In January, our cohort travelled to O’ahu, HW, where we completed our second and final Study Tour!
This study tour focussed on Food Sovereignty, through an Indigenous Hawaiian pedagogy, that utilized many different land-based sites, teachings, and community-based approaches to engage in learning. It was on the land and within community, that we were introduced to the knowledge systems and worldviews that inform food sovereignty traditions, practices, and initiatives across O‘ahu.
This time allowed us to learn about, observe, and reflect on the complex socio-economic factors that affect the lives of Kānaka Maoli or Indigenous Hawaiians. Some of these factors include the adverse impacts of tourism, land loss, the military/prison industrial complex, and the disruption of Indigenous Sovereignty across the Kingdom of Hawai’i, through the illegal occupation and creation of “Hawaii” as a (Settler) state within the United States of America.
Some of the Food Sovereignty practises we engaged in included: working with multiple l’oi kalo (taro patches);
depositing limu (seaweed) lei wrapped around rocks to feed marine life and help restore surrounding aquatic ecosystems;
attempting night net fishing or pā pā (requiring us to repeatedly hit the water directing the fish into the laid out nets);
learning to harvest and carve coconut dishes for our closing ceremony (with lots of snacking on fresh coconut meat/water);
acquiring ingredients and materials for the luau (feast) that we prepared in the imu (a traditional method of underground cooking using heated volcanic rocks, coconut leaves, burlap sacks and tarps as coverings, with the addition of water to create steam and help evenly cook the prepared foods);
lastly, and most importantly, sharing meals and stories with community.
An important learning journey throughout the course of our study tour was gathering the ingredients and materials to be prepped and cooked in the imu for the luau on the evening of our last full day. Some of the ingredients we prepared included:
pounding he’e (octopus) with Aunty Ali;
gathering coconut and ti leaves, as well as acquiring ulu (breadfruit), coconut, and kalo (taro) for various dishes;
and learning to prep the Imu and prepare recipes with the sisters, Kahanu and Ka’imi Ah Pauk.
It is important to acknowledge that this work was possible through our professor Alex Wilson and primary host Ka’imi Hanohano’s parents longstanding relationality, that has worked to establish a multi-generational opportunity (now through Alex, Ka’imi, and community effort) to share and expand Indigenous Knowledges, Food Sovereignty, Education, and opportunities for cultural-exchanges.
Though we spent a portion of our trip in shared accommodations, we started our trip with our nights camping on the land. ninanāskomon (I am grateful) to the many community members that welcomed us to their ohana, shared knowledge and history on the surrounding lands/waters of their homes, and were always keen to learn about our own cohorts various cultural backgrounds. It was a beautiful cultural exchange.
ninanāskomon to Aunty Londa for hosting us our first night in Hakipuʻu. A few days later we returned to thank Aunty Londa for opening her home to us by removing the debris from the loi kalo she cares for.
ninanāskomon to the Ah Pauk Family, particularly Uncle Sonny, Kahanu, and Ka’imi Ah Pauk (our incredible chef who made us local land-based meals) for welcoming us to your home and becoming a space for many of our land-based activities throughout our trip.
Another trip in the books (and forever in our hearts) for our MILBE crew! The next time we’d all see each other would be during our last official trip — a six-day 240km canoe paddle down the Saskatchewan River Delta back to the Opaskwayak Cree Nation where we began this program.
