Aloha Aina Primer OAT

8/6/2019 Aloha Aina Primer OAT

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Aloha ` Ā ina: Hawaiian Ecology PrimerTrisha Kehaulani Watson, JD, PhD

Introduction

Traditional Native Hawaiian practitioners were scientists and expert natural resource managersby necessity. Without modern technological conveniences to rely on, Hawaiians developed andmaintained prosperous and symbiotic relationships with their natural environments forthousands of years. Our environments were our families, our homes and our laboratories. Weknew the names of every wind and every rain. Our elements taught and inspired us. Theability of indigenous people to combine spirit and science led to the formation unique landbased methodologies that spurred unsurpassed innovation. Therefore, appreciating theprinciples of Hawaiian ecology today requires a baseline understanding of how Hawaiiansinitimately knew and cared for their environment.

Origins of Hawaiì’s Biodiversity

Traditionally, Hawaiians were both settlers and explorers. Beatrice H. Krauss’ Plants inHawaiian Culture explains: “Exploration of the forests revealed trees, the timber of which wasvaluable for building houses and making canoes. The forests also yielded plants that could beused for making and dying tapa, for medicine, and for a variety of other artifacts” (Krauss,1976). Analysis of Native plants and resource management practices reveals the depth to whichHawaiians excelled in their environmental science practices:

[Hawaiians] demonstrated great ability in systematic differentiation, identification, andnaming of the plants they cultivated and gathered for use. Their knowledge of the grossmorphology of plants, their habits of growth, and the requirements for greatest yields isnot excelled by expert agriculturists of more complicated cultures. They worked out theprocedures of cultivation for every locality, for all altitudes, for different weather

conditions and exposures, and for soils of all types. In their close observations of theplants they grew, they noted and selected mutants (sports) and natural hybrids, and socreated varieties of the plants they already had. Thus over the years after their arrival inthe Islands, the Hawaiians added hundreds of named varieties of taro, sweet pototoes,sugarcane, and other cultivated plants to those they had brought with them from thecentral Pacific (Krauss, 1976).

It was the Native Hawaiians who reinforced through their natural resource managementpractices the biodiversity that exists in Hawaiì today.

The importance of exploration and identification of all life forms that led to the ability to create

this biodivesity is best evidenced in the Kumulipo, a traditional Hawaiian creation chant. KumuPualani Kanakaole Kanahele explains of the Kumulipo:

The KUMULIPO echoes the complexities and details of the Hawaiian thought process.His skillful observation and examination brought understanding and respect toeverything in his world. He realized that the powers for growth and bounty were thebasic universal elements. The moon cycle was the principle motivator of the earth. Itgenerated extreme movements of the ocean, and caused the eyes of the land and sea to




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bloom and it dictated the time for earth to commence or rest from production. The sunand rain were the penetrating nourishing forces into the earth. The wind, ocean currentsand rivers provided mobility for things and objects incapable of movement. TheHawaiian and all other natural forms of his world were the beneficiaries of this primalcadence and flow with the rhythm of the universe (Kanahele).

The first W ā (Age) of the Kumulipo provides detailed identification of ocean life.

15. Ha nau ka Uku ko‘ako‘a, ha nau ka na, he ‘a ko‘ako‘a, puka

16. Ha nau ke Ko‘e ‘Enuhe, ‘eli ho‘opu‘u honua

17. Ha nau ka na, he Ko‘e, puka

18. Ha nau ka Pe‘a, ka Pe‘ape‘a ka na keiki, puka

19. Ha nau ka Weli, he Weliweli ka na keiki, puka

20. Ha nau ka ‘Ina, ka ‘Ina

21. Ha nau ka na, he Ha lula, puka…

The Coral gives birth to an offspring, the coral head emergesThe Caterpillar gives birth, digging up the earth

The Worm emerges

The Starfish gives birth, the small starfish emerges

The Sea Cucumber gives birth, the small sea cucumber emerges

The Sea Urchin gives birth

Producing an offspring, a Sea Urchin emerges… (Edith Kanakaole Foundation).

