THE SIGNIFICANCE OF KALO (TARO)

E-Mail Kalo may be referred to as the select food of the Hawaiian, more so than, say, the sweet potato, which, while cultivated, is less dependable & adaptable. The Hawaiian depends on kalo...kalo depends on water. The labors called upon for the creation of stream diversions, water ditches, and pond-field terraces come from the cooperative work of the community. The streams and water-courses are the origins of wealth and security and therefore pattern the entire subsistence community.

Because of this stature, kalo has been traditionally cultivated in many of Hawaii's abundant vegetation zones, from narrow terraces carved deep in the wet rainforest valleys, to the languid windward shoreline areas, to the leeward areas' cool, dry upland slopes. Many varieties have thus evolved, each adapting to differing environmental conditions, wet and dry & high and low. Because of its extensive cultivation in Hawaii, kalo has evolved into more varieties, adaptable to varying conditions of locale, soil, and water, than found anywhere else on the planet.

Kalo is comprised of a starchy corm (kalo), succulent stalk (huli), and large dark green leaves (lu'au). Poi, the steamed then pounded corm, forms the Hawaiians' main source of sustenance. Lu'au is nutritious, tasty, and medicinal as well. Natural reproduction occurs by means of 'oha,, shoots growing underground from the makua, parent; 'oha are broken off and set out to grow on their own at planting time. Kalo may also be cultivated by means of huli, the above-ground crown of the corm.

Kalo is of primal significance in Hawaiian mythology. Important Hawaiian historian David Malo (1903, p.230) relates the deep traditional belief that the still-born first son of Wakea and Ho'ohoku-ka-lani, (in myth being Sky and Earth respectively), was buried only to then emerge from the earth as the first kalo plant. His younger brother, named Haloa, would become the ancestor of all people.

Thus kalo was the elder brother...and man the younger brother...both children of the same parents. Kalo is revered as the first-born, and thus placed above humanity itself as worthy of the highest respect. While many cultures have embraced kalo primarily as a food staple, in traditional Hawaii, kalo forms the very foundation of life, in body, mind and mythology.

The Hawaiian attaches the suffix -na to 'oha (kalo shoot) to build the word ohana. Ohana are the off-shoots, budding and branching from the parent stock. The Hawaiian relies and thrives on the existence of ohana or family.

Hugh Starr & Co., Inc., is a family-run ohana, and has worked with our land primarily in the Upcountry area of Maui, since 1971. We have chosen as our logo the kalo, out of respect for its powerful symbolic representation of the inseparable bond between us and our aina, our land.

Appreciation, gratitude, and concern for the future, of our Maui aina is our motivation. We strive to include in our work ethic some guidance towards the practice of respect for Hawaii's precious natural and unique cultural resources. We appreciate your taking the time to learn something of the importance of Hawaiian kalo to us and to our unique Hawaii community.

In their book, Native Planters in Old Hawaii, Their Life, Lore, and Environment, B.P.B. Museum, Bulletin 233, E.S.C. Handy & E.G. Handy observe the agriculture and culture surrounding kalo.

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