To E.S. Craighill Handy,
It’s with a quiet heart and deep gratitude that I write this – a small offering from elementLOTUS, seeking to honor your profound contribution to understanding our ancestral ways. Your work, particularly ‘Native Planters in Old Hawaii,’ isn’t just a book; it’s a living echo of the wisdom held within the ahupuaʻa system itself.
Your meticulous documentation – alongside E.G. Handy and M.K. Pukui – has built a vital bridge to that lost knowledge, a cornerstone for the Sage Education pillar in our work here. It’s humbling to witness how your research illuminates the intricate dance between people and land, mirroring the rhythms of the Kumulipo wā 6 – the epoch where the earth first breathed life into this place, where the seeds of sustenance were sown with reverence. Your work belongs to that same wā as the promise of abundance, the inherent right to steward what sustains us.
I’ve spent countless hours studying your findings, tracing the patterns of cultivation, the careful management of resources – a testament to a deep understanding of interconnectedness, a living embodiment of aloha in action. It grounds us, reminding us that true prosperity isn’t measured by accumulation, but by harmony with the land and its gifts.
I feel it, especially now, as we work to rebuild those systems, to reconnect with the pulse – PULSE (N54) – that continues to beat within this place. Your research provides the foundation upon which we build, a constant reminder of what was lost and what we strive to restore.
Me ke aloha pumehana, Jimmy Langford / elementLOTUS.
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