‘ĀINATHAT WHICH NOURISHES
‘ĀINA - THAT WHICH NOURISHES
A capstone design research project submitted in partial fulfillment of the Plan B requirements for the degree of MASTER OF LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE
May 2021
By
Branden Kāwika Keolamaika‘i Gar Ping Annino
Capstone committee: Phoebe White
Judith Stilgenbauer, Chairperson
Keywords: Indigenous Agricultural Practices, Urban Agriculture, Sustainable Agricultural Systems
Avery, Aria, and Brynli. This work is dedicated to my daughters
PART 1 Research & Analysis
.01
Project Introduction
1.1 The Current State...................00
1.2 Research Purpose.................00
HAWAIIAN .03
1.3 Methodology.........................00 INTRO PROJECT .02
Hawaiian Agricultural Practices & Systems
2.1 A Cultural Introduction..........00
2.2 Pre-contact Agriculture.........00
2.3 Irrigated System....................00
2.4 Rain-fed System....................00
2.5 Restoration............................00
AGRICULTURE + .04
Pre-Contact Hawaiian Society & Agriculture
3.1 Early Polynesians..................00
3.2 Significance of Taro...............00
3.3 Agriculture’s Role...................00
3.4 Religion & Agriculture............00
3.5 Conclusion............................00
FOREIGN
Foreign Influences on Hawaiian Agricutlure Systems
4.1 European Arrival....................00
4.2 Kingdom of Hawai‘i...............00
4.3 The Overthrow.......................00
4.4 Conclusion............................00
PART 2 Design
Scale of Urban Agriculture
5.1 Establishing Scale.................00
5.2 Community Scale..................00
SITE SELECTION &
5.3 Neighborhood Scale..............00 STUDIES PRECEDENT .06 Site Selection & Implementation
6.1 Suburban | Rural....................00 6.2 Urban.....................................00
Nā Kūpuna
Mahalo to my kūpuna, my ancestors, for without them and their guidance I would not be here today pursuing a passion of mine.
Kumu Ku‘u ‘Ohana
To my committee chair, Judith Stilgenbauer, for having the confidence in me to make this journey my own.
To Phoebe White, who has shown immense amount of patience, pushing us all in developing our craft.
And to all of the faculty who have guided and inspired my journey.
But most importantly to my ‘ohana and friends, who I’ve regrettably neglected too often while pursing the long days and ights of work along this academic journey. Despite my absence they have still been there to offer their support.
Nā
“Make no ke kalo a ola
i ka palili.”
‘Ōlelo No‘eau 2107
The taro may die but lives on in the young plants that it produces.
.01
Project Introduction
1.1 The Current State...................00
1.2 Research Purpose.................00
HAWAIIAN .03
1.3 Methodology.........................00 INTRO PROJECT .02
Hawaiian Agricultural Practices & Systems
2.1 A Cultural Introduction..........00
2.2 Pre-contact Agriculture.........00
2.3 Irrigated System....................00
2.4 Rain-fed System....................00
2.5 Restoration............................00
Pre-Contact Hawaiian Society & Agriculture
3.1 Early Polynesians..................00
3.2 Significance of Taro...............00
3.3 Agriculture’s Role...................00
3.4 Religion & Agriculture............00
3.5 Conclusion............................00
FOREIGN
AGRICULTURE + .04 Foreign Influences on Hawaiian Agricutlure Systems
4.1 European Arrival....................00
4.2 Kingdom of Hawai‘i...............00
4.3 The Overthrow.......................00
4.4 Conclusion............................00
Project Introduction CHAPTER 1:
1.1 THE CURRENT STATE
When most think of Hawai‘i, they often think of picturesque landscapes with natural lush green mountains, deep valleys carved by flowing streams, and pristine beaches. What comes to mind are the beautiful sites and experiences that one could experience while visiting Hawai‘i or living here. With all of the lushness that the land has to offer, one could also imagine that food insecurity would not be a conversation topic.
The reality for Hawai‘i’s residents is that, despite the seemingly fertile land, the state relies heavily on imported goods; Hawai‘i imports as much as 85-90% of its food. 1 Essentially, concerns from Hawai‘i residents regarding food scarcity arise should a natural disaster happen. This food insecurity is exacerbated by “food deserts” that predominantly affect underserved communities throughout Hawai‘i. Furthermore, Hawaiian culture is deeply associated with nature, which is evident not just in how Hawaiians were stewards of the land but in the language itself.
In Hawaiian, land is expressed as ‘āina: “that which feeds; that which nourishes.” 2 Therefore, from a cultural perspective, food importation severs Hawai‘i’s people from their
1 Meter, Goldenberg, “Hawai‘i Food for All,” 14
2 Pukui, Elbert, “Hawaiian Dictionary,”
3 Cummins, Macintyre, “Food deserts,” 436
4 Meter, Goldenberg, “Hawai‘i Food for All” 21
connection to ‘āina and nature, diminishing Hawaiians’ unique culture.
In the 1990s, the term “food desert” began to be used by the United Kingdom’s Low Income Project team. 3 They defined the term as a community deprived or poverty-stricken with limited food choices. A food desert is an area with limited access to affordable and nutritious food, which contrasts to an area with higher accessibility to food establishments, such as supermarkets and grocery stores that offer cheap and healthy food. The term does not merely define accessibility to food; it also implies a framework to establish a foundation for the underlying effects that create these food deserts in our communities.
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) defines food insecurity in a much similar way to food deserts. Food insecurity refers to a measurement regarding the lack of access to adequate food for an “active, healthy life” for all household members. 4 The USDA’s term of food insecurity defers from the Low Income Project’s definition of a food desert because members of a household facing food insecurities are not necessarily food insecure all the time. This insecurity may stem from a household’s need to rearrange
Hawai‘i imports as much as 85-95% of its food.
priorities based on critical basic needs. The shuffling of importance for housing or medical bills could shift the preference for purchasing nutritionally adequate food, which also presents food insecurity. An estimated 14% of Hawai‘i’s population fits into the definition of the term food insecure. 5 Adding to this phenomenon is that Hawai‘i has the highest cost of living in the nation, with food prices 61% higher than any other state. 6
What becomes apparent is equitable access to nutritional food throughout communities in Hawai‘i. Despite the relative proximity of these communities and neighborhoods, access to nutritious food options varies greatly. These communities could be no less than a few miles from one another but possess a neighborhood context that differs significantly in access to nutritional food. Each community’s access, or lack thereof,
5 Meter, Goldenberg, “Hawai‘i Food for All” 22
6 Lee, J., Geminiani, V., Su, J., “The State of Poverty in Hawai‘i” 3
contributes to the further disconnect of people to their food source, establishing food insecurities and deserts.
1.2 RESEARCH PURPOSE
This capstone research aims to identify the areas where food deserts and food insecurities exist within the urban, suburban, and rural areas throughout the island of O‘ahu. Upon identifying and mapping the areas affected by social issues relating to food deserts and insecurities, the project will begin to imagine how these communities could adapt to their socioeconomic setting. Some of the barriers that may exist, which inhibit residents from adequate access to a nutritional food supply, include:
• Housing: do residents have suitable and sufficient accommodation that allows them to store and cook their food adequately?
• Transportation: do residents have access to privately owned vehicles or do they utilize public transportation? If public transportation is used, are the residents able to commute easily with their groceries?
• Time: factoring in transportation, work, and daily schedules, do residents possess
7 Image Source, https://blogs.chapman.edu/sustainability/2020/08/26/intersectional-issues-food-deserts
8 Image Source, https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/matson-receives-new-cranes-300833123.html
a sufficient amount of time to shop for and adequately prepare the food bought at a grocery store?
• Education: do residents possess the knowledge and the know-how to properly prepare food to include meal planning, essential nutrition, and budgeting?
