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Cultural Traditions and Food: Kānaka Maoli and the Production of Poi in the Heʻeʻia Wetland

Abstract For five years, a Native Hawaiian non-profit organization has been working to restore wetland taro farming in the ahupuaʻa of Heeʻia. This article argues that the cultivation of taro and the production of poi are critical means of resilience and Indigenous resurgence for Kānaka Maoli. Participant observations indicate that the modern-day farming of taro for poi is a struggling and backbreaking enterprise often hampered by funding shortages, lack of infrastructure, management challenges, an insufficient supply of taro and, more critically, access to fresh clean water. The primary objective of this article is to articulate how the agronomics of taro farming and poi milling manifests as resilience in and through the kanaka ʻōiwi body. What drives this kind of commitment to such an arduous undertaking? Through ethnographic field observations, field notes, surveys, and interviews the authors show how resilience is an embodied and regenerative experience; one that transforms both kalo and kanaka. The obstacles and grueling realities in the cultivation of kalo and the production of poi are highlighted from an Indigenous perspective, one that articulates the daily difficulties and successes in integrating Kānaka ʻŌiwi customary traditions or practices with modern-day management strategies but, more critically, identifies as cognate the relationship between kalo and kanaka.