Categorized | Agriculture

Kohala history comes alive (Jan. 8)

MEDIA RELEASE

The Kohala Cultural Learning Project, which is part of the Hawaii Tourism Authority’s Kukulu Ola, Living Hawaiian Culture Program in partnership with Hawaii County R&D, invites visitors and the public to participate in a traditional Kohala Style Luau on Saturday, Jan. 8 at the Kohala Intergenerational Center, behind Hisaoka Gym located in Kamehameha Park.

Hosted by the Hawaii FFA Foundation and our ohana, we will mentor you on each step in creating your own traditional celebration. You will experience and learn about taro and Hawaiian saddle making along with other local crafts.

This program is helping to stimulate and revive the two oldest economic development heritages, taro and cattle. Our history shows, that circa 1815 Kamehameha hired John Palmer Parker to control wild cattle for him and take care of his personal taro patches in exchange for a parcel of land in Waikapuku in North Kohala. Salt meat and cattle hide were some of Hawaii’s initial exported agricultural commodities.

In his first journey to North Kohala, Capt. James Cook was greeted by more than 30,000 Native Hawaiians. He documented “rich agriculture land with abundant food from the shore to the mountain. It’s no wonder Kamehameha I brought his warriors to Kohala to strengthen them before a battle”.

Today, North Kohala has approximately 6,000 residents who are dependent on imported food for sustenance. Kohala has always been an agriculturally based community and the North Kohala Community Development Plan challenges the community to become 50 percent food resilient by the year 2018.

The community is working arduously to meet this goal with collaborated efforts on multi-faceted projects in education, promotion & marketing, infrastructure and economic development.

Cost to participate is a $45 donation to the project. Proceeds will be used for local Hawaiian families to replant their taro crops in working toward sustainability.

For tickets, call Erika at the Kohala Intergenerational Center at 808-884-5838.

Hawaii FFA Foundation is a non-profit organization created in 2005 to provide support for agricultural education and stimulate interest in agricultural leadership and careers for youth in agriculture.

The foundation also strives to further the development of the Hawaii Association FFA program, stimulate the general public’s interest in agriculture and agricultural education and provide awards and scholarships to students in agriculture.

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