Chris Arruda
Nene awa is green with spots and long internodes.
It was used often by commoners to soothe toothaches and help hyperactive children sleep.
The bush grows to a height of 10 - 15 feet.
My independent field study project is about awa, what awa is,
what its effects are, and why it is an important part of Hawaiian culture. I
chose awa for the topic of my study because it has always captivated me. The
aesthetics of the plant are grand and I love to observe the different cultivar
in their different stages of growth. I also chose awa because I am interested
in horticulture and am enrolled in Hawaiian Studies this semester. Awa is an
important part of Hawaiian cultural identity. In my study I will discuss why
I believe that Awa promotes peace and good will.
The field study project took place here on O‘ahu and on the Big Island
of Hawai‘i. On O‘ahu I did research in the library and compiled
my data. I also brought awa nodes from the Big Island to Oahu and have successfully
propagated them. I am now cultivating awa in Manoa Valley. All of my field research
took place on the Big Island. The Big Island has such an expanse of fertile
soil, it was an excellent location to conduct my study.
My informants are Jamie Merriam, Mike Murray, and Lionel Arruda. Jamie Merriam
is a general contractor and farmer who has been cultivating awa for seven years.
He owns 10 acres of land in Mountain View, just off the Volcano Highway at the
1200 foot level. Jamie brought me to his farm to observe his growing techniques
and the many different cultivar in his collection. Mike Murray is a teacher
at Lapahoehoe School, which is on the Northeast coast of the Big Island. Mike
and I have been friends for 16 years now. Together we traveled to a remote valley
to propagate ancient Hawaiian awa and conduct an awa ceremony. Finally, my brother
Lionel Arruda, who is a part-Hawaiian hunter-gatherer with some heavy connections,
took me to some places where people are not allowed to venture. Lionel possesses
an uncanny ability to find his way through incredibly thick jungles that some
people get lost in for days. He took me to several massive wild awa patches
that probably haven’t been seen by human eyes in fifty years or more.
He also set up meetings with people who are very private, almost reclusive.
I conducted
my study from many different angles. During my ethnographic fieldwork I collected
information from growers, consumers, and people who have cultural knowledge.
I traveled to remote locations to observe awa in its natural state and visited
an agricultural farm to observe awa being cultivated. I performed a ceremony
in which my friend Mike and I harvested, prepared and consumed a massive dose
to experience the rich effects on this potent spiritual connector. I took photos
of our journey to be included with my research materials also.
On October 4, I attended the Kava Festival at the Lyon Arboretum. The festival
had large displays of awa cultivar in various stages of growth with explanations
of the different techniques of cultivation. I was able to consume awa and analyze
many different cultivar from all over the Hawaiian Islands. The festival had
over 3,000 people attend, which illustrates the cultural importance that the
awa still has today.
My study, which lasted the entire semester, took me to the Big Island three
times to conduct research and collect data. The study also includes research
previously published by botany experts in the Hawaiian Islands.
Chris in a giant mahakea bush.
This plant has long geen or nearly black internodes.
It was used by commoners.
ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION OF DATA
What is awa? Awa is a blessing from the gods. It is so beautiful to look at
in its vegetative state. It makes me smile and I feel happy every morning I
wake up and look outside to see the healthy specimens I have cultivated. The
largest of my plants is 20 inches tall and largest leaf is nine inches in diameter.
The stalk is purple, gold, and green. It looks like bamboo except for its giant
dark green heart shaped leaves. I have named it Nui, which means large. The
other specimens that I have propagated are from six inches tall down to just
a shoot. According to Vincent Lebot:
Kava (Piper methysticum forst.f.) is of the pepper family Piperaceae, an outstanding ethno-pharmacological species. The drug is, or once was, consumed in wide range of Pacific ocean societies, from coastal areas on the large Melanesian island of New Guinea to isolated Polynesian Hawai‘i, 7000 kilometers to the northeast. Awa is a handsome shrub that is propagated vegetatively, as are most of the Pacific’s major traditional crops. Its active principles, a series of kavalactones, are concentrated in the rootstock and roots. Islanders ingest these psychoactive chemicals by drinking cold water infusions of chewed, ground, pounded or otherwise macerated awa stumps and roots (Lebot, 1992).
Awa is a beautiful plant. During my visit to Jamie Memam’s
farm I observed many different cultivar. They varied greatly in color and size:
I saw that some had spots and some had stripes. One awa plant that I noticed
in particular had a bright green streak up the stalk, which was dark purple.
It was absolutely exquisite. Jamie said it was the papa ele’ele variety
and that he got the cutting from the rare mother plant 30 miles north of Hilo.
Jamie’s farm is peaceful and secluded. The Awa is planted in rows according
to the different varieties. It really stunk because Jamie had spread copious
amounts of chicken manure two days earlier and it had rained.
Jamie showed me his techniques for the first stage propagation. First he cuts
the nodes, and then he lays them on pure cinder and waters them three times
a day. I noticed that some of the nodes had shoots an inch long with a leaf
the size of a quarter, yet no roots. Jamie said he doesn’t plant the nodes
in soil until the roots start to show. Jamie gave me some Hanakapiae, or Dark
Spotted Nene, which I am propagating here on Oahu. I’m using his method
and some of the nodes are starting to shoot. I am grateful to Jamie for sharing
his knowledge with me.