Hawaiians actively sought out and identified biotic elements in their surrounding environment.As self-sustaining people, such a practice was necessary to their long-term existence. Asindustrious people, Hawaiians constantly experimented with natural products to find uses forthem in their living systems. By the time foreign contact occurred, there were not many naturalresources without full and efficient use in Hawaiì.

The Ahupuaà System: A Hawaiian Tool for Resource Management

Hawaiians maintained a sustainable use of their natural resources for centuries. Thissustainablity derived from mindful and careful planning of how natural resources would bedivided and used among Hawaiì’s human populations. At the core of this sustainable livingwas the ahupuaà – “the ancient Hawaiian land division which extended from the uplands to

the sea.”

In an effort to education modern communities throughout Hawaii about the traditionalHawaiian lifestyle, the Òpelu Project created A Manual for Doing Things Hawaiian Style . In thismanual, the ahupuaà model is described as follows:

As an island people, we live with one foot on the land and one foot in the ocean. Thisduality formed the character, values, technology, economy, cultural and spirituality of




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the Poè Hawaiì (the Indigenous People of Hawaiì) and continued to influence ustoday.

The ahupuaà serves both as a symbol and a system of how people should related to theenvironment and other life forms which live in that environment, as well as how peopleshould relate to each other. The ahupuaà of Wai anae, like other ahupuaa, met most ofteh needs of the people who lived within in for food, shelter, clothing, tools, re-creation

and spiritual sustenance.

In order to survive within the ahupuaà, the people had to develop appropriatetechnology which would help achieve a sustainable level of develop for that ahupuaa.The peopl could not over-fish, over-harvest or raise more animals than the environmentcould sustain; to do so would lead to teh destruction of the whole village.

Today, however, we live in a world which does not practice, nor even recognizes thevalue of the ahupuaà philosophy and system of sustainable development and self-sufficiency. Our concern is that, “the economy is becoming less accoutable to social andcultural values, and without community-based efforts to ensure accoutability, the values

themselves will continue to be eroded.”

In response to our present condition, we are calling for a more wholistic approach toliving – an approach which encompasses the physical, intellectual and spiritual. Theirony is that this is not a new approach to living and growh, but is part of an ancient one:the ahupuaà system (Kaàla Farm, 1996).

The ahupuaà system provided the ecological and political framework which allowed for thefully sustainable use of a community’s natural resources.

Ecological Expertise and Cultural Resource Protection

The ecological expertise enabled traditional practitioners to manage their resources masterfully,it also enabled prosperous and sustainable living throughout the pae` ā ina. The kapu system, acomplex system of natural resource regulation and management, placed great responsibilityupon the Hawaiian people to care for their ecosystem properly. Professor Davianna McGregorexplains the constant role of community management in the kapu system. She explains:

While traveling to the various ìli or sections of the traditional cultural practices region,through dirt roads and trails, along spring-fed stream, and the shoreline, practitionerscontinuously stay alert to the condition of the resources. If a resource is declining theywill observe a kapu or restriction on its use until it recovers. They may even replantsparse areas. They are acutely aware of changes due to seasonable and life cycletransformation in the plants and animals. Plants and animals in their reproductive stageare not gathered. As kua` ā ina gather in their traditional area, they also renew theirunderstanding of the landscape, the place-names, names of the winds and the rains,traditional legends, wahi pana, historical cultural sites, and the location of various nativeplants and animals. An inherent aspect of these practices is conservation to ensureavailability of natural resources for present and future generations (McGregor, 2007).




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It was the responsibility of the community, functioning within a complex kapu system thatdeveloped organically from the land and sea themselves, to help to maintain the overallsustainability of the resources.

