Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 25, Number 9, 1 September 2008 — Makaweli Poi forges ahead with OHA help [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Makaweli Poi forges ahead with OHA help

By Liza Simun Puhlie Affairs Specialist For half a day you couldn't hear the chickens clucking as usual on this side street of rural Waimea town, as a small

but gregarious group of people gathered to celebrate the dedication of the 15-year-old Makaweli Poi Mill, acquired in March by OHA's new Hi'ipoi LLC.

After a blessing given by Kahu Nani Hill, fonner OHA staffer-tumed-Hi'ipoi LLC executive director Kanani Perry led the group, including OHA Trustees and staff, on a tour of the wooden nūll building, whieh was onee a grocery store and then a soda-bottling plant. "Our goal is to keep feeding our loyal Kaua'i customers by supplying Makaweh Poi directly to 20 Kaua'i stores - our primary market. In the long run we want to do more to grow job skills in the coimnunity and support the loeal fanners who depend on this nūll to buy their taro crop," said Perry, standing beside the himaee-

like stainless steel steamer, where several 80-pound bags of taro had just been loaded under the cover of burlap. Perry explained the handson steps that lead from the boiler to the hand-bagging of Makaweli Poi - the thick and slightly sour kind (especially if left out) preferable to many loeal palettes over its sweeter pasteurized counterpart. As temperatures climbed inside the building, Perry said the secret to Makaweli's Poi Mill's storied success, including sizeable profit margins in the early 1990s, was to never nūss the twice-weekly milling process - even though this depended at times on finding someone in the nūddle of the night to work wizardry with a broken boiler. For ingenuity in miraculous jerryrigging and more, she credited Makaweli

Poi Factory's staff of 12 parttime workers, including several who, like fonner nūll owner lohn A'ana, have full-time positions with the Kaua'i Fire Department at nearby Hanapepe station. Last year, A'ana was looking to sell his Makaweli Poi Mill and retire from the business altogether, and he was approached OHA Trustee Donald Cataluna, who was responsible for initiating and arranging the OHA acquisition. While A'ana's poi reputation has grown to attract brisk business including caterer's orders See MAKAWELI on page 28

NŪHOU - NEWS

hi ipoi execu- ■ tive director Ko- " nani Perry says | Makaweli Poi | will continue to serve Kaua'i markets.

Dedication day at Makaweli Poi brought together Kaua'i's Westside poi producers and taro farmers. Pictured (I to r): John Aana, founder and former owner of Makaweli Poi and consulfanf for fhe new Hi'ipoi LLC, Julian Lacro, Willie Apo, Wesley Yadao - Photos: Liia Simon

MAKAWELI CūūtiūUEd fram page 05

- even from O'ahu, the orders have heeome harder to fill partly due to a taro shortage. Many westside Kaua'i taro farmers, whose lo'i have been in family hands for more than a century, have run into difficulties cultivating a crop even more labor intensive than poi milling in the way it requires fighting weeds and extracting the taro conns by hand. Sitting outside under the lū'au tent with other celebrants to share a luneh of beef stew and poi plus a stunning view of the slopes of Waimea Canyon visible in the distance, A'ana said Kaua'i's Westside enjoys the right amount of sunshine, water and plenty of land. "But the issue for us is finding people who will farm taro for the love of it," said A'ana, who's staying on as consultant to Hi'ipoi LLC and working with director Perry to build a west Kaua'i tarofanners collective. Perry has also just begun an after-

schoolprogramforfiveWaimeaHigh School students at the Makaweh mill. "The mill is a good introduction to the rewards of fanning, because you put in the hours and get the satisfaction of seeing your product go to market," said Perry. These developments go over well with lifelong Waimea taro fanners Linda and Pranklin Dusenberry, who eame to the Makaweli Poi dedication and to thank OHA for keeping nūll operations going at a difficult time when transportation costs have pushed up the prices of important supplies such as fertilizer. "Taro fanmng brings people together - friends, family - even the radicals. We heeome one bigger and stronger fanūly," said Linda with a ehuekle. Perry couldn't agree more. Noting that Hi'ipoi LLC's philosophy is that taro fanning and poi nūlling comprise a way of life and an integral part of Native Hawaiian culture, she said: "Conūng out here to work means leaving behind your air-conditioned office, but I've never had a job like this where everyone has a special plaee and everyone is equally important." E