THE EFFECTS OF AWA
Awa not only helps to transmit ancestral messages, but also facilitates their
reception. Awa drunkenness is a particularly valued altered state of consciousness
in the Pacific Inlands because, “unlike contemporary Western theories
of knowledge production, in Islanders’ explanation for the origin and
growth of an idea, the importance of inspiration far outweighs that of creativity”(Lebot
1992). “Clever people are those who control powerful means of inspiration,
rather than those who are personally creative or talented” (Lindstrom
1990).
OUR AWA CEREMONY
Mike Murray and I decided to conduct an awa ceremony in a remote valley that
we had kayaked to a year ago. During the previous trip I had found a stone bowl
with the pounder still in it. Needless to say we were in awe. This trip we created
and held our first ceremony. The first day was cold; we surfed after setting
up camp. I then made the cup for the ceremony while Mike fished. The cup I made
was a coconut shell that I broke in half. I sanded the lip smooth with a round
river stone. Mike caught a large papio; we ate it for dinner and it sure tasted
sweet. The coconut cup was a little stinky from the old rotten coconut milk
so I washed it with Awa Puhi ginger. Mike was impressed with the craftsmanship.
The next morning we set out on our journey. When we got to the awa patch we
prayed, gave thanks to the Gods for our lives, the lives of our ancestors and
the lives of our future generations. We thanked the Gods for everything in nature
and said that we would make three plantings of awa that day. Mike and I planted
cuttings around the existing patch for future generations. We then planted another
patch up by the great falls for this generation. On our way back from the falls
we harvested about five pounds of rootstock, roots and the cuttings for the
third planting. We went to the ruins of an ancient village where there was a
stone bowl and pounder; there we planted the final patch in recognition of the
ancestors. We prayed again and I pounded some fresh awa for the Gods.
When we got back to camp it was getting dark so I started to process the awa,
and Mike went to catch us another fish. Mike caught another fat papio within
three minutes of casting his line, then built a large fire and helped me with
the awa. We cut it into small pieces and smashed each one. We decided to boil
it and make a tea. We had so much of it that it took over an hour to make once
it had been cut and smashed. When we were done we had two big cups full, about
four measuring cups in each. We were amazed at the day and gave thanks once
again. The awa was thick like pudding and I was thinking, wow, is this too much,
as I dipped my finger into our brew. I rubbed my fingers together and the Awa
concoction felt like motor oil. Mike and I drank all of it. It tasted like oily
mud with a bottle of black pepper mixed in. Awful! It hit us within a few minutes,
we managed to get up and wobble towards the ocean and gaze at the stars. As
we lay on the rocks and at the edge of Mother Ocean, I felt nauseated for an
hour and a half. After a couple of hours on the shore we stumbled back to camp,
which was fifty feet away. Mike and I laughed and talked for a few more hours,
stopping every once and awhile to listen to the river, trees, wind and the valley.
I felt free from my body, free from this world, like I was at total peace and
in harmony with nature. I have never experienced anything like that before.
After the nausea everything became crystal clear. I heard the wind, the trees
and the river talk to me!
Another time Lionel Arruda, native Hawaiian hunter-gatherer and my brother,
took me to a couple ancient awa patches that he had discovered while hunting
deep in the jungle. One patch mesmerized me with the sheer magnitude of the
individual plants — the entire patch was a site to behold. At first I
felt like I was in a crowd of old souls, then after a while it felt like the
patch was happy to have people who care to come and visit. The awa plants were
so big, I would call them trees.
Lionel took me to visit an old Hawaiian named Jack. Lionel told me that Jack’s
grandfather planted a big Awa patch across the road from Jack’s house.
At first he wasn’t too friendly. He’s a great big gnarly old Hawaiian
and quite scary looking. He likes Lionel and we ended up hanging out on Jack’s
porch talking about fishing, hunting and awa’s cultural significance.
Jack said as a young boy he helped his father and grandfather tend the great
awa patch his grandfather had planted. I could tell that he was passionate about
the awa patch.
Uncle Jack said, “Awa used to be so important in bringing the community
together, everybody would help everybody else out and had plenty respect. Da
awa breeds aloha, back in da days everybody gave aloha and that’s what
we need today. Today hardly get aloha, people need for drink Awa, Awa is aloha.”
I think Jack is right; drinking Awa evokes peace and well-being. Before Lionel
and I left, Jack got out his awa bowl and did a chant as we drank some of his
awa. I got chicken skin when Jack was chanting, I felt very humble and grateful
for the experience.
I feel that I have experienced and learned so much during my study. I also feel
that I have just begun to tap into all the knowledge and meaning that there
is out there about awa. I can honestly say that there is a lot of aloha coming
from awa. I firmly believe that awa can bring peace and a sense of well-being
into our communities. Talking story with Jack really backs my theory up. The
experience I had with Mike Murray in the remote valley is a testament that awa
can bring you in touch with nature and help you to find spirituality.
Illustration: Hawaiian Medicinal Plants
Home |
Acknowledgements |
Contents |
Index |