Once identified, two site locations on the island of O‘ahu represent typical urban and suburban/rural settings. These two sites will be utilized as a tether towards designing interventions that seek to reclaim traditional agricultural practices. That will be examined and summarized in the following section while integrating them with contemporary modes of exchange, encouraging a network that can foster the abundance and health that was once prevalent throughout the archipelago.
1.3 METHODOLOGY
The foundation of this research focuses on identifying traditional practices of agriculture throughout Hawai‘i. This research will begin to establish the methods and principles of design by identifying and understanding cultural perspectives and how these methods can be incorporated with contemporary urban agriculture, design, and management practices. Starting with a historical literature review introducing the cultural
traditions, philosophies, and knowledge of land stewardship that native Hawaiians understood we can begin to form an idea of how native peoples interacted with their environment. These interactions start to shape and influence a Hawaiian cultural worldview. An essential component in understanding and documenting how Hawai‘i has arrived at its current predicament on the reliance on imported, processed foods is an annotated historical timeline of agricultural practices from the pre-contact era to the present day. Examining this timeline will contribute to a better understanding of how some of the forces that influenced agriculture in Hawai‘i affected the landscape and how those forces also affected native Hawaiians.
Once this cultural basis is researched and established, the next phase will focus on precedent research, examining and interpreting design interventions shown in urban, suburban, and rural communities throughout the world. How, and if, these projects have implemented culture into their designs while critically analyzing the design principles utilized in these precedent studies. They are examining how these systems, or facilities, as a whole, operate and function and how the design of these systems has
“. . .
introducing the cultural traditions, philosophies, and knowledge. . .we can begin to form an idea of how native peoples interacted with their environment.”
benefited the community while perpetuating community resiliency and food security.
In parallel to precedent studies, an in-depth literature review will provide further insight into the previously mentioned research questions and parameters. This literature review will explore philosophies in urban agriculture, equitable food design, and community resilient design strategies and their applicability to the situation in Hawaii. Its purpose is to examine design concepts and theoretical systems not yet implemented that could be coupled with traditional agricultural practices that cultivate and nourish the physical and mental health of an individual to their community through food security.
The final research method will examine the layers of the context within O‘ahu through site inventory, mapping, and analysis. The site analysis will begin at the mokupuni (island) scale, gradually concentrating on the moku (district) scale, followed by the ahupua‘a (individual land tract) scale. Through mapping, the site analysis will graphically investigate data retrieved from public Geographic Information System (G.I.S.) sources, producing a series of graphics and diagrams that showcase the context of each
site at the range of previously mentioned scales. This mapping will help to understand further the types of interventions and food systems that could be set in place and perhaps give further guidance on the types of crops grown, the accessibility of the site, and the cultural stories important when establishing a native Hawaiian sense of place.
Mapping and understanding the site analysis will further assist with establishing design typologies for each of the two site categories (1) urban and (2) suburban/rural. The relative i
CHAPTER 2: Hawaiian Agriculture Practices & Systems
2.1 A CULTURAL INTRODUCTION
The Hawaiian archipelago, the most isolated landmass globally, is 2,390 miles from California, its closest landmass, and 3,850 miles from the next nearest landmass, Japan. It is approximately situated in the middle of the Pacific Ocean over a hot spot channeling molten lava to the surface and allowing the archipelago to continue to grow today. The Hawaiian Islands possess landscapes of unimaginable beauty and are home to the world’s largest concentration of endemic flora and fauna species. However, the lush green mountains and valleys and crystal-clear turquoise waters are not without dangers.
As with many Pacific island societies, Hawai‘i has witnessed its share of devastating natural disasters. These disasters tend to happen with uncertain frequency, from hurricanes that produce flash flooding and landslides to tsunamis originating far off the shores of Hawai‘i. This uncertainty made it imperative for native Hawaiians to develop land stewardship practices and cultural values deeply rooted and bonded with nature to ensure their resiliency and that their society flourished for generations. This social-ecological structure and kuleana (responsibility) perpetuated the land while
9 Winter, Beamer, et al., “The Moku System,” 2
sustaining the continued growth of the native Hawaiian people, their culture, and traditions.
Through this stewardship, responsibility, and connection to nature, Hawaiians managed an archipelago-scale agricultural system capable of sustaining an abundance of resources for a millennium.9 Through this familial bond with nature, Hawaiian culture begins, and through this familial understanding, one begins to understand a culturally sensitive discourse on land use in Hawai‘i. The cultural affinity that Hawaiians maintained for the land embodied the fundamental and indefinite values of a culture; it has been the foundation to which Hawaiians have identified their immediate surroundings, their sense of place. The Hawaiian proverb “He ali‘i ka ‘āina, he kaua ke kanaka” (the land is the chief, the people are but its servants) expresses the hierarchical relationship of the land and its people, a view often overlooked and misunderstood by those whose beliefs and values differ from the Hawaiian world view.
them into the modern agriculture approaches. The juxtaposition of two seemingly distant ideologies could foster an era where Hawai‘i’s people possess a sustainable source of sustenance. This sustenance is grown locally in the rich soil provided by these islands while essentially lessening and possibly eliminating the reliance on goods imported from lands not accustomed to the cultural sensitivities of a Hawaiian worldview. A restructuring of an agricultural policy once fixated on economic gain and reorganizing its priorities towards providing for the best interests of a community.
With an understanding of the Hawaiian worldview and the culturally traditional practices of a sustainable agricultural system, we can begin to revive the traditional knowledge and practices while incorporating
“He ali‘i ka ‘āina, he kaua ke kanaka.”
The land is the chief, the people are but its servants.
2.2 PRE-CONTACT AGRICULTURE
The relative isolation of the Hawaiian Archipelago heavily influenced the dynamics of its agricultural systems. In a system developed over generations of experience, observation, and ingenuity, the native Hawaiian people cultivated their resources with proficiency and expertise, which afforded them a lifestyle of abundance, deep spirituality, and ample leisure. Heavily localized and working with a limited land base, the development of their agricultural systems supported a population of 200,000 to 800,000+ people throughout the archipelago before European contact.10 11 This agricultural richness, provided by the resources and structured around a collective partnership and care of the land, allowed for establishing a unique food and land management system, the ahupua‘a, and a Hawaiian worldview.
This world view was unprecedented in that the ahupua‘a system’s foundational base centered around specialized teams. These teams manage the resources within specific realms focused on offering tribute to a centralized figure with the intent that the land would remain productive and continue to nourish the people with its bounty. MacLennan notes, “Early nineteenth-century Hawaiian society was organized around reciprocal obligations
10 Kirch, P.V., “Like Shaols of Fish,”
11 Stannard, David E., “Before the Horror,” 37
12 MacLennan, C., “Sovereign Sugar,” 54
13 Handy, E.S. Graighill, Handy, E.G., “Native Planters in Old Hawai‘i”
between the ali‘i (chiefs) and maka‘āinana (commoners) and cemented in a sacred relationship to land and water.” 12 Between ali‘i and maka‘āinana was the konohiki, an individual appointed by the ali‘i to act as a resource manager. The konohiki coordinated the work between the specialized teams and ensured that the various intensively planned, designed, and constructed agricultural systems continued to provide food while sharing any surplus generated between family, friends, and neighbors. These intensive agriculture systems managed by the konohiki and worked by the maka‘āinana fell into “two major classes: irrigated wetland and rain-fed dryland systems,” with the former system being the dominant form of agriculture in pre-contact O‘ahu.
Irrigated wetland systems, or pond field systems, consisted of a series of pond fields, lo‘i, where staple crops like kalo (Colocasia esculenta) would be grown. Implementing these systems required a relatively significant investment in time and labor, relying on the konohiki to manage the people to construct the agricultural infrastructure needed to operate the pond fields. The infrastructure interventions consisted of diverting water from a nearby stream. The construction of
this infrastructure required the coordination and assembly of dry-stacked basalt rock to create a dam. These dams, māno wai, were constructed to allow for the natural flow of the stream to continue while diverting the right amount of water needed to irrigate the lo‘i. The diverted water would flow into the auwai, a channel cut into the landscape for the redirected water to feed into each lo‘i.
