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

Aurora Kagawa-Viviani, Penny Levin, Edward Johnston, Jeri Ooka, Jonathan Baker, Michael Kantar and Noa Kekuewa Lincoln
Additional contact information
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
Jeri Ooka: Association for Hawaiian ʻAwa, Pepeʻekeo, HI 96783, USA
Jonathan Baker: Association for Hawaiian ʻAwa, Pepeʻekeo, HI 96783, 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

Sustainability, 2018, vol. 10, issue 12, 1-36

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.

Keywords: cultural revitalization; indigenous knowledge; taro; sweet potato; kava; sugarcane; research ethics; restoration (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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