Ìke Kapu: Acquisition and Use of Sacred Knowledge

Conversely to the western world were knowledge is seen as information that should be

accessible to all, indigenous knowledge is sacred. It is not for everyone. In many cases today, itis wholly inappropriate for foreigners to attempt to access knowledge that is sacred. Thetransmission of knowledge has always been a highly valued and guarded practice with theHawaiian community. Deeply sacred and intimate was the learning process between teacherand student in traditional Hawaiì. Gutmanis also explains this relationship: “No matter whenthe novice began his training it was based on the one-to-one relationship of a strictapprenticeship. The student was expected to have a good memory and to learn fast, ààpo aè.Instructions were never given more than twice or three times at the most, then no more, pau.Never questioning, always observing, the boy began his training doing menial tasks. He was inturn closely watered to assure to no kapu were broken (Gutmanis)”. Again, the important of thekapu remains central in Hawaiian learning. Gutmanis notes: “If [the novice] failed to keep this

kapu his knowledge would be shallow, not deep, pulelehua ka ike” (Gutmanis). The intimacy oflearning is critical in native ecology and knowledge. It protected knowledge and ensured itproper usage.

Therefore, today, as in the past, being an “expert” on Hawaiian culture consists of much morethan “palapala,” credentials, or simply being Hawaiian. A true expert possesses credentials,genealogy, expertise, localized knowledge and/or community bonds. It is often noted amongscholars that the conflict that emerges from projects stem from a failure to employ true experts.

Localized, rigorous levels of expertise is an idea that reoccurs throughout the indigenous world.As Donald L. Fixico explains in The American Indian Mind in a Linear World: American Indian

Studies and Traditional Knowledge:The traditional educational system is to learn by two methods. The first is to listen,observe, be patient for a sign (which has caused others to call traditional Indianspassive). And lessons are learned by receiving or taking in this information. Animportant point may be that it may not be most effective to try to deliberately obtainknowledge, as only information would be gained (not knowledge) and frastuationusually happens in this acquisitive process.

After receiving knowledge, which may not always be understood at first, then a personreacts by imitating the elder who might be a teacher, or reacting to the instructionlearned from nature, and knowledge is learned in this way like the mainsteam by doing– the practical experience and this knowledge of doing one’s job, taking an exam,hunting, and so forth is application of knowledge receiving by using this knowledge(Fixico, 2003).

Herein, we see how American Indians also share the Hawaiian method of simply being patientand waiting for knowledge to be given. Even in contemporary times, releasing control overone’s surroundings and allowing external forces to control learning proved extremely




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beneficial. Therefore, whenever the effort to acquire knowledge comes from an external need; ittypically reflects this external element through a forced and contrived learning process. Sincethis method is foreign, by extension, the information acquired is typically largely inaccurate.The Native, organic methodology surely seems strange to western scientist, but it was necessaryfor Native Hawaiians.

Native Hawaiians did not use western written communication tools prior to foreign contact.

The Kanaka Maoli relied for thousands of years oral traditions. Oli and mele hula served asmusical and artistic expression, transmissions of history and forms of education. Kumu Hula John Keolamakaàinanakalahuiokalani Lake explains: “The oli and the mele hula are the basicforms of musical expression in precontact Hawaiì. Chanting, through the oli or mele hula in itsfunction and interpretation represents the inexplicable mysteries of the deepest levels ofphysical and spiritual union in humankind and our relationship to nature” (Lake). Mele hulaand oli were not just entertainment or art. They became historical repositories of Hawaii’s pre-contact social and political history. It is science. It is data. Within our histories wereexplanations of our knowledges and management systems. Kumu Lake explains:

Hawaiian society was stratified into social, political, and religious levels and governed

by strictly defined hierarchy. This society was subjected to the strictest form of order,bound by the mana and kapu concepts. Mana is the Polynesian concept of divine powerinstilled in every person. Kapu was a system of privileges and prohibitions thatgoverned everyday Hawaiian life. These two concepts were indelible marks regulatingHawaiian behavior and attitudes. The kapu and the mana of the mele (chant) lie in itstest – its òlelo (Lake).

