stephanie Tabata and John Dancel talked about their family's long Hawaiian lineage in Ka`u, with their own oral history and documentation of land ownership that differs from some of the other written and oral accounts.
    Trini Marques talked about the need for archaeologists going on lands to connect with the families whose ancestors lived there in the past. 

     Anna Cariaga suggested “unlearning” the negative and moving forward, understanding and implementing the valuable Hawaiian lessons in a positive way.
     Kawehi Ryder, founder of Uhane, talked about opportunities to restore springs and fish ponds at Punalu`u and said there was a poi mill at one time near Kawa.
     Meinecke said that Wai`ohinu means reflecting water, earning its name from seven lo`i - taro patches, and noted that water for taro had been diverted by the now defunct sugar plantations.

     Hawaiian musician and educator Emma Emalia Ka`olanial`i Keohokalole, who has Ka`u ancestors, led songs of Ka`u during the meeting.

Emma Emalia Ka`olaniali`i Keohokalole, whose ancestry dates back to High Chief Kewawe-a-Heulu, of Kiolaka`a and Wai`ohinu, led the singing last night, including Ka`u's songs. Photo by Julia Neal

      The book The Polynesian Family System in Ka`u by E.S. Craighill Handy and Mary Kawena Pukui was on display and for sale as a reference for Ka`u households. So were films on history made by Eddie Kamae.