When Wainani Kea-loha pounds poi, she is totally focused on the task.

“You don’t want any lumps,” she said. “I keep adding water and pounding the taro until I get the consistency I want. It’s a matter of preference: Most people like it thick — called one-finger poi because that’s all you need to eat it. Others like it thinner and add more water — that’s called two- or three-finger poi.”

Kealoha’s bond with taro was forged some 20 years ago when she and her family were living in Kona. Their gardener, an old Hawaiian man from the fishing village of Milolii, helped her start a little patch with taro that he brought from his home.

“For two years I spent part of every day working in that patch, and it grew from two to 14 rows,” Kea-loha said. “That led me to start researching taro cultivation, its uses in ancient times and related chants, songs and cultural practices. The book ‘Native Planters in Old Hawaii,’ by E.S. Craighill Handy, became my bible. Sometimes I would lie in my patch — no matter that I would get wet and dirty — and look up through the canopy of leaves. I felt such a strong connection with taro; taro and I were one.”

Kealoha is one of four kumu (teachers) who lead visitors on a 3-1/2-hour interactive tour of Lahaina that’s appropriately titled Discover Old Hawai‘i. All the kumu are versed in traditional cultural arts: The other three are Keoki Sousa (storytelling, lomilomi massage and laau lapaau, or the science of medicinal plants), Kalapana Kollars (hau cordage making and ohe hano ihu, or bamboo nose flute making) and Maile Keawe Bryan (hula, lau hala weaving and ohe kapala, or bamboo stamp printing).

Launched in November, the tour takes participants to four wahi pana (sacred sites). At each site a kumu notes its historic significance and engages guests in a cultural activity. Guests take home what they make.

Sousa escorts guests from site to site, pointing out medicinal plants and stories about notable places along the way, including Pa Halekamani, the longtime home of Nahi‘ena‘ena, daughter of Kamehameha I and Queen Keopuolani. Kamehameha III Elementary School stands on the site today; its namesake is the princess’s brother.

At Apukaiao (King’s Taro Patch), Kealoha takes over the narrative, explaining that in 1802 and 1803, after Kamehameha I had unified the islands, he returned to Lahaina with his entourage to help his people plant taro so they would have a sustainable food source. Back then, Apukaiao was huge, extending for what is now a few blocks from Banyan Tree Park to Lahaina Library.

When the missionaries arrived in the 1820s, they were allowed to build homes on some of the king’s land in Lahaina. Businesses also sprouted up, which further changed the landscape of the area. Today only a remnant of Apukaiao remains in the section of the library’s lawn that borders Front Street.

Kealoha, the patch’s devoted caretaker, explains how taro is grown, cooked and prepared. If any taro is ready to harvest, she pulls it and demonstrates how the young stalk atop the corm is replanted. With her guidance, tour participants mash cooked taro and a little water into paiai and taste the results (paiai becomes poi when it is pounded with more water).

Bryan usually teaches guests about bamboo stamp printing at the Hauola Stone, once a birthing site for high chiefs that’s also known for its healing properties. At Hale Halawai, a thatched meeting house built in the architectural style of old Hawaii, Kollars might provide insights about the bamboo nose flute and help guests make their own instrument. A stop is also made at the Mokuula Island and Mokuhinia Pond restoration site (see sidebar) where archaeological work is set to begin in December.

“We delve deeper into Hawaiian history and culture than most tours do,” said Karee Carlucci, program director for Maui Nei Native Expeditions, which offers Discover Old Hawai‘i. “We don’t just talk about a traditional art and show visitors how to make it; they actually make it themselves as a keepsake, and we provide context by explaining its origins and uses in ancient times.”

In her view the tour’s hands-on experiences and close interaction with knowledgeable cultural practitioners enhance participants’ appreciation for Hawaii.

“They come away with a greater understanding of Lahaina’s past and its revered places than the average visitor,” Carlucci said. “Our tour is a memorable, meaningful way for them to discover old Hawai‘i.”

Preserving history

Discover Old Hawai‘i is presented by Maui Nei Native Expeditions, an educational program of the nonprofit 501(c)(3) Friends of Moku‘ulacq, which was established in 1995 to restore, preserve and raise awareness about historic Mokuula and Mokuhinia.

Mokuula, a 1-acre island in Mokuhinia Pond, was the home of Maui’s high chiefs beginning in the 16th century and the residence of Kamehameha III between 1830 and 1845 when Lahaina was the capital of the Hawaiian kingdom.

In the early 20th century, Mokuhinia was filled with coral rubble dredged from the Lahaina roadstead. Mokuula was also covered, and by 1918 the area was turned over to the County of Maui for use as a ballpark. The county stopped using the ballpark around 2003 after it leased the site to the Friends of Moku‘ula.

Maui Nei also offers a two-hour Lahaina History Tour daily from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. Price is $50 for teens and adults ($40 for kamaaina), $24 for kids age 6 through 12. A private tour for two or more people of any age costs $65 per person.

Proceeds from both tours benefit the Friends of Moku‘ula’s Mokuula/Mokuhinia restoration project. Go to www.mauinei.com for more information.

Cheryl Chee Tsutsumi is a Honolulu-based freelance writer whose travel features for the Star-Advertiser have won several Society of American Travel Writers awards.