Kauai History and Taro
Taro became the mainstay of the Hawaiian diet and the spiritual center of Hawaiian society. So important was taro to their survival and prosperity that it was considered an elder sibling to the Hawaiian race.
Taro farming developed into a sophisticated system with the cultivation of approximately 300 varieties of taro adapted to grow in marshy land irrigated by streams or in the uplands as high as 4,000 feet. Wet taro planting required a ready source of flowing water that could be diverted through the taro terraces (lo’i). A new lo’i was first cleared of grass and weeds and allowed to absorb the nutrients from rotting hau and kukui leaves which were worked into the damp soil. The area was flooded for several days and mud was thrown along the border forming an embankment. Once they hit firm soil and the banks were built up, they stamped down the embankment sides with their feet. More soil and leaves from sugar cane and coconut were beaten into the surface preventing the banks from drying and cracking.
Taro cuttings (huli) were planted in the soft mud and the field was flooded. Once leaves unfurled, the lo’i was drained and left alone for two weeks. The terrace was then flooded again with slowly circulating water until the crop was pulled for harvest. The taro roots (corms) reached maturity when the leaves began to curl and yellow, but they could be left in the flooded lo’i for months longer without rotting. Taro generally matured in nine to twelve months, and farmers rarely harvested a whole lo’i at once, only pulling what was needed. The roots were worked free from the mud by hand or foot, the plant was pulled, the leaves were chopped off, the top portion of the corm was replanted, and old leaves were returned as fertilizer.
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Kauai History and Farming
The tropical climate provided plenty of sun, water, and rich soil, but the lack of metal tools or wheels meant planting and harvesting was done literally by hand. A farmer’s hands and feet were his best tools for clearing the soil, weeding, raking, and digging. Hawaiians also developed a variety of wood, shell, and stone tools for use in husking coconuts, harvesting breadfruit, harvesting taro, carrying objects, felling trees, and planting with the aid of an ‘o’o.
While the Hawaiian word for water is ‘wai’, the word for wealth is ‘waiwai’. Farming centered around taro which grew best with an abundant supply of fresh water. Water, therefore, became a symbol for abundance and prosperity. The importance of water shaped ancient laws, justice, property rights, and was an important resource to be protected and cared for. The water needs of taro spurred Hawaiians to some of their greatest engineering and construction achievements by developing sophisticated irrigation systems that kept taro terraces flooded with slowly circulating water.
The building of irrigation ditches or watercourses (‘auwai) required the labor and planning of a whole community. Irrigation ditch construction began at the lower elevation end of a stream and was dug upward, adding dams of rough stone in the stream that could be opened and closed by removing or replacing the large stones. Terraces were designed so that water from the ‘auwai flowed from one terrace to the next, moving slowly enough not to sweep away soil or young plant shoots, but moving quickly enough so that the water temperature remained cool. Farmers taking water from the ‘auwai followed a time schedule, and no single user was allowed to divert more than half the stream’s flow.
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Kauai History and Edible Plants
Even though Hawaiians lived surrounded by ocean, the foundation of their society was the work of farmers. Hawaiians identified with taro, the staple crop that symbolized the Hawaiian family unit with its main root, surrounded by offspring shoots, and topped by spreading green leaves. When the first Polynesians arrived in Hawai’i, they found many native edible plants that they continued to gather and use, as well as setting out to plant the stocks they had brought with them in their voyaging canoes. The indigenous plants, many possibly known from their homelands, were incorporated into their diets, and used in ritual or other specific uses. They ate their roots and young leaf shoots of hapu’u and other ferns. Other roots and tubers were cooked and eaten including varieties of wild sweet potato and yam. Wild berries were eaten raw including ‘akala (raspberry), ‘ohelo (huckleberry), and ‘Ohi’a ‘ai (mountain apple).
Of the plants these settlers brought with them, their favorites for cooking and eating were taro, sweet potato, and breadfruit. Hawaiians invested more time and labor into growing taro than any other crop, by developing hundreds of varieties adapted to suit every type of terrain. To provide optimal growing conditions, ponds with slowly circulating water were built, along with ditches feeding water to staggered terraces. Hawaiians divided their year into 12 lunar months and two seasons. The warmer summer months (kau) were blessed with reliable tradewinds from May to October. The cooler wetter months (ho’oilo) when tradewinds dissipated were from November to April. Farming season in general ran from March when taro, sweet potato, and other crops were planted through to June when sweet potatoes could be harvested, and to September when the widescale harvesting took place.
Once harvested, taro was baked, eaten whole or pounded into a paste called pa’i ‘ai, which could be kept for a long period of time. Water was then added to create poi. Sweet potato (‘uala) was substituted for taro in drier areas, and like taro, it was cooked and eaten whole or pounded to make a poi. Hawaiians also ate the taro and sweet potato tips as greens. They also brought with them breadfruit and mai’a (bananas), and began growing more than fifty different types of bananas to be eaten raw or cooked.
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