*2.1. Traditional Agriculture on 'Aina Malo'o ¯*

While lo'i agriculture is primarily based on kalo and is relatively consistent in its form, agriculture on 'aina malo'o was much more diverse, utilizing a range of cropping systems including ¯ small heavily-managed gardens near house sites, large-scale intensive multi-crop systems, mixed agroforestry, swidden or shifting agriculture, and arboriculture (Figure 1) [7,10,16,19–55]. The diverse forms of cropping systems reflected the differing ecosystems and topography that 'aina malo'o ¯ occupied. The drivers of agricultural form appear to dominantly be the soil depth and fertility, the slope of the land, and rainfall, although other local variations likely played a role as well [7,19,20,54].

**Figure 1.** A rough typology for agricultural production systems in pre-contact Hawai'i; the general categories are not exhaustive and represent a spectrum of practices. The dashed horizontal line is intended to demarcate systems that the Polynesian discoverers of Hawai'i had in mind when they arrived; the lower dotted line indicates the range of techniques employed at the time of European arrival. There is no implication that cropping systems are invariant over time along a given line; to the contrary, we know that systems of lo'i expanded over time, rain-fed field systems underwent infilling and intensification, and shifting cultivation systems began to manage the fallow as well as the cropping phase intensively; other systems no doubt developed as well.

A considerable portion of the area devoted to rainfed cultivation occurred in vast, intensively developed "systems," such as the Leeward Kohala Field System (Figure 2). These intensive systems were confined to areas with high natural soil fertility [9,56] and adequate rainfall, mostly on the young islands of Hawai'i and Maui [19]. These field systems are defined by common elements of agricultural infrastructure, including long linear embankments and built stone mounds, although considerable diversity in form and application of the infrastructure is evident. Embankments were planted with taller crops such as ko (sugarcane, ¯ *Saccharum officinarum*), mai'a (plantain/banana, *Musa* spp.), and k¯ı (ti, *Cordyline fruticosa*), and bordered cleared fields containing the primary staples of kalo, 'uala (sweet potato, *Ipomoea batatas*), and 'uhi (greater yam, *Dioscorea alata*). These continuous systems occupied vast areas on the younger islands; the largest of which was likely the Ka'u system that may have ¯ covered over 50,000 acres [11,19]. Portions of these systems were likely farmed seasonally based on patterns of rainfall and temperature [12,13].

**Figure 2.** The infrastructural remnants of the Leeward Kohala Field System—a vast, dense network of rainfed farming plots.

Agroforestry and other forms of tree agriculture represented another significant fraction of agriculture on 'aina malo'o (Figure ¯ 3). Tree crops, such as 'ulu (breadfruit, *Artocarpus altilis*), kukui (candlenut, *Aleurites moloccanus*), niu (coconut, *Cocos nucifers*), hala (*Pandanus tectorius*), and 'ohi'a'ai ¯ (mountain apple, *Syzygium malaccense*) were employed extensively by Hawaiians, primarily in places that were too dry, too rocky, too steep, too salty, too infertile, or too small for the "system" form of agriculture discussed above (e.g., Reference [20]), although several extensive agroforestry systems were developed in fertile areas (e.g., Reference [10]). Agroforestry in ancient times included mono-cropped arboricultural stands, multi-tiered diversified agroforestry, and the alteration and tending of native forests (e.g., References [21,28,34]).

**Figure 3.** An 1836 drawing by Persis Goodale Thurston depicts the different rainfed farming zones within Kona, Hawai'i Island. The *kula* lands in the foreground represented opportunistic agriculture and home gardens in the dry lowlands, the *kalu'ulu* arboriculture appears as a distinct band of breadfruit trees across the landscape, the *'apa'a ¯* planting zone follows with its intensive stone infrastructure depicted, and finally the *ama'u* zone as managed native forest.

Non-flooded agriculture also includes a range of miscellaneous techniques that were smaller in scale and scope, but collectively were applied to a large area. These were highly diverse forms of practice and infrastructure at a micro-habitat scale; they included check dams (pa'amua), water holes (na loko wai), terraces (k ¯ ¯ıpapa), intermittent water manipulation, stone and earth mounds (pu'u), swales, built soils, and other innovations that took advantages of local topography and environment. These developments ranged in intensity, scale, and productivity, but were highly place-adapted to maximize the scope of agriculture given the local opportunities and constraints. These variable developments often occurred adjacent to, or even embedded within, the intensive systems as the landscape shifted into more marginal environments in terms of water or soil fertility. However, some regions without potential for intensive systems of agriculture applied these alternative techniques extensively.