The water worked its way through the rows and rows of planted kalo in the lo‘i and, with the assistance of gravity, returned to stream to assume its natural course.
Between constructing these three major constructed landform features of an irrigated wetland system, Hawaiians produced substantial yields in kalo, often generating a surplus once cultivated. Once all the elements of an irrigated wetland system were in place, the labor requirements to grow and maintain the system generally took a few hours each day: this afforded native Hawaiians time to pursue leisurely activities and spiritual deepening.
2.3 IRRIGATED SYSTEMS
Early Hawaiians’ establishment of an irrigated agricultural system equated to a highly productive and sustainable practice; for these
irrigate pond field systems to thrive, a proper mixture of landscape features needed to come together to ensure its success. These elements being a water source, elevation, slope, and gravitational flow. The first component, a water source, relied on the presence of continuous perennial streams. This primary water source provided these pond field systems with enough water to achieve the crop yields and subsequent surplus that native Hawaiians could accomplish.
14
Although Hawaiians sought elevations that were ideal for the cultivation of kalo, what was important was the maintaining of temperatures desirable for cultivation at 21°C or approximately 70°F. These temperatures would commonly correspond to areas below 300 meters, and it would be at these elevational zones where intensive wetland agriculture would most likely occur. 15 The next element contributing to irrigated pond fields’ success was the slightly varying slope constructed within each pond.
Typically, these pond fields would possess a relatively gentle slope that deviated slightly from horizontal. This method of landform allowed for both flooding and continuous movement of water through the pond fields.
14 T.N. Ladefoged et al., “Opportunities and Constraints for Intensive Agriculture in the Hawaiian Archipelago,” 2375.
15 T.N. Ladefoged et al., “Opportunities and Constraints for Intensive Agriculture in the Hawaiian Archipelago,” 2376
“. . .Hawaiians produced substantial yields in kalo, often generating a surplus once cultivated.”
Where the ideal pitch was not naturally present, Hawaiians formed the land utilizing a cut-and-fill method with stone-faced terracing on steeper slopes. The slopes of the individual pond fields allowed for the system’s last element, gravity, to contribute to the equation.
The pond field system’s gravitational flow allowed for the water’s eventual return back to its source. As the pond field’s slope allowed for water movement, the gravitational flow provided the water’s momentum to move throughout subsequent pond fields before returning to its source. The gravitational flow would be the final element contributing to early irrigated pond field systems’ success by native Hawaiians. What is important to note is that despite the ideal existence of adequate water flow, a sufficient elevational zone, and suitable slopes, the detailed terrain of riparian corridors may limit water from reaching areas acceptable for irrigated pond field construction.
As intricate as traditional native Hawaiian irrigated pond field systems are, they are specific geomorphic settings external to previously mentioned topographical features. One such setting is that the soil must possess the innate characteristic of being malleable.
16 Kagawa, A.K., Vitousek, P.M., “The Ahupua‘a of Puanui,” 2012, 162
The soil must be workable enough to shape the boundaries of each pond field and its slopes. The soil should also be workable to the extent that the auwai channel can be cut into the landscape allowing for the proper flooding and irrigation of each pond field. As important as a water source, the soil’s malleability determined the feasibility of constructing an irrigated pond field system.
2.4 DRYLAND SYSTEMS
Of the two intensive agricultural systems, knowledge of rain-fed dryland systems, or kula systems, is sparse. These agricultural systems’ practices saw a decline due to the abandonment of traditional methods in the nineteenth century. Attributing to these techniques’ desertion are the devastating fall of the Hawaiian population, the tumultuous disturbance of colonization had on the established social and political structures, and the introduction of grazing animals and agricultural pests. 16 The knowledge that we possess from these early practices extends to a system covered in a dense network of walls constructed in the open fields. These agricultural systems required an adequate amount of rainfall, but not so much that soil fertility depleted over time due to weathering and leaching. 17 These walled systems grew
17 Chadwick, O.A., “The Impact of Climate on the Biogeochemical Functioning of Volcanic Soils,” 2003, 196
an abundance of sweet potato, banana, sugar cane, and other various crops. These crops are much less water-intensive than taro but required a reliable source of water. However, there are examples of dryland taro cultivation being present within these systems. However scarce the knowledge of these systems, further examination of traditional wisdom of native Hawaiian methods could possess huge developments towards sustainable production practices.
The importance that agriculture played in the socioecological scope of native Hawaiian society was undoubtedly considerable. Through generations of trial and error, native Hawaiians established two different intensive agricultural systems capable of sustaining the thriving populations throughout the islands before European contact. However, a couple of significant obstacles towards implementing traditional ecological knowledge in practice arise in a contemporary setting. One hurdle is that cultural methods have been interrupted. This broken continuity of the conventional approach to agriculture is absent referential knowledge needed to restore the system, ensuring its success. Another hardship that traditional agricultural restoration inherits is “the biophysical conditions under which
traditional knowledge developed [has] changed.” It is the goal of this project to restore culture into agriculture.
By prioritizing the relationships that humans had to nature, this project could begin mending our ancestors’ connections— reevaluating the unsustainable practices that have taken a toll on the land and reimagining future interventions to rehabilitate and restore the ‘āina. Finally, maintaining a mutual understanding that the purpose of ‘āina is not for profit, but that ‘āina is that which feeds, that which nourishes; our intended connection to ‘āina and food is that of sacredness and spirituality, for it was food that brought us together.
2.5 RESTORATION
The importance that agriculture played in the socioecological scope of native Hawaiian society was undoubtedly considerable. Through generations of trial and error, native Hawaiians established two different intensive agricultural systems capable of sustaining the thriving populations throughout the islands before European contact. However, a couple of significant obstacles towards implementing traditional ecological knowledge in practice arise in a contemporary
18 Higgs, E., et al, “The Changing Role of History in Restoration Ecology,” 2014, 2
19 Marshall, K., et al, “Restoring people and productivity to Puanui,” 2017, 3
setting. One hurdle is that cultural methods have been interrupted. 18 This broken continuity of the conventional approach to agriculture is absent referential knowledge needed to restore the system, ensuring its success. Another hardship that traditional agricultural restoration inherits is “the biophysical conditions under which traditional knowledge developed [has] changed.” 19 It is the goal of this project to restore culture into agriculture. By prioritizing the relationships that humans had to nature, this project could begin mending our ancestors’ connections— reevaluating the unsustainable practices that have taken a toll on the land and reimagining future interventions to rehabilitate and restore the ‘āina. Finally, maintaining a mutual understanding that the purpose of ‘āina is not for profit, but that ‘āina is that which feeds, that which nourishes; our intended connection to ‘āina and food is that of sacredness and spirituality, for it was food that brought us together.
“. . .walled systems grew an abundance of sweet potato, bananas, and other various crops.”
CHAPTER 3: Pre-Contact Hawaiian Society & Agriculture
3.1 EARLY POLYNESIANS
The arrival of early Polynesians is estimated to have occurred as early as 400 C.E., with Polynesian migratory groups originating from the Marquesas Islands. The reason for the estimated arrival of Polynesians to Hawai‘i is that the assumption that colonization of Hawai‘i could only happen with the migration of people originating from Eastern Polynesia has generated a reluctance to consider inconvenient early evidence. 20
These early Polynesians traversed the open oceans of the Pacific some 2,000 miles landing on the island chain that we currently call Hawai‘i. These early settlers brought with them crops essential for their survival. As early Polynesians began to inhabit the fertile
20 Pearce, C.E.M., “Oceanic Migration,” 2010, 167
lands of the islands, they began planting these introduced crops throughout the landscape. The categorization of these crops as Polynesian Introduced or canoe crops; crops sustainably cultivated for generations. As mentioned in an earlier chapter, taro was a significant crop that early Hawaiians grew. It is taro, or kalo, where the spiritual connection between humans and a food source would begin.
