I decided to post this paper since I think I did a pretty good job, and I have been told that it is interesting, even to the casual reader. It has yet to be graded, so wish me luck. Ahem…

Midterm 2 – Paper 1

By Joshua Haley HWST 107

Hawai’i, as an environment, is unique in its ability to sustain life. How was the environment unique and in what ways were the carrying capacities of Hawai’i‘s lands increased by the Hawaiian people?

Walled Fishponds

Hawaii was unique in that it had many areas on the islands in which fresh water, via streams and creeks, flowed into the salt water ocean. These areas of mixed, or brackish, water were very productive areas for algae and, therefore herbivorous fish. This advantage was exploited further by the creation of walled areas of brackish water, controlling the amount of water coming in and out as well as controlling the types of fish that come in and remain in the fishponds. By eliminating the larger, carnivorous fish from the fishpond, the herbivorous fish can thrive exponentially.

The special circumstances involving algae productivity in the brackish water created ideal conditions for herbivorous fish, as they were not preyed upon by other fish. The natural food chain was algae eaten by small herbivores, which are eaten by small carnivorous fish, which are then eaten by larger carnivorous fish, then eaten by humans. The cultivating of herbivorous fish in walled fishponds, short circuited the food chain by allowing humans to consume greater amounts of small and large herbivorous fish directly. This raised the efficiency of the food chain approximately 100 times. “The Hawaiian walled fishpond stands as a technological achievement unmatched elsewhere in island Oceania.” (Kelly, p.1)

Terraced Pondfields (Lo’i)

The sustaining of life in ancient Hawaii was greatly dependant on the successful production of taro. “Kalo”, as it was called by the native Hawaiians, was a staple starch which provided many nutrients and carbohydrates. The root is either eaten itself as a sweet potato might be, or mashed into poi, a starchy paste that was eaten at nearly every meal.

By creating level, terraced patches of land on the slopes of the mountains, ancient Hawaiians created ideal conditions for growing wetland taro without the need for actual large wetlands. Through an incredible feat of water conservatism and nutrient efficiency, carefully measured rainwater irrigation was made, allowing fresh water to flow through the terraced patches of taro, recycling the patch’s water, then flowing with added nutrients from the taro downstream to the ocean at the points where fishponds were made. This provided the fishponds with more nutrients, helping them fulfill their potential, while doing the same for the taro patches upstream.

This raised the efficiency of simple taro planting in dry lands: “An acre of irrigated pondfields produced as much as five times the amount of taro as an acre of dryland cultivation.” (Kelly, p.1)

Dry Land Cultivation / Zoning

This was a system incorporated by ancient Hawaiians to get the most out of each part of land, in other words, to grow crops in zones in which they grew best. This led to maximizing the use of the land for the production of more crops. Many parts of dry land were tested with various crops and the ones that did well were cultivated thereafter. “Crops were matched with their most compatible vegetation zones, trees had adequate spreading space, and double cropping was utilized where appropriate.” (Kelly, p 9)

The intensification of food production in Hawaii, driven by the ingenuity and efficiency of ancient Hawaiian farmers allowed for a greater population to be sustained in Hawaii. This meant more migrants were able to come from other parts of the Pacific and more generations of native Hawaiians were able to sustain life longer. This led to prosperity and further farming innovations.

Bibliography

Kelly, Marion. 1989. ynamics of Production Intensification in Pre-contact Hawai’i” in What’s New? A Closer Look at the Process of Innovation. Sander van der Leeuw and Robin Torrence (eds.) 82-105.