Nestled in the ahupuaʻa (land division) of Paukaʻa, in the ʻili (section of land division) of Pāhoehoe on Hawaiʻi Island, lies 9 acres of land that Kāwika Lewis and his ʻohana steward called ʻĀina University — a place for the community to grow, gather and grind.
At ʻĀina University, visitors from keiki to kūpuna can learn about the ahupuaʻa system, food security, Native Hawaiian plants and crops, and more.
Lewis, a kanaka mahiʻai (farmer), told HPR that ʻĀina University is about more than learning how to plant and farm.
“I believe everybody needs to get reconnected again to something that's greater than themselves, which is our culture,” Lewis said. “I’m not just going to show you how to plant vegetables. You learn the work ethic, the culture, the language, the protocols, to be hardworking, respectful, to work as a team, a hui, a people. It's not just planting and farming, it's about life.”
Grow
Lewis has worked for Kamehameha Schools Hawaiʻi for 18 years. Shortly after he started working there, he requested to see their available land leases. He said that the site in Paukaʻa caught his attention because it had a waterfall.
“When I got to the location with the manager, I stepped out of the car and I could hear water in the background, which was a waterfall,” Lewis said. “As soon as she stepped out of her car, I told her I'd take it.”
The site was overgrown and unused for over 15 years before the Lewis ʻohana became the land stewards. He explained that once he heard the water, he knew he wanted to invest the time into it because other places he had in the past didn't have water available.
“My family was never trying to be commercial farmers, it was more for the lifestyle of sustainability and growing food for sustenance,” Lewis said. “The 9 acres seemed like a lot already, especially when you don't work with any funding and all you initially start off with is a shovel and a dream.”
Lewis recalled first becoming fascinated with the ancient Hawaiian ahupua‘a system back in kindergarten. This traditional land management system was designed to maintain balance in life by sustainably using resources to support both the land and the people.
“Even as a little youth I was intrigued looking at the poster that we all grew up seeing in classrooms,” Lewis told HPR. “And I was just like where is this place, I want to find it. I want to do the things that I see everybody doing in the poster.”
Lewis later moved to Hawaiʻi Island to attend the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo, where he met many kūpuna who continued to spark his interest in farming practices by sharing their ancestral knowledge with him.
“If you look at the poster, the biggest thing on the poster is the water going through the land division,” he said. “That’s the richness and the wealth of water, so today at our place that's what I have, I have a water source coming through the middle of our place that's very similar to the poster.”
Gather
Lewis said there have been times when he’s questioned why he’s doing this work, but he believes ʻĀina University is his kuleana given to him by his ancestors.
“Even though they're long gone, they're like, ʻHere Kāwaika, you're going to be the one to carry this torch for others to know about,’ and it became my kuleana and I take it very seriously,” he said.
On any given day, ʻĀina University hosts groups from kindergarteners to 11th graders, as well as athletes and business professionals. While there is no set curriculum, visits can be customized to meet varying needs.
“A lot of blood, sweat and tears have been poured upon the soil, and there's something that tells me this is the right thing to do,” Lewis said. “Everybody who leaves after a visit with us is just blown away. Some people cry because they're just so touched about how we open their eyes about how we look at the land.”
He shared that seeing people have such emotional reactions to the visits is like getting paid $1 million in a spiritual paycheck.
“Sometimes funders don't understand the narrative, they just want to see the numbers, but they don't see all those moments when a second grade girl hugs you and says, ‘Uncle, I’m gonna be a farmer when I grow up,’ and those kinds of things are why this is so worth it.”
Grind
Kāwika and his wife, Kaipuaʻala, have been involved with their community for almost 40 years. He believes their success comes from establishing dedicated relationships, building trust, and working with the keiki.
One of their main highlights is called mālanary, a play on the Hawaiian word māla, meaning garden combined with culinary. Lewis demonstrates different culinary skills, dishes, and then the groups grind (eat).
He also grows many of the crops pictured in the 1975 ahupuaʻa poster, such as kalo, ʻuala, maiʻa and ʻulu, and often collaborates with the community to help provide food for various events.
“I’ve always been interested in that and I've always liked the idea of growing food, and giving food to others, sharing.”
While ʻĀina University started with a focus on Lewis’ family, he said that he wants people to know that they’re sharing that focus outward now. He added that his ʻohana has received so much love, respect and aloha from the community because of what they give.
“We’re so fortunate to live in a cycle of sharing food and reconnecting, but it comes at a price and responsibility,” Lewis said. “But by helping in the way that we do, by giving our heart and soul to a program that we believe in, our lives have changed so much and it has been nothing but amazing.”
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