Mele and other oral language forms therefore played an important role in the education of theNative Hawaiian people. It was the transmission of knowledge; it was the transmission of data;it was transmission of sustainable management practices. Learning traditional knowledge wasa sacred process and responsibility, because the survival of the people and culture relied on it.

Challenges to these processes and responsibilities have led to conflicts throughout Hawaiì’spost-contact history.

Aloha ` Ā ina: Hawaiian Political Ecology

While commonly used as a general term inreference to “love for the land,” Aloha ` Ā ina is ahistorical term from Hawaiì’s Kingdom Era. Thephrase is associated with Joseph N āwah ī, famedHawaiian patriot, publisher, and political leader.From Puna (Hawaiì Island), N ā wah ī attendedsome of the best schools in Hawaiì and quicklyrose in the community as a leader. He servedmany roles in Hawaiì Kingdom government,and he was a member of Queen Liliùokalani’scabinet. He ran the newspaper Ke Aloha ` Ā ina(the Patriot) with wife, Emma N ā wah ī.

They would also form and lead the political

Figure 1 Example of the Hui Aloha ` Ā ina petitionssigned by men and women throughout Hawaiì inopposition to U.S Annexation.




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organization Hui Aloha ` Ā ina, which led efforts in opposition of the overthrow of the HawaiianKingdom, restore the monarchy, and fight U.S. Annexation of Hawaiì. Research from the U.S.National Archives have led researchers to believe that the efforts of Hui Aloha ` Ā ina resulted innearly all adult residents in Hawaiì (both Hawaiian and non-Hawaiian) signed the KuèPetitions, the official petition in opposition Hawaiì’s annexation to the United States.

Today, the term continues to be a rallying cry for Hawaiian communities who have concerns

over the continuing impact of non-native influences in Hawaiì, particularly on the land andnatural resources. Therefore, the term Aloha ` Ā ina is a complex one, both exemplifying auniversal love of Hawaiì’s extraordinary ecology and the deep seeded wounds still felt by itsindigenous people over Hawaiì’s complicated political history.

Conclusion

Hawaiian ecological knowledge intricately integrates science and spirituality. Traditionalknowledge is nuanced and possesses a depth that surpasses “western science expertise.”Generalities are not common in Hawaiian traditional knowledge. Conversely, knowledge andmanagement was largely constructed from local geographic and ecological variables. What is

practiced and appropriate in one locality may not be practiced or appropriate in another, evenneighboring, locality. Therefore, the most important element of engaging in traditionalHawaiian ecology is developing a respectful relationship with the kua` ā ina, native residents, ofa particular area. Respect and patience gives everyone the opportunity to remember what weshare in common, and that the need to love and care for the earth is not something we want todo for ourselves, but rather something we must do for our children.

References

Edith Kanakaole Foundation. (2002-2003). “He Kumulipo No Ka‘i‘imamao A Ia Alapa‘i Wahine:Ka Wā Àkahi,” Hawaiì, available at:http://www.edithkanakaolefoundation.org/projects/kumulipo/wa-akahi.htm (last accessedSeptember 1, 2009).

Fixico, D. (2003). The American Indian Mind in a Linear World, American Indian Studies andTraditional Knowledge. London: Routledge.

Gutmanis, J. (1976). Kahuna La'au Lapa'au: Hawaiian Herbal Medicine . Waipahu: Island Heritage.

Kanahele, P. (2003). “Kumulipo Introduction: Traditional Hawaiian Philosophy,” Hawaiì:Edith Kanakaole Foundation, 2002-2003, available at:http://www.edithkanakaolefoundation.org/projects/kumulipo/index.htm (last accessedSeptember 1, 2009).

Krauss, B. (1993). Plants in Hawaiian Culture , Honolulu: University of Hawaiì Press.

Lake, J.K. “Chanting, the Lyrical Poetry of Hawaii: Na Mele oli a me Na mele hula.” Handout.On file with author.

McGregor, D. (2007). N ā Kua`ā ina: Living Hawaiian Culture. Honolulu: University of HawaiìPress.

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Aloha Aina Primer OAT