3.2 THE SIGNIFICANCE OF TARO
In ‘ōlelo Hawai‘i taro is referred to as kalo but plunging deeper into the cultural significance of kalo, we can begin to examine its importance to Hawaiian culture and the established connection between the first Hawaiian and Hāloa the first kalo. The story of Hāloa starts at the very beginning of the Hawaiian people. It is a story that defines the familial connection that Hawaiians have to ‘āina (land) and ‘ai (food). Hāloa was the firstborn child of Wākea, sky father, and his daughter Ho‘ohōkūkalani. Hāloa was stillborn, causing the parents to bury the child in the eastern side of their house, the side of the house touched by the rising sun. Before long, a plant began to spring from the site where Hāloa was buried. As the plant grew, its characteristics began to take shape. The plant started forming a long stalk and large heart-shaped leaves. These leaves fluttered and quivered in the wind, and so the plant was given the name Hāloanakalaukapalili, the first kalo plant.
have to the ‘āina while also constructing a worldview that Hawaiians incorporate in the relationships with our elders. This relationship between humans and kalo is one steeped in caring for one another. Because the kalo is the older sibling of Hawaiians, Hawaiians must nurture and care for the kalo. This care and nurturing allow the kalo to grow large and provide Hawaiians with a nutritional food source.
Through this genealogical relationship to Hāloa, Hawaiians established a connection to the kalo, the ‘āina, and the rest of the natural world. This story reminds Hawaiians of their place in nature and that everything in the natural world is our ancestors, our kūpuna, and it is our responsibility to care for this natural world so that it continues to provide all that we need to sustain ourselves.
Ho‘ohōkūkalani became pregnant with her second child, a healthy baby boy. In honor of his older brother, this baby boy was given the name Hāloa and became the first Hawaiian. This genealogical connection establishes the reciprocal relationship that Hawaiians
“. . .this genealogical relationship to Hāloa, the first kalo, where Hawaiians are related to the ‘āina, and the natural world.”
3.3 HAWAIIAN AGRICULTURE’S ROLE
Early Hawaiians established intricate systems for food cultivation. As discussed in the previous section, these early agriculture systems revolved around two highly intensive practices, the irrigated wetland and the rain-fed dryland systems. The knowledge of these systems did not arrive with early Hawaiians. These systems took hundreds of years and generations of experimentation and observation to establish. As Hawaiians invested more time into developing these systems, cultivation and agriculture began to inhabit every niche throughout the islands. With kalo being the main staple crop to cultivate and its genealogical significance to Hawaiians, we can see the dominant form of agriculture as the irrigated wetland system.
Throughout the island of O‘ahu, irrigated wetland farming practices dominated much of the island. The conditions described in the
previous section are dominant characteristics that O‘ahu possesses. However, it was the start of agriculture and the management of resources that established the Hawaiian societal structure revolving around chiefdoms. As agriculture technologies began to be established, so too were the sophisticated foundations of culture, religion, and society began to take shape. For the early Hawaiians, the natural world informed their worldview and essentially their religion and culture. Nature was at the center of their world and the nexus that tied everything together. Nature informed the Hawaiian worldview and influenced the interactions between the Hawaiian people while establishing their religion.
3.4 RELIGION & AGRICULUTURE
Historically, the Hawaiians believed in a plethora of akua (natural spirits or gods). While unseen, these natural spirits were integral parts of the early Hawaiians’ world. They were not “supernatural,” nor did they exist outside of or apart from their world. Just as people had their place in society, so too did the akua. Each natural spirit possessed special characteristics unique to its significance within the Hawaiian religion. Hawaiians honored these akua with daily offerings and prayers. Early Hawaiians experienced a sense of oneness with the natural spirits and recognized their presence throughout nature. It was through this deeply spiritual lens that we expand upon early Hawaiian’s connections to nature.
To govern the connections between the natural spirits and Hawaiians, a system of regulations informed Hawaiians on the proper interactions between each other, dictated when crops could be planted and harvested, and also determined which plants could be consumed by males but not by females. The system, rooted in sacredness that governed early Hawaiian society, was called the Kapu System.
If the term kapu sounds familiar, it’s because the word taboo borrows from both a loose phonetical adaptation and its definition. However, the Kapu System was not merely a set of strict laws regulating what early Hawaiians could or could not do; the system also established all things sacred. As it pertains to agriculture, the Kapu System was a set of governing policies regulating early Hawaiians on the natural cycles of crops, migrations of animals on land and in the ocean, and when these cycles had reached their end life, allowing for its cultivation.
This system assigned certain foods to certain akua in the pantheon of the Hawaiian religion. These foods were known as kinolau or the physical embodiment of an akua. Certain kinolau are sacred, and a kapu was placed on it, which often dictated who was allowed to consume it. Food, in general, was thought to be sacred, and therefore many kapu revolved around the act of eating food. The Kapu System forbade men and women to eat together because men were considered sacred, and the act of eating with women would dimmish men’s sacredness.
Imposing kapu on a particular resource ensured sustainable practices continued eliminating possible exploitation of resources.
21 22 Schools Kamehameha, “From the Mountains to the Sea: Early Hawaiian Life,” Ulukau, 0AD, http://www.ulukau.org/elib/cgi-bin/library?e=d 0english-000Sec--11en-50-20-frameset-book--1-010escapewin&a=d&d=D0.6&toc=0.
However, the Kapu System wasn’t only a set of regulations that governed what early Hawaiians could or could not do, but rather a kapu could be viewed as a way of establishing sustainable resource management practices. Placing a kapu on a resource ensured that the harvesting or taking of that resource would be eliminated, protecting the resource for future use. Kapu was placed on various resources for a variety of reasons. What is essential to understand about the Hawaiian practice of imposing a kapu on a particular resource was that its purpose was to ensure sustainable practices continued while eliminating the possible exploitation of that resources.
3.5 CONCLUSION
From the arrival of early Polynesians to the establishment of Hawaiian resource management through the Kapu System, Hawaiian’s worldview is heavily influenced by the natural world. The plants that they brought with them carried a cultural significance which prompted Hawaiians to establish the intricate agricultural systems that allowed for the sustainable cultivation of these crops. Through sustainability, these resources were managed to the extent that allowed for generations of practice and uses. Through a
genealogical connection, the establishment of a familial connection to nature begins. This family connection informed the careful stewardship that Hawaiians maintained to the ‘āina, their food, and the kūpuna. However, the Hawaiian worldview began a drastic alteration with the arrival of European influences.
MAPPING AGRICULTURE
HĀNAU KA‘
Āina
, Born was the land, Ali‘i, HĀNAU KA
born were the chiefs,
Kanaka. HĀNAU KA
born were the people.
The land, the chiefs, and the people belong together.
Moku Ahupua‘a
MAPPING AGRICULTURE
Watershed
CHAPTER 4: Foreign Influences
4.1 EUROPEAN ARRIVAL
The effects of European contact on the Hawaiian archipelago have had devastating and lasting impacts. The repercussions that European contact had on the native Hawaiian sociocultural system can still be perceived today. These impacts permeated all aspects of everyday life for native Hawaiians. From the time of Cook’s arrival, European ships began to use these islands as a supply base, trading agricultural products and livestock for weapons and other European goods.
