Ancient Hawaiian Agriculture
A look at Hawaiian subsistence practices.
Placed approximately 2600 miles from North America and 3900 miles from Asia the archipelago of Hawaii is considered one of the most remote locations in the world. Isolated from the rest of the world, the Hawaiian culture grew into a thriving and insular regional trade network within the island chain. The Hawaiian archipelago is made up of a chain of 13 islands, seven of which are inhabited by humans (Stepien,1984). It is estimated that early Polynesian settlers began inhabiting the Hawaiian Islands about 800 AD, landing on Kaua’i, Hawaii’s most northern inhabited island, and progressively expanding out to the remaining islands of O’ahu, Maui, Moloka’i, Lana’i, Hawai’i, and Ni’ihau.
Side by side of a map of Hawaii from 1837 and a modern day map of the Hawaiian Ahupua'a
Each island formed into its own sovereign kingdom relying heavily on two different forms of intensive agriculture to control the means of production and maintain hierarchal class structures. The geographical characteristics of each island determined these agricultural methods and can be classified into to two distinct environmental conditions, a Wet agricultural environment and a Dry agricultural environment. To understand the sociopolitical and economic impact that these two distinct environments had on Hawaiian societies an examination of Patrick Kirch’s Wet and Dry model can be employed. A Wet agricultural society employs landesque capital methods as a means of production (Ladefoged et al, 2009; Kirch, 2001) creating irrigation canals, raised floating soil beds, and pond-fields. To achieve these methods 3 an abundant supply of fresh water is required within the region (Kirch,1995). A Dry agricultural society is a labour intensive society that uses a swidden or slash and burn method to cultivate land, relying heavily of rain fall collection and labour (Kirch,1995).
In the Hawaiian Islands the most common method of Wet agriculture was the Pond-field. This method required the construction of an irrigated pond that doubled for cultivating kalo (taro)crops, a tuber root plant that held prestige with the Hawaiian culture, as well as farming small fish. This pond-field method required substantial inputs of labour to build and maintain the infrastructure of the ponds, but the surplus that could be generated was found to out-weigh the input of labour (Ladefoged et al, 2009). A pond-field is estimated to be able to produce up to 40 tons/ha/year of kalo (Kirch,1995). The surplus that was created was owed to the significance of water, wai, which became sacred and a sign of wealth. The production of taro became a by-product of this wealth, any group that controlled the irrigation systems and wai were considered to hold rank amongst the islands.
Dry agriculture was a stark dichotomy to the Wet. As mentioned before Dry agriculture, or Dry-field, was a labour intensive form of production that employed swidden land rearing. The Dry-field method relied on rain-fall collection to help maintain crops of yams and sweet potatoes (yams were preferred due to there storage ability). The cultivation of these crops required a strict adherence to an annual planting schedule along with a year-round labour by the whole community (both men and women were employed) starting with finding suitable sites for the crops. After establishing a location, it would be marked off with the construction of a small stone wall. Upon the wall construction the vegetation within the site would be cut and burned then cleared away for mulching.The yam crop would be planted and the 4 mulching of fallow vegetation would begin (Kirch, 1995). This method of production limits the usage of the field. A land rotation is required every few years to ensure the land does not become permanently exhausted. This would require substantial expansion of land, turning the land into a prized commodity, as populations grew.
Ancient Hawaiian societies were extremely stratified class based societies and considered some of the most complex social organization of chiefdoms within the Polynesian region (Earle, 2000; Kirch, 1995). Power strategies of the ruling class of ali’i (chiefs) relied heavily on the importance of intensive agricultural facilities (Earle, 2000). The Hawaiian economic structure was built around tributary offerings to the ali’i nui, the high chief of the island, and the remaining chiefs below them such as the ali’i ahupua’a, the community chief (Earle, 2000). The genealogy of the ali’i nui is believed to have been linked to the gods, and are a direct representation of a particular god, for example Kamehameha I was considered to be the representation of Kuka’ilimoku, god of war (Earle, 2000; Kirch, 1995).
The lower ali’i were awarded their positions amongst the 6 community through kinship ties with the ali’i nui. Because of the genealogical ideals that existed amongst the Hawaiian society only ascension to the rank of ali’i would occur through primogeniture (Kirch.P & Green,2001; Earle, 2000) helping enforce a class system and fulfilling belief that the ali’i was related and representative of a god. The rigidity of this divine hierarchy led to the ideology that the ali’i were tabu and were isolated from the common public, konohiki (a sort of land supervisor) would act as representatives on their behalf (Earle, 2000).
The common population, who made up the majority, lived and worked on plots of land granted to them by the office of the ali’i. These plots existed within the frame work of a larger communal structure, feeding the population and providing surplus to the ali’i. In a Pond-field society the division of labour was divided by gender, men would cultivate the taro crop and fish, while women collected wild food and manufactured tapa cloth. In a Dry-field society there was no apparent gender divide amongst the labour, majority of the labour was devoted to maintaining and cultivating the yam and sweet potato crops.
