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Two
of the most important and symbolic words in the Hawaiian vocabulary
kalo and ohana, the words for taro and family can be used
to describe the main focus of life in Waipio Valley. It is
significant that the words are related in terms of language
and legend. Kalo reproduces by means of underground sprouts,
or oha, which are broken off the parent corm for planting.
The word ohana itself is composed of the word oha and the
suffix na, and so literally means off-shoots or "that
which is composed of off-shoots"; by extension, then,
it means "the off-shoots of a family stock" (Handy
and Pukui 1972:3).
Changes in Waipio Valley over the last 150 years in the numbers
and sizes of families, their ethnic background, educational
and business opportunities, and planting choices have somewhat
affected the ohana/kalo focus. This website presents snapshots
of the valley that describe these changes from just before
the Mahele to more recent generations who have maintained
the cultivation of kalo and the structure of the ohana into
the present day. These sketches of life are based on missionary
records starting around 1830, Mahele documents of the mid-1800s,
Hawaiian kingdom and U.S. government census records for the
late 1800s and early 1900s. What comes through in these primary
resources are three levels of social relationship that could
be described as ohana in the post-Contact period that of the
individual family, of the ethnic group, and of the larger,
interrelated and interdependent community of Waipio Valley.
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