When the Europeans arrived in 1778, the native Hawaiians lived in small, scattered clusters throughout the ahupua‘a. The agricultural systems in place at the time of European arrival were sophisticated and integrated into the landscape. These systems were vital to the socio-economic and political fabric of Hawaiian society. At the time of arrival, the societal structure consisted of chiefs and their appointed officials to maintain the resources within each land division, or ahupua‘a. The ahupua‘a is thought of as a land tract where the management of resources occurs. The management of resources could extend from the upper elevations of the mountains to low-lying reefs just offshore. What becomes apparent is that not every ahupua‘a provided the same resources, and thus cultivated crops
varied from land division to land division. Responsible for working the agricultural systems was the duty of the maka‘āinana.
These commoners became the labor force for the high chiefs and worked the agricultural systems within the ahupua‘a. A commoner’s household worked the land, and the products of their harvest were paid as tribute to the ruling chiefs. The tribute extracted from the commoners was almost two-thirds of their produce. 23 An added task was added to the tributes given to the chiefs by the commoners. One day out of five commoners was required to work the lands and the farms of their immediate landlord. The chiefs controlled the agricultural systems and their products while the commoner was merely the labor force.
4.1.1 EUROPEAN DEMAND
From 1778 to 1819, the demand from European ships for agricultural produce was so high that it began to influence the urbanization of the ports that trade was focused around. The areas most affected by this were the ports on Hawai’i island, Kaua‘i, Maui, and O‘ahu. Both maka‘āinana and ali‘i began to flock to regions surrounding the ports to take full advantage of the trade.
23 Morgan, T., “Hawaii: a Century of Economic change; 1778-1876,” 1948, 25
Before 1811 Honolulu was a smaller known settlement while Waikīkī was the dominant village that supplied the European demand on O‘ahu. The shift of importance from Waikīkī to Honolulu began with constructing a port by the Europeans in 1794. In a couple of years, the port of Honolulu would become the leading port of O‘ahu. In 1795 Kamehameha would conquer O‘ahu bringing the island and its agricultural
“European ships began to use these islands as a supply base, trading agricultural products and livestock for weapons and other European goods.”
production under his reign. By 1811 Kamehameha permanently relocated his residence, and his court, to Honolulu. The Honolulu area and the subsequent port grew significantly, becoming the primary trade port throughout all of the islands. The European demand drove the local chiefs and Kamehameha to require commoners to work the agricultural systems already in place at a much higher rate. However, the need for agricultural produce was not the only interest of the European demand. Europeans also sought resources extending beyond the confines of the traditional farming system.
4.1.2 SANDALWOOD TRADE
The sandalwood trade took place in Hawai‘i from 1804 to 1832. By the second decade of the 1800s, the demand for sandalwood had peaked. With this trade, a new and non-traditional form of economic commerce was introduced to Hawaiian society. The chiefs recognized an opportunity to obtain more power by trading sandalwood to foreigners and effectively gathered the maka‘āinana, who previously worked the farms, and diverted their farming efforts to harvesting and
collecting sandalwood. With the shift of the labor force from food production to sandalwood resource harvesting, traditional agricultural systems lay abandoned and fallow. These neglected farms resulted in famine mainly felt by the maka‘āinana and their ‘ohana (family) due to their continued obligation of presenting the ruling chief with tribute. The inevitable impact that the sandalwood trade would have on the agricultural systems of Hawai‘i would be the mass reduction of the labor force and the subsequent famine that followed.
4.1.3 LIVESTOCK DEMAND
The second-highest demand that European arrival had on the societal structure of the native Hawaiians was that of livestock, and more specifically, pigs. The Hawaiians considered pigs as more of a sacrificial animal and therefore did not consume pigs daily. The demand for pigs came from two sources, the chief’s private lands or as a tribute to the ali‘i by the maka‘āinana. The supply and trading of pigs also fueled a cattle trade between Europeans and Hawaiians, and in 1793 Captain George Vancouver imported cattle from California. 24
4.1.4
CATTLE INTRODUCTION
The introduction of cattle had little impact before 1819. Their limited numbers kept the consumption of livestock low, but consumption increased as the demand for them grew. As the consumption of cattle increased, Kamehameha placed the cattle under a kapu for several years. Most of the cattle livestock remained on the island of Hawai‘i and isolated on the Hamakua slopes of Mauna Kea. Initially, the cattle grazed above the tree line on these slopes and above the existing agricultural systems. By 1830,
24 High, W.I., et al, “The Livestock Industry in Hawaii,” 1985, 6
25 Hawaii State, “Early History of Ranching in Hawaii,” 2017
Kamehameha’s kapu imposed on the cattle had been removed, consequently increasing the cattle population. From 1850 to 1900, cattle from different regions of the continental United States began to be imported to Hawai‘i, and large-scale ranching operations began to take shape. The large-scale ranching predominantly took place on Hawai‘i island, and by the 1820s, an estimated 30,000 head of cattle roamed the slopes of Mauna Kea. The cattle-ranching on Hawai‘i island would grow to become Parker Ranch, the largest cattle ranch in Hawai‘i. By 1929 there would be “19 [cattle ranchers] in Hawai‘i [island], seven in Maui, three on O‘ahu, eight on Kaua‘i, and one each on Moloka‘i, Lānaʻi, Kahoʻolawe, and Niʻihau.” 25
The impacts from the rise of cattle ranching on the traditional rain-fed dryland agricultural systems were numerous. This agricultural practice was the primary technology used on Hawai‘i island, but as more acreage for cattle ranching and grazing, the practice slowly dwindled. Without a labor force to maintain the infrastructural components of the dryland system and the population of cattle increasing, the constructed walls
gradually integrated into the landscape. Today, the knowledge of this traditional practice is scarce, and the infrastructure that was once a dominant feature can now only be seen from an aerial view.
The knowledge of dryland systems is scarce and
today
its once dominate
infrastructure
can only be seen from the
sky.
4.1.5 DIMINISHING POPULATION
From the diversion of labor for the harvesting of sandalwood to the ensuing famine that followed, the native Hawaiian population saw drastic decline shortly after the arrival of Captain James Cook and his crew. This population decline is attributed to several factors that lead to lower birth rates and increased mortality rates. The first of these factors was introducing venereal diseases by Cook’s crew during his first two expeditions. The contraction of venereal diseases like gonorrhea and syphilis resulted in a drop in the birth rate for native Hawaiians due to sterility and fetal deaths.
At the time of Cook’s arrival, the political landscape of Hawai’i was somewhat tumultuous. Chiefs warring with one another and Kamehameha’s eventual unification, mainly through battles with rival chiefs, was also a cause for a population decline among Hawaiians. Europeans traded guns and canons for agricultural goods with Hawaiian chiefs, where weapons were used to fight rival chiefs. Kamehameha recognizing the advantage of these weapons, utilized
26 Cordy, R.H., “The Effects of European contact on Hawaiian Agricultural Systems,” 1972, 408 the abundance of resources that his commoners produced and trade with Europeans. These trades, and Kamehameha’s use of western war technology, would be deciding factors towards the unification of the Hawaiian Islands.
Venereal diseases were not the only introduced pathogens to the native Hawaiian population. As is a standard narrative with the contact of Europeans to indigenous people, diseases like influenza, measles, and smallpox were critical factors towards the decline of the native Hawaiian population. Estimates put this loss at almost 40% by 1823. 26 A loss this significant would greatly impact the indigenous agricultural systems, their production, and their maintenance
4.2 KINGDOM OF HAWAI‘I
With the unification of the Hawaiian Islands by 1810, the land was now under one sovereign ruler, Kamehameha I. The establishment of a sovereign kingdom placed the Kingdom of Hawai‘i on the national stage with nations like the United Kingdom and the United States of America. Western countries began showing interest and converting Hawaiian perspectives of land stewardship to land ownership. Two dynasties mark the monarchies of the Hawaiian Kingdom that would engage in foreign relations with external influences, the Kamehameha Dynasty (1795-1874) and the Kalākaua Dynasty (1874-1893). These two dynasties would continuously repel foreign interests, but foreign greed would ultimately be victorious as the decades progressed.
