Pacific Canoe Plants in Solomon Islands

Te Puke rigging, Photo by Matthias

In an age of increasing competition for dwindling resources and in a place where we rely heavily on imported goods, what lessons do our Pacific Island neighbors hold for us in Hawai‘i?

The National Tropical Botanical Garden and Kaua‘i Community College’s Balance of Nature lecture series continues on Tuesday, Oct. 13, with a free public talk titled “Growing Lata’s Garden: What Pacific Canoe Plants Offer Us Today” by Dr. Mimi George and H. Meph Wyeth, from 5:30 p.m. in the cafeteria at the KCC Campus Center in Puhi.

In their talk, Dr. George, an anthropologist and sailor, and Ms. Wyeth, president of the Ka‘imi Na‘auao o Hawai‘i Nei Institute, will discuss how Taumako Islanders in the Solomon Islands nurture, process and assemble the plants that their culture’s hero Lata used to build an early voyaging canoe.

Learn how current day Taumako artisans work with plants to perpetuate their knowledge of ancient technology used to navigate their vast ocean surroundings.

The “Balance of Nature” lecture series is one of many collaborations between the nonprofit NTBG and KCC. Both share a common goal of quality education to truly change lives.

For information on the institutions, visit their respective websites at www.ntbg.org and kauai.hawaii.edu