Unearthing the Polynesian Past with Dr. Patrick V. Kirch - Bishop Museum Podcasts
The Pond-field societies that emerged in the Hawaiian islands were predominantly situated on the Windward coast (East coast) of the islands. This was the coast that would receive the most annual rainfall, for example the annual rainfall on the Windward coast of Kaua’i is 1300mm reaching 10,000mm and the mountain crest, versus 500mm recorded on the Leeward coast (the West coast). Due to the abundance of regular fresh water many of the early Polynesians settled on the Windward coast, establishing taro cultivation. As population began growing communities would break apart and begin expanding to find more suitable land eventually expanding to the Leeward coast (Ladefoged et al, 2009; Kirch P & Green, 2001; Earle, 2000).
The drastically different agricultural conditions that existed between the Windward and Leeward coasts led to different agricultural practices (as discussed earlier) and cultural beliefs being formed. Because of the demanding land intensive nature of the Dry-field societies expansion was necessary, frequently through conquest of neighboring communities or islands. Warfare became common practice (usually Dry societies 8 attempting to conquer Wet), with each society representing a different faction of the Hawaiian religious pantheon. Wet societies would worship Kane, the god of running water and the representation of the taro root, and Lono the god of rainfall and clouds. Dry societies, because their agricultural system was dependent on two seasons, would worship Lono during the wet months and Ku, the god of war, during the dry months when land was need to expand (Kirch, 1995). Frequently these conflicts, as mentioned above, would erupt in inter-island feuds, an example is Hawai’i (predominantly dry) attacking O’ahu and Moloka’i (both predominantly wet)(Kirch, 1995).
Animal husbandry was not a staple amongst the Hawaiian Islands, but it still existed. The early Polynesian settlers transported, chickens, dogs, pigs, and rats with them when they migrated north to Hawaii. As dispersal commenced across the islands, a pattern formed of Dry-field agriculture engaging in animal husbandry while the Pondfield relied more heavily on shoreline fishing, man made ponds, and wild game. This pattern most likely occurred due to the unpredictability of a steady crop surplus. In an event of a poor crop yield the animals they had acquired would provide for the community. There has been little archaeological records documenting that the animals were used for anything other than food or possibly clearing fields after a slash and burn (Ladefoged et al. 2009; Earle, 2000). After the animals death the bones were used as tools small tools, for example picks to extract clams and other shell fish (Burney, D & Kikuchi, 2006).
Modern Day Hawaiian Agricultural Lands
Modern Hawaiian agriculture looks very different. With the influx and lure of cash crops much of the traditional lands were replaced with pastures for grazing and many of the islands began growing specific crops (ie. Maui and the sugar crop).
Resources
Burney, D., & Kikuchi, W. (2006). A Millennium of Human Activity at Makauwahi Cave, Māhāūulepū, Kauaūi. Human Ecology, 34(2), 219-247.
Carson, M. (2006). Chronology in Kaua'i: Colonisation, Land Use, Demography. The Journal Of The Polynesian Society, 115(2), 173-185.
Earle, T. (2000). Hawaiian Islands: AD 800 - 1824. In D. Bondarenko & A. Korotayev, Civilization models of politogenesis (1st ed., pp. 73-86). Moscow: Institute for African Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
Kirch, P. (1974). The Chronology of Early Hawaiian Settlement. Archaeology & Physical Anthropology In Oceania, 9(2), 110-119.
Kirch, P., & Green, R. (2001). Hawaiki, ancestral Polynesia. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Kirch, P. V. (1995). The wet and the dry: irrigation and agricultural intensification in Polynesia. University of Chicago Press.
Kirch, P. V., & Sahlins, M. (1994). Anahulu: The Anthropology of History in the Kingdom of Hawaii, Volume 1: Historical Ethnography (Vol. 1). University of Chicago Press.16
Kirch, P. V., & Sahlins, M. (1994). Anahulu: The Anthropology of History in the Kingdom of Hawaii, Volume 2: The Archaeology of History. University of Chicago Press.
Ladefoged, T., Kirch, P., Gon, S., Chadwick, O., Hartshorn, A., & Vitousek, P. (2009). Opportunities and constraints for intensive agriculture in the Hawaiian archip
Images and Maps
Agricultural Terrace. [Image]. Retrieved from https://www.waimeavalley.net/
Hale lono. [Image]. Retrieved from https://www.waimeavalley.net/
Kalama1837. [Image]. Retrieved from https://dlnr.hawaii.gov/shpd/about/gis-maps/
Kauhale. [Image]. Retrieved from https://www.waimeavalley.net/
KU. [Image]. Retrieved from https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/E_Oc1839-0426-8
Ku'ula. [Image]. Retrieved from https://www.waimeavalley.net/
Lono. [Image]. Retrieved from https://sites.google.com/site/pacificislandpatheon/gods-goddesses/lono---god-of-peace-and-prosperity-wind-and-rain-lord-of-the-sun
Nu'uanu. [Image]. Retrieved from http://www.pacificworlds.com/nuuanu/native/native2.cfm
Taro Pond. [Image]. Retrieved from https://www.pxfuel.com/en/search?q=taro
Yam Field. [Image]. Retrieved from https://hilo.hawaii.edu/chancellor/stories/2018/06/12/sweet-potato-production-in-hamakua-can-be-improved/
All maps were created by Matthew Branagh with data found from the University of Hawaii and Office of Hawaiian state planning.
