Kauai History and Canoe Plants

0909taro While dates change with new archaeological discoveries, the general sequence for the settlement of Polynesia is…
Around 300 B.C. or earlier, seafarers from Samoa and Tonga discovered and settled the Marquesas, and Tahiti. 
Around 200 A.D. or earlier, voyagers from central or eastern Polynesia discovered and settled Easter Island. 
Around 200 A.D. or earlier, voyagers from the Cook Islands, Tahiti, and Marquesas settled Hawaii. (A distance of more than 2000 miles, give or take a few wayward miles in the Doldrums.)

The ethnobotanical evidence reflects this progression of settlement from the Western Pacific islands, through central Polynesia, and then to Hawaii. Experience had taught the Polynesian that very few edible plants grew on previously uninhabited islands, so they brought along a traveling garden. To Hawaii they brought about two dozen varieties of plants. Seeds, slips, cuttings, tubers and young plants were swathed in fresh water-moistened moss, then swaddled in dry ti-leaf, kapa (bark cloth), or skin from the banana tree. Finally, these bundles were put in lauhala (pandanus leaf) casings and hung from the roof of the canoe’s hut. Here they would best be protected from lethal salt water and spray. Some of their canoe plants included…

Hau – wood for canoe outriggers, bark for cordage and kapa, flowers for medicine.
Olona – fibers used for cordage.
Kukui – (candlenut) – wood for canoes, nuts used for lighting and food and lei, roots for black dye.
‘Awa – (kava) – roots used as a beverage & ceremonial drink.
Niu – (coconut) – nuts used for food, drink, and oil, fibers for cordage, leaves for thatch and baskets, wood for spears and house construction.
Ki – (ti) – leaves for clothing, food wrappers, and thatch, roots baked for food and medicine.
Noni – (indian mulberry) – used for medicine.
Kalo – (taro) – roots and leaves a staple food.
Ko – (sugarcane) – stem used for food and medicine.
Mai’a – (banana) – fruits used for food, leaves for food preparation.
Uhi – (yam) – tubers a food staple.
Ipu – (gourd) – gourds used for containers and musical instruments.
‘Uala – (sweet potato) – tubers and leaves used for food.