Summary of Hawai'i Island Experience (Week 8)
To help me in crafting the Hawai'i Island Unit plan that is due at the beginning of Week 9 I decided to write a summary of our experience to help me reflect on what we actually learned during each of the units.
Here it is:
Our various kumu introduced our group to a sampling of natural and cultivated environmental systems unique to Hawai'i Island.
Each day our group explored different areas around the island showing us a diversity of natural and cultural features of the landscape, oceanscape, and people who use those places. The lessons allowed us to travel through different zones of the ahupua'a system, from the upland forests to the mid-land food production/living centers, to the coastal shorelines. The focus exposed us to the many ways land was used, or not used, on the island in both an ancient and contemporary sense; and to help us connect in our own ways with places there. There was a strong theme across most of the lessons involving Hawaiian food production. We toured Hawaiian fishponds (loko i'a) in Hilo, kalo farms in Waipio, hiked the Puanui dryland field system in Kohala, and were presented with ancient fishing methods of 'opelu from people in Miloli'i. The culminating experience was contextualized in learning about Hawaiian sailing canoes and how Hokule'a and other sailing wa'a have been transforming the cultural ethos of Hawai'i over the last 30+ years. Specifically, we learned about the evolution of food provisioning for the wa'a on long-distance voyages. As issues of waste, nutrition, and food sourcing arose, the wa'a community decided to re-evaluate their vision of how voyagers were sustained via food supply. Today, they work with a variety of local farms who generously and regularly donate local, fresh produce and meat products. These items are then lovingly transformed into creatively crafted meals and canned for each voyage. The power of these community relationships is in their common values and commitments where each group has an active responsibility and positive, meaningful contribution to the community. He wa'a he moku, he moku he wa'a.
Here it is:
Our various kumu introduced our group to a sampling of natural and cultivated environmental systems unique to Hawai'i Island.
Each day our group explored different areas around the island showing us a diversity of natural and cultural features of the landscape, oceanscape, and people who use those places. The lessons allowed us to travel through different zones of the ahupua'a system, from the upland forests to the mid-land food production/living centers, to the coastal shorelines. The focus exposed us to the many ways land was used, or not used, on the island in both an ancient and contemporary sense; and to help us connect in our own ways with places there. There was a strong theme across most of the lessons involving Hawaiian food production. We toured Hawaiian fishponds (loko i'a) in Hilo, kalo farms in Waipio, hiked the Puanui dryland field system in Kohala, and were presented with ancient fishing methods of 'opelu from people in Miloli'i. The culminating experience was contextualized in learning about Hawaiian sailing canoes and how Hokule'a and other sailing wa'a have been transforming the cultural ethos of Hawai'i over the last 30+ years. Specifically, we learned about the evolution of food provisioning for the wa'a on long-distance voyages. As issues of waste, nutrition, and food sourcing arose, the wa'a community decided to re-evaluate their vision of how voyagers were sustained via food supply. Today, they work with a variety of local farms who generously and regularly donate local, fresh produce and meat products. These items are then lovingly transformed into creatively crafted meals and canned for each voyage. The power of these community relationships is in their common values and commitments where each group has an active responsibility and positive, meaningful contribution to the community. He wa'a he moku, he moku he wa'a.
Throughout the summer experience, we were also introduced to a specific perspective of Hawaiian culture and worldview called Papakumakawalu. Papakumakawalu is a Hawaiian worldview belief system that has strong spiritual and cultural importance for some Hawaiian people. This worldview is a modern lens for interpreting ancient Hawaiian indigenous knowledge and value systems; although some would argue that the interpretation would not be considered modern because of its ancient foundations. Nonetheless, these ancient beliefs form the framework for a culturally relevant value system that is currently used for shaping modern practices and culture. More recently, this perspective has been used in alternative education in Hawaiian-centered schools. Ancient stories and legends, transcribed oral records and other Hawaiian texts, combined with native and local cultural and ecological knowledge, have all been used to form specific elements of this cultural perspective.
An important part of this belief system lies within acknowledging the complexity and depth of Hawaiian thinking and practice as it is recorded in oral histories and texts, as well as in western history and archaeological facts. The narrative that this perspective creates is that which the Hawaiian people, from earliest of times, were deeply aware and critical of their environment which allowed for the development of uniquely sophisticated, highly efficient, and innovative societal and land-use practices. This historical truth about the Hawaiian people is generally accepted by many people in Hawai'i and across the world.
Many of the values expressed within this belief system are for the most part universally accepted and speak on themes of ecological balance, resource stewardship, and sustainability. One of the main ideas is that humans are fundamentally connected to and dependent on the health and productivity of the 'āina. As such, every person has an intrinsic responsibility to take care of that which sustains them and their community.
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