4.2.1 PLANTATION HISTORY
Sugar cane was not a crop that was foreign to native Hawaiians. Early Polynesian settlers brought sugar cane, or kō, with them on their voyages from the Marquesas and Tahiti. Sugar cane also played a role in traditional agricultural systems like the rain-fed dryland systems that dominated the leeward coast of Hawai’i island. However, sugar cane was considered a secondary crop to native Hawaiians and not a crop as significant
as taro or sweet potato. It wasn’t until the establishment of sugar plantations where the importance of sugar cane became pivotal.
In 1825 John Wilkinson began the cultivation of sugar cane on 100 acres of land awarded by Governor Bokī in Mānoa Valley. This first operation would not prove to be successful. However, in 1835 William Hooper of Ladd & Co. opened the first sugar plantation to be operated by a foreigner in Kōloa, Kaua‘i. Because land ownership was a foreign concept to native Hawaiians, Ladd & Co. negotiated a lease with Kamehameha III to explore the agricultural exploits of sugar cane. Sugar plantations would grow to become a significant monoculture crop throughout Hawai‘i. Its economic drivers would not only change the agricultural landscape but impede native Hawaiian land and water rights, displacing Hawaiians from some of the most agriculturally productive lands on each island. With the rise of sugar plantations, increasing interest by foreigners to persuade the Hawaiian Monarchy towards establishing policies aimed at land ownership began to cause tension throughout the islands.
Recognizing this, Kauikeaouli, or Kamehameha III, saw an opportunity to develop an act that he’d imagine would maintain native Hawaiian “ownership” of the land.
“These two dynasties would continuously repel foreign interests, but foreign greed would ultimately be victorious as the decades progressed.”
4.2.2 THE GREAT MĀHELE
Kamehameha III, Kauikeaouli, proposed the Great Māhele (to divide or portion) of 1848. The Great Māhele intended to establish a precedent that ensured the protection of Hawaiian lands from foreign interests. Before the arrival of Europeans, Hawaiians’ notion of land ownership was just as foreign to them as the men arriving on boats to their shores. From the perspective of native Hawaiians, ‘āina was not something that meant for ownership. ‘Āina was their kupuna (elder), their ‘ohana (family), and therefore ‘āina could never be owned.
With foreign interests vying for the opportunity to own land, Kamehameha III established the Great Māhele, essentially dividing the lands into three categories of “ownership.” The Māhele established the division of land in thirds among the mō‘ī (monarch), the ali‘i (chiefs), and to the maka‘āinana (commoners). This law required all land claims by native Hawaiians to be filed within two years under a different act, the Kuleana Act of 1850.
The unfortunate result of these two acts would revolve around native Hawaiian’s lack of knowledge and understanding of land ownership that would equate to many land titles going unclaimed. Foreign interests, recognizing an opportunity, would begin to seize the unclaimed land titles once the illegal overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawai‘i occurred.
4.2.3 TREATY OF RECIPROCITY
The 1875 Treaty of Reciprocity was an agreement established between the Kingdom of Hawai‘i and the United States of America. This treaty established a free trade agreement between the two nations and allowed the United States free access to the sugar cane market and other agricultural markets.
The treaty also possessed a land acquisition agreement that favored the United States. The lands that the U.S. acquired in the treaty would be adjacent to the island of O‘ahu’s most significant natural harbor, Pu‘uloa. The natural port of Pu‘uloa renamed Pearl Harbor, become the home of the U.S. dominant military presence in the Pacific. The free trade, land acquisition, and the positioning of the American military on O’ahu set the stage for the boom in the sugar plantation industry.
The free trade allowed for the exporting of sugar to America, while the acquisition of land and the military presence ensured the protection of the economic interests of Americans.
One of the many effects the treaty had on traditional agricultural systems was the displacement and eventual destruction of many native Hawaiian fishponds throughout Pu‘uloa. These fishponds were an integral component of the farming systems in place, and they encompassed a portion of the resource management of the ahupua‘a. These fishponds afforded native Hawaiians a steady and reliable source of fish, and other aquatic food sources, to sustain their society for generations. They were just as intricate, if not more, than the irrigated wetland terraces and rain-fed dryland systems utilized on land. Irrigated wetland systems and fishponds would overlap in some instances resulting in an agricultural system unique to native Hawaiian culture.
The establishment of sugar plantations combined with the Treaty of Reciprocity paved the way for American economic interests to take hold in Hawai‘i, displacing the native population and their traditional agricultural practices. These two foreign influences would invite other corporations seeking to exploit the sugar industry. These corporations would be known as Hawai‘i’s Big Five corporations, and their
establishment would launch an enormous land grab encouraging other exploitative endeavors.
The Treaty of Reciprocity allowed American economic interests to take hold, displacing the native population and their traditional agricultural practices.
4.3 THE OVERTHROW
On January 21, 1893, the overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom began with a coup d’état against Hawai‘i’s last reigning monarch, Queen Lili‘uokalani, by foreign citizens in Honolulu. Many of these foreign citizens were descendants of missionaries that had gained access to owning land and started plantation operations. The overthrow was made successful due to an American minister, John L. Stevens, calling upon the United States Marines stationed offshore of O‘ahu aboard the U.S.S. Boston. Under the guise of the protection of American interests and the safety of American citizens, Minister Stevens utilized the U.S. Military. Stevens sought to protect the business ventures of the sugar industry and the privatization of land. The overthrow would lead to the Provisional Government to the Republic of Hawai‘i and eventually Statehood.
4.3.1 THE PROVISIONAL GOVT.
Immediately after the coup d’état of Queen Lili‘uokalani and the Hawaiian Kingdom, the Provisional Government with Henry E. Cooper, chairman of the 13-member Committee of Safety, and Sanford B. Dole the newly appointed president of the Provisional Government.
The goal of the Provisional Government was to annex Hawai‘i and establish a government similar to that of the United States, with land ownership being the prime motive to ensure the progression of the sugar plantation industry.
4.3.2 THE DOLE CORPORATION
In 1900, James Drummond Dole, relative to Sanford B. Dole, purchases 61 acres in Wahiawā on the island of O‘ahu, where he begins experimenting with pineapple. His company, the Hawaiian Pineapple Company, established in 1903, would control Hawai‘i’s pineapple trade and the lands used to cultivate pineapple for decades. These pineapple plantations would occupy central O‘ahu, where some of the island’s most fertile lands are. The pineapple industry would essentially bring an agricultural system not seen by native Hawaiians before, monoculture. The monoculture practices of the pineapple industry require an immense amount of water. The growth of these plantations would lead to the diversion of Hawai’i’s most precious natural resource, water. The diversion of water conclusively halted
the practices of traditional agricultural systems that were still in place. These traditional systems would lay fallow for decades, often resorting to areas overgrown with weeds or garbage dumps. The pineapple industry and its practices would engulf fertile lands on every island, further displacing native Hawaiians from their land and the practice of traditional agriculture.
The act intended to reconnect native Hawaiians back to the ‘āina providing native Hawaiians with land to establish a home or land to allow them to restore their connection to the natural world through traditional agricultural systems. However, in 100 years since its enactment, thousands of native descendants and their families still await land grants to this day.
4.3.3 HOMESTEAD ACT OF 1920 4.3.4 PLANTATION CAPITAL
The Hawaiian Homes Commission Act of 1920 Sponsored by Prince Jonah Kūhio Kalaniana‘ole, Hawai‘i’s delegate to Congress. Prince Kūhio’s Hawaiian Homes Commission Act set aside 200,000 acres throughout the islands and designated them for homesteading by native Hawaiians of 50 percent, or more, blood quantum. Offered a 99-year lease, native Hawaiians pay one dollar a year for the duration of the lease. The 200,000 acres represented a small fraction of Crown Lands stolen during the Overthrow and subsequent Annexation while excluding prime agricultural lands that Big 5 sugar corporations already occupied.
