Preservation of Ancestral Cultivation Systems of Taro (Colocasia Esculenta)

Abstract

Culture loss has been a causative factor of many forms of disease in indigenous populations. Ancestral growing systems and the culturally important plants propagated within the systems are included in the cultural symbols that have been diminished due to a change of power. In Hawai’i and on Easter Island, also known as Rapa Nui, these ancestral growing systems are the lo’i and the manavai respectively. The symbolic plant is taro (Colocasia esculenta). Currently the systems are being revived at different rates, and with the revival of the systems, there is a higher potential for well-being. Well-being is analyzed in the realms of the individual, the relational, and the collective. The community built surrounding the redevelopment of the lo’i and the manavai addresses each level of well-being.