On Hawai'i Island, the vast majority of agriculture was of non-flooded forms, although a few opportunities existed for lo'i agriculture in older, windward areas. Moving clockwise around the island, we generalize its agricultural opportunities (Figure 4). Starting at the northern point of the Kohala peninsula, small valleys were developed for limited lo'i with rainfed agriculture (probably shifting cultivation) occurring between the valleys, and in a late pre-contact development, tunnels and canals were constructed to irrigate interfluvial areas [57]. On the northeastern coast a series of large valleys offered ideal locations for lo'i with agroforestry conducted on the colluvial valley slopes. Moving south into Hamakua vast areas of agroforestry were employed, and unique swidden and arboriculture systems established, along with sparse lo'i opportunities in the many small streams and rivers. Larger rivers flow into Hilo Bay, and relatively large systems of lo'i were established there. In the very young but wet regions of Puna, vast areas of multi-tiered agroforestry existed along with multiple forms of agricultural gardens such as planting pits and built soils. Surrounding the southern point of Ka'u was perhaps the largest intensive rainfed field system. The southwest coast, being very dry and young, offered limited opportunities for agriculture that took advantage of microsite development. Along the Kona coast, another large, intensive field system existed. Moving north along the west coast the landscape again becomes dry and provides only for limited development of agriculture at opportunistic sites. At the inlet just south of the Kohala peninsula, two intensive hybrid systems that intermittently irrigated dryland areas existed. Finally, along the western coast of Kohala, a final, intensive dryland field system (the Leeward Kohala Field System) existed inland. While this captures the large-scale patterns of agricultural developments around the island, it is important to note that a substantial amount of variation occurred within these generalizations.

#### *2.2. The Decline and Rise of Traditional Agriculture*

Following European colonization, with the decline of the native population, the privatization of lands, the introduction of plantation agriculture, and the control of water resources, native Hawaiian agriculture diminished substantially [58]. In particular, the rainfed agricultural systems, which were both more vulnerable and had land more conducive to plantation agriculture, declined very rapidly. While lo'i systems also declined precipitously, their physical infrastructure and continued practice were sustained at a much higher rate.

While pockets of traditional agricultural practices have persevered over the 240 years since European arrival, the revival of indigenous methods and crops has significantly increased since the "Hawaiian Renaissance" of the 1970s (e.g., see Kagawa-Viviani et al., this issue). Since then, hundreds of individual lo'i terraces in dozens of districts have been restored, both into commercial and subsistence production; often through the efforts of nonprofit organizations focused on cultural and environmental restoration and education. Conversely, restoration on 'aina malo'o remained ¯ largely non-existent. That lo'i have been prevalent in initial restoration efforts could be expected for several reasons. First, it follows the ancient temporal pattern, in which wetland areas with abundant freshwater resources were developed first by the original settlers of the island [7,59]. Furthermore, lo'i are common throughout Polynesia and therefore represent a knowledge system with more common

and recoverable knowledge from other areas. As indicated above, lo'i infrastructure and practices have been better preserved and thus represented a more accessible starting point for restoration efforts; this is coupled with the fact that labor requirements of lo'i are typically lower on a per area basis, allowing restoration to occur with a relatively small cohesive group and therefore more easily obtaining a "critical mass" to power the efforts. Finally, and not to be understated, lo'i terraces are used to grow kalo (taro, *Colocasia esculenta*) to the near exclusion of all other crops [60]. Kalo is a piko, both spiritually and physically, of the Hawaiian people; its importance as "the staff of life" gives it a central role in any efforts of biocultural restoration. Piko literally refers to the navel and umbilical cord, or a summit, and symbolically refers to a connection to the world. In Hawaiian epistemology, a person has three piko that connected one to the spiritual and physical world—the fontanel that connected one to theirhis/her ancestors, the navel that connected one to the present world, and the genitals that connected one to theirhis/her future. This worldview recognizes that humans are a product of genetic and environmental history, that they are intimately connected to everything in the present, and that their being will impact everything to come in the future. Kalo is seen as a manifestation of this connection, as it is connected to mankind through ancestoryancestral cosmology, connected to mankind by reciprocal sustenance (humans farming kalo and kalo feeding humans), and connected to mankind in their relationship into the future. More practically, kalo was the preferred staple of the people and the gods, and therefore central to the diet of the people and religious and ceremonial practices.
