Kalo in Hawaii

Kalo is the Hawaiian name for the Taro plant. The local crop plays an important role in the island's culture, mythology, and cuisine.

Loʻi

A loʻi is a patch of land dedicated to growing kalo. Hawaiians have traditionally used water irrigation systems to produce Kalo. Wet-land fields have produced ten to fifteen times more kalo per acre than dry land fields.^[1] Wetland-grown kalo need a constant flow of water, and to get this water, fields are usually positioned between the Mauka (mountains) and Makai (sea).

The loʻi is part of an ahupuaʻa, a division of land from the mountain to the sea. Ahupuaʻa means "pig altar," and was named for stone altars with pig head carvings that marked the boundaries of each Hawaiian land division. Ideally, an ahuapuaʻa has all necessities in its borders. From the mountains, materials such as wood are provided for thatching roofs and twining rope. The uplands produce several crops such as sugar cane and sweet potatoes, while the lowlands provide the taro and fish. This system typically satisfies the large populations in each ahupuaʻa.^[2]

When kalo was brought to Hawai`i there were about 300 different varieties, and now about 100 remain.The kalo plant takes seven months to harvest, lo`i fields are used in rotation, so that soil can be replenished and the lo`i in use has sufficient water. Once harvested, kalo can be incorporated into many foods. The leaves are commonly used to make laulau, poi, or pa`i`ai but in order for the plant to be edible, the leaves and corm, roots, must be steamed. Both of these structures contain calcium oxianate, which is poisonous if consumed raw. The structures alone are even known to cause irritation of the skin and pruritis when touched.<sup>[3]</sup> The stems are typically replanted in the lo`i for future kalo harvests.

History

One mythological version of Hawaiian ancestry cites the taro plant as an ancestor to Hawaiians. Legend joins the two siblings of high and divine rank: Papahānaumoku (Papa from whom lands are born) — Earth mother, and Wākea — Sky father; together they create islands of Hawaii and a beautiful woman, Hoʻohokukalani (The Heavenly one who made the stars).^[4]

The story of kalo begins when Wakea (sky father) and Papa (mother earth) conceived a daughter, Ho`ohokukalani. Daughter and father then conceived a child together, named Hāloanakalaukapapili (long stalk trembling) but it was stillborn. After the two buried the child near their house, a kalo plant grew over the grave.^[5]

“The stems were slender and when the wind blew they swayed and bent as though paying homage, their heart shaped leaves shivering gracefully as in hula. And in the center of each leaf water gathered, like a mother’s teardrop.”^[6]

The second child born of Wakea and Ho`ohokukalaniher named Hāloa, after his older brother. The kalo of the earth was the sustenance for the young brother and became the principal food for the generations to come. Now, as man continues to work the wetlands of this sacred crop, he remembers the ancestor that nourishes him — Haloanaka.^[7]

References