With the signing and enactment of the Reciprocity Treaty, sugar produced in Hawai‘i grew to become a multi-million dollar industry. As foreigners witnessed the effects of land, both productive and profitable year-round foreign business interests began to swell in Hawai‘i. From sugar to pineapple, the plantation industry grew swiftly, transforming the agricultural landscape throughout Hawai‘i. Within a century, Hawai’i’s agricultural landscape changed from systems managed and care for by native Hawaiians to large-scale industrial operations devoted to a product unable to provide sustenance controlled by Americans for U.S. markets.
The pineapple industry and its practices would engulf fertile lands displacing natives from the ‘āina.
4.3.5 STATEHOOD
Hawai’i’s incorporation into the United States of America, at the surface, may not seemingly have a direct correlation with the decline of traditional agricultural practices, but in fact, what statehood accomplished was the further exploitation of Hawaiian lands. In 1959 the Territory of Hawai’i became the 50th State incorporating Hawai’i into the U.S. political system, forever tightening the colonial grip that America had established a little more than half a century prior. Statehood opened the door to another industry that would further displace native Hawaiians from their lands while simultaneously causing a large portion of Hawai’i’s local population to rely on imported goods. As the plantation industry dwindled, an emerging sector brought an explosion in infrastructure and hotels, most of which exist predominantly on the island of O’ahu. The tourism industry encouraged flocks of foreigners to escape to the beautiful Hawaiian landscape, with scenic mountain views and picturesque beaches. What tourism also brought to Hawai’i was tremendous economic impacts still felt today. One such impact is the cost of
land growing around the urban epicenter of Honolulu. Once utilized for food production and supplied native Hawaiian people with a surplus of nourishment are covered in concrete for expensive residential communities. Historically, these same lands afforded early native chiefs an avenue to establish trade through the production and cultivation of food crops. However, the status quo focuses on profit and foreign interests and hospitality and not providing native and local peoples. Hawai’i’s inclusion into statehood has essentially contributed to its reliance on imported food.
4.3.6 IMPORT RELIANCE
Hawai’i is the most isolated landmass in the world. Its remoteness has made it a trophy destination for some and a once-in-a-lifetime experience for most, a destination that reinforces Hawai’i’s resilience on imported goods. While the rest of the world imagines Hawai’i as paradise, its residence pays an extremely high cost due to many factors, one of those being a reliance on imports. An estimated 90% of the products that Hawai’i residents consume are imported to the State each year.
This overwhelming statistic is experienced during natural disasters or a situation that we have become all too familiar within the last year, a global health pandemic. In the instance of a worldwide health pandemic, Hawai’i residents flocked to stores acquiring as many products they deemed necessities, creating shortages that lasted for months. This panic purchasing exposed Hawai’i’s reliance on imported goods and the uncertainty that follows any instance that disrupts the frequent flow of shipments into Honolulu Harbor.
1 Meter, Goldenberg, “Hawai‘i Food for All,” 14
2 Pukui, Elbert, “Hawaiian Dictionary,”
3 Cummins, Macintyre, “Food deserts,” 436
4 Meter, Goldenberg, “Hawai‘i Food for All” 21
This dependence has translated into a society that imports as much as 85-90% of its food.
4.3.7 TOXIC SOIL
The importance of this section is how companies like Bayer Monsanto have exploited a monoculture practice into a business that supplies absolutely no food to the community while poisoning the air, land, and water surrounding each of its agricultural testing sites.
Hawai’i’s attraction for Bayer Monsanto is no different from the interests that the European demand had on the native agriculture systems or the appeal that sugar plantations had in amassing hundreds of acres to support an industry that didn’t supply food to the community. The constant warm and moist climate of Hawai’i allows for corporations like Bayer Monsanto to establish testing laboratories as trial sites for their genetically engineered crops, herbicides, and pesticides. These farming test sites have been subject to widespread opposition from Hawai’i residents as further research on the detrimental health effects that arise from the use of these chemicals. The further exploitation and abuse
enacted upon the land by companies like Bayer Monsanto facilitates a disconnect from native Hawaiian practices and complete separation and disassociation of a community to the source of their food.
“Hawaiians were able to produce substantial yields in kalo often generating a surplus once cultivated.”
4.4 CONCLUSION
Foreign influences have undeniably altered, modified, and transformed traditional native Hawaiian agricultural practices and systems. These systems that provided an abundance of food established and maintained a connection to the natural world while understanding that the resources of the ‘āina are precious and finite. Over time, the native stewards of these systems were pushed to the limit making it harder for Hawaiians to maintain a sustainable, resilient society.
The introduction of diseases decimated a vulnerable native population equating to the established agricultural systems laying fallow and falling into disarray. As populations declined, foreign influences increased with the establishment of the plantation industry. These industries dispossessed the remaining native population from productive lands by occupying fertile lands and diverting water for the sole use of their plantations. Institutions like the sugar industry became a catalyst for the acquisition of Pu’uloa (Pearl Harbor), the illegal overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom, annexation, and ultimately statehood. As the influences of the sugar industry declined, another exploitative industry crept its way into the ‘āina, tourism.
The growth of tourism has been exponential, and its effects on agriculture have been disrupting. Tourism has disrupted the flow of natural systems and devalued the importance of local agricultural infrastructure. The depreciated value of local agricultural infrastructure has forced Hawai’i residents to rely heavily on importing nearly 85% of their food. This statistic far surpasses any of the other 49 states. Exacerbating an importreliant society is the use of productive land as testing grounds for toxic and hazardous chemicals by large corporations.
To summarize, the exploitation, maltreatment, and wasteful use of land by foreign influences results from land stewardship focused on profit and not care. The perspectives of foreign influences emphasize the earnings of a particular product rather than prioritize sustaining our resources to provide healthy, nutritious food for our present and future communities.
MAPPING AGRICULTURE Foreign Influences
CASE STUDIES #3
DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS
CHAPTER 5: Precedent Studies
5.1 ESTABLISHING
SCALE
As with any design, strategy, scale plays an essential role in expanding ideas integrated into a composition. Establishing a scale allows the designer to focus their efforts on instances of the desired outcome. For this portion of the research, examining multiple scales would assist with establishing a scale beneficial to both an urban and a suburban/ rural site.
Urban agricultural initiatives vary in scale and serve a community’s unique needs. Understanding this facilitates guidance on establishing a scale and identifies design instances incorporated into a farming initiative for Hawai’i communities.
The three scales examined were chosen for its implementation of farming practices and how those practices have influenced a change of the agricultural fabric over time. However, not all of the aspects from each scale applies to the design implementations in this project but still possess meaningful content towards design influence and future plans.
5.2 CITY SCALE
The city-scale examines agricultural initiatives from the perspective of urban planning and policy. As this is the larger of the three scales, the planning process and implementation are gradual. Still, the change over time possesses the possibility of having the most significant impact on a city or a community.
5.3 COMMUNITY-SCALE
A community-scale explores farming precedents that consider the relationships between urban, suburban, and rural. For the island of O’ahu, a rural context is seemingly hard to examine, considering most of the inhabitable land is densely populated.
Despite this hurdle, investigating instances that offer insight into how other communities are applying agricultural practices in these settings could further provide equitable food access to all communities on O’ahu.
5.4 NEIGHBORHOOD-SCALE
“Hawaiians were able to produce substantial yields in kalo often generating a surplus once cultivated.”
