2021-22, AGRICULTURE AND DESIGN 21-22

Preservation Of Native Hawaiian Plants

Johnna-Lee Lorenzo

Aloha, My name is Johnna-Lee Lorenzo. I was born and raised in North Kohala. I have been attending HPA for four years now and it has been nothing but a blessing. My parents are John and Cori Lorenzo. My father is a Kahu so I grew up on the word of God. I have four older sibling: Courtney, Damien, Timothy & Isaiah Lorenzo. My family is everything to me, they are the foundations of my life and has ultimately shaped me into the person I am today. When I am not with my family, you can find me doing things I really enjoy such as hiking, camping, traveling and playing softball. My papa, Charles Roxburgh introduced softball to me at a very young age, he himself grew up playing baseball on O’ahu at Farrigton High School as a catcher & first baseman. I started playing softball from the age if 11 and ever since then softball has become an outlet for me to step out of reality and clear my head. Through me playing softball it has opened up opportunities for me to build connections and go through life with an open mind.

Abstract

My capstone project will be focused on the practices of Tradition Hawaiian Medicine and the Plants that Native Hawaiian used to rely on. Over the past three years my ‘Ohana and I have planted over 100+ ‘Ohi’a trees, 100+ Koa trees, Kalo and Aalii in our 1 acre of land/backyard.

Lā‘au lapa‘au is a big part of my capstone. Lā‘au lapa‘au in this context means medicine: in large it can be translated into Herbal Medicine. to explain a little more: You go to a doctor to heal your body and church to heal your soul but that was not the case in hawaiian medicine. Pule is an important part of La’au lapa’au. It was taught that the body cannot fully heal if the spirit is not healed as well .

Native Hawaiian plants are slowly disappearing and the knowledge that our Kupuna hold about are not being passed down to us. Many of these plants that our Kupuna’s relied on have been used for food and medicinal purposes but we have simply become TOO “spoiled” to the fact that we can stop at the store to get medicine over the counter and that they are readily available to us 24/7.

However this was not the case for our Kupuna, they had to rely on the land to sustain themselves and their families.

I want to promote a way for people to get this knowledge and see hands on that these plants served as medicine for Native Hawaiians for hundreds of years before over-the-counter medicine was ever here.