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I Ke Ēwe ʻĀina o Ke Kupuna: Hawaiian Ancestral Crops in Perspective

Author

Listed:
  • Aurora Kagawa-Viviani

    (Department of Geography and Environment, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, Honolulu, HI 96822, USA)

  • Penny Levin

    (E kūpaku ka ʻāina, Wailuku, HI 96793, USA)

  • Edward Johnston

    (‘Alia Point ‘Awa Nursery, Pepeʻekeo, HI 96783, USA
    Association for Hawaiian ʻAwa, Pepeʻekeo, HI 96783, USA)

  • Jeri Ooka

    (Association for Hawaiian ʻAwa, Pepeʻekeo, HI 96783, USA)

  • Jonathan Baker

    (Association for Hawaiian ʻAwa, Pepeʻekeo, HI 96783, USA
    Division of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, Chaminade University of Honolulu, Honolulu, HI 96822, USA)

  • Michael Kantar

    (Department of Tropical Plant and Soil Sciences, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, Honolulu, HI 96822, USA)

  • Noa Kekuewa Lincoln

    (Department of Tropical Plant and Soil Sciences, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, Honolulu, HI 96822, USA)

Abstract

Indigenous crops, tremendously valuable both for food security and cultural survival, are experiencing a resurgence in Hawaiʻi. These crops have been historically valued by agricultural researchers as genetic resources for breeding, while cultural knowledge, names, stories and practices persisted outside of formal educational and governmental institutions. In recent years, and following conflicts ignited over university research on and patenting of kalo (Hāloa, Colocasia esculenta ), a wave of restoration activities around indigenous crop diversity, cultivation, and use has occurred through largely grassroots efforts. We situate four crops in Hawaiian cosmologies, review and compare the loss and recovery of names and cultivars, and describe present efforts to restore traditional crop biodiversity focusing on kalo, ʻuala ( Ipomoea batatas ), kō ( Saccharum officinarum ), and ʻawa ( Piper methysticum ). The cases together and particularly the challenges of kalo and ‘awa suggest that explicitly recognizing the sacred role such plants hold in indigenous worldviews, centering the crops’ biocultural significance, provides a foundation for better collaboration across multiple communities and institutions who work with these species. Furthermore, a research agenda that pursues a decolonizing approach and draws from more participatory methods can provide a path forward towards mutually beneficial exchange among research, indigenous, and farmer communities. We outline individual and institutional responsibilities relevant to work with indigenous crops and communities and offer this as a step towards reconciliation, understanding, and reciprocity that can ultimately work to create abundance through the restoration of ancestral crop cultivar diversity.

Suggested Citation

  • Aurora Kagawa-Viviani & Penny Levin & Edward Johnston & Jeri Ooka & Jonathan Baker & Michael Kantar & Noa Kekuewa Lincoln, 2018. "I Ke Ēwe ʻĀina o Ke Kupuna: Hawaiian Ancestral Crops in Perspective," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(12), pages 1-36, December.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:10:y:2018:i:12:p:4607-:d:188152
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
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    Cited by:

    1. Lincoln, Noa Kekuewa, 2020. "Agroforestry form and ecological adaptation in ancient Hawai'i: Extent of the pākukui swidden system of Hāmākua, Hawai'i Island," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 181(C).

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