COMMUNITY-SCALE
SHENYANG UNIVERSITY CAMPUS
China’s rapid urbanization has equated to a couple of central issues, which address food availability, food production, and sustainable land use. Located on the campus of Shenyang Architectural University in Shenyang, China, this project demonstrates how a productive agricultural landscape can be incorporated into an urbanized environment while maintaining a unique cultural identity. The design concept seeks to utilized rice, native plants, and other crops to establish a productive landscape that simultaneously fulfills a role as an environment for learning. Designed by Turenscape, this campus exemplifies the integration of a productive landscape into the growing urban fabric. Its production of rice has also become an economic opportunity benefitting the university and the community. The design of the campus allows for the agricultural processes to be transparent and accessible to the community.
This precedent displays a fading notion that productive agricultural landscapes are to remain being located in rural areas.
1 Meter, Goldenberg, “Hawai‘i Food for All,” 14
2 Pukui, Elbert, “Hawaiian Dictionary,”
3 Cummins, Macintyre, “Food deserts,” 436
4 Meter, Goldenberg, “Hawai‘i Food for All” 21
It raises awareness of our connection to land and food, establishing a relationship within the urban context. Aspects to consider for the sites on O’ahu are the establishment of productive agriculture in an urban context and preserving the transparency and accessibility to a productive landscape.
5.2.2 THAMMASAT ROOF FARM
Located in Bangkok, Thailand, Thammasat Rooftop Urban farm envisions how to mitigate climate change. Climate change has influenced designers to imagine a world unlike what they are used to, a world where large-scale efforts to incorporate productive landscapes into buildings and structures. Thammasat Rooftop Urban Farm is a prime example of the effects that climate change imminently has on the food supply of a densely populated urban core. This rooftop garden is also a reaction to the heavy industrialization of farming on former fertile and productive agricultural lands. The rooftop farm is credited with being the largest rooftop farm in Asia, with an astonishing 236,806 square feet of productive space.
The project seamlessly integrates architecture and landscape architecture elements, making it nearly impossible to determine a typology specific to either discipline. Its primary use is the cultivation and production of rice and utilizes a traditional system of terraces irrigated through the work of gravity. “By mimicking traditional rice terraces,
Thammasat University Urban Farming
Green Roof has become an all-in-one solution–as a public green space, urban organic food source, water management system, energy house, and outdoor classroom–which serves as an adaptation model for anticipated climate impacts that can be implemented and developed across Thailand and Southeast Asia.”
Key aspects to consider as design interventions from this precedent are integrating a productive landscape into a building system and how this implementation addresses climate change. As Thailand is vulnerable to the effects of climate change, so too are the islands of Hawai’i. Throughout all of the islands of Hawai’i, the island of O’ahu possess the most considerable impact on climate change. O’ahu is the most populated island, with a significant portion of its infrastructure near the low-lying coastal areas. Implementing this design could provide a solution to O’ahu’s food security in the rising effects of climate change.
CHAPTER 5: Precedent Studies
KAIĀULU
A community, a neighborhood, or a village.
HĀNAI
To raise , rear, feed, nourish, provide; a provider or caretaker.
‘OULU
To grow, sprout, propagate, or to cause to increase.
HO
KULEANA
Is the right, privilege, concern, interest, or responsibility.
OLA
Is the life, health, well-being, a living or livelihood, and means of support.
KAHIAU
Simply put, it is the act of giving generously with the heart without any expectation of return.
To feed, nourish, and sustain a community, responsibly, without any expectation of return.
CHAPTER 6: Site Selection & Application
SECTION 6.1 | SUBURBAN + RUAL SITE | AHUPUA‘A O WAI‘ANAE
A-1, Low-density Apartment
A-2, Medium-density Apartment
R-5, Residential District
R-7.5, Residential District
R-10, Residential District
R-20, Residential District
AG-1, Restricted Agriculture District
AG-2, General Agriculture District
C, Co un try District
B-1, Neighborh oo d Busine ss District
B-2, Co mm un ity Busine ss District
P-1, Restricted Preservation District
P-2, General Preservation District
F-1, Federal and M ili tary Preservation District
I-2, Intensive Industrial District
Zones
Percentage of Land Coverage
-1.77%
Race & Ethnicity
Poverty by Age & Gender
Poverty by Race & Ethnicity
1 5 m i n u tes
1 0 m i n u tes
5 im n u tes
Activation Education Production
Program Diagram
103rd Street Community Garden Brooklyn, New YorkR-Urban Colombes, France
Hawai‘i Public Housing
Hawaiian Homelands
Various Agriculture Land
Mā‘ili Elementary School
Open Park Space
Softball Park
Community Center
Playground
Volleyball Courts
Basketball Courts
Existing Wai‘anae Site, scale 1:50
0’25’50’ 100’
Compost Hub
Cistern
Bioswale edge condition
‘Ulu Trees
Permeable Pathways
Wai‘anae Site, scale 1:50
Phase 1
0’25’50’ 100’
Community Planting Plots
Cultural Planting Plots
Community Row Plots
Residential Raised Garden Beds
Wai‘anae Site, scale 1:50
Phase 2
0’25’50’ 100’
Maʻo Organic Farms Partnership
Lei Tree Plantings
Agriculture Hub @ Mā‘ili
Mā‘ili Learning Kitchen and Market
Phase 3
Wai‘anae Site, scale 1:50 0’25’50’ 100’
Final Concept, Unfinished Render
Phase 1
Sidewalk
Row Plots
Raised Beds
CHAPTER 6: Site Selection & Application
SECTION 6.2 | URBAN SITE | AHUPUA‘A O KAKA‘AKO
Zones
A-1, Low-density Apartment
A-2, Medium-density Apartment
A-3, High-density Apartment
R-5, Residential District
R-7.5, Residential District
R-10, Residential District
R-20, Residential District
R-3.5 Residential District
B-1, Neighborh oo d Busine ss District
B-2, Co mm un ity Busine ss District
BMX-3 Community Business Mixed Use
BMX-4 Central Business Mixed Use
P-1, Restricted Preservation District
P-2, General Preservation District
Kaka’ako Community Development District
Aloha Tower Project
I-3 Waterfront Industrial District
IMX-1 Industrial Mixed Use
Race & Ethnicity
Poverty by Age & Gender
Poverty by Race & Ethnicity
5 im n u tes 01 im n u tes 1 5 m i n u t e s
Activation Education Production
Program Diagram
Rooftop Urban Farm Bangkok, ThailandShenyang Architectural University Shenyang, China
Thammasat
Restaurants & Shops
Mix-use Residential Grocery Store
Future Elementary School Site
Mini Tennis Courts
Dog Park
Playground
Basketball Courts
Open Park Space
Iwi Kūpuna Site
Existing Kaka‘ako Site, scale 1:50
0’25’50’ 100’
2,000 Gallon Cisterns
Permeable Paving
Future Productive Landscapes
Furture Fruit Orchard Future Tree Row
Kaka‘ako Site, scale 1:50
Phase 1
0’25’50’ 100’
Tree Plantings for Lei making
Tree Plantings for Lei making
Cultural Planting Landscape
Edible Production Landscape
“Mixed Plate” Fruit Orchard ʻUlu Tree Plantings
Kaka‘ako Site, scale 1:50
Phase 2
0’25’50’ 100’
Seat Wall Elevations
Kaka‘ako Site, scale 1:50 0’25’50’ 100’
KĪPUKA
Gardens @ various sizes
Section not to scale
Terraced
18” Seat Wall
Kō, Sugar Cane
Saccharum officinarum
Ukiuki
Dianella sandwicensis
Sunflower
Helianthus
10’ Pathway
Access to nutritional food Indigenous Cultural Practices
Both sites have widely varying conditions, communities, and access to nutrional food. Providing access have different characteristics and challenges as well. Native Hawaiian practices were rooted deep in a familial relationship with nature. Reconnecting and prioritizing this relationship establishes a way of life that is resilient, sustainable, and nourishing despite the current rural and urban context.
How can design put culture
Mahalo nui loa, B. Keolamaika‘i Annino
culture back into agriculture?