These presentations focus on the Hawaiian people’s relationship to their most sacred food crop—taro. The discussion will include ongoing efforts to promote knowledge about and growth of taro through initiatives in land stewardship and natural resource restoration and remediation along with culturally based education programs at Kualoa Ranch Private Nature Reserve.

Joey Kalanakilaokalāhui Palupe (Native Hawaiian) of Koʻolaupoko, Oʻahu, has been immersed in various aspects of Hawaiian culture his entire life. He is currently the manager of Hawaiian culture, community engagement, and education at Kualoa Ranch, a nearly 4,000-acre private nature reserve on the island of Oʻahu. He graduated from Kamehameha Schools Kapālama and the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa with a bachelor’s degree in Hawaiian Studies and has been involved in place- and culture-based education throughout his entire career. Starting as a land steward in an ethnobotanical garden to teaching Hawaiian perspectives at his own alma mater, Palupe has remained devoted to growing and reinvigorating the connection of Hawaiian people in Hawaiʻi and abroad to their cultural identity and home. He hopes to share the history and perspectives of his ancestors with others to promote the vitality of Hawaiʻi’s resources, people, and environment.

Makua Perry (Native Hawaiian) was raised in both Kaimukī and Mililani, Oʻahu. He is a graduate of Kamehameha Schools Kapālama and received his undergraduate degree in Hawaiian Studies at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. His journey of connection to various ʻāina-based (land and sea) sites across multiple islands has provided a series of growing and learning experiences. Perry plans to apply some of that ʻike kūpuna (ancestral knowledge) to the Mālama Loko Ea Foundation’s agricultural and outreach programs to instill a greater sense of connection to place within the organization and the local community.