| Re: Hawaiian Kava Forum moderators active and open | |
| yee | Thu 1/23/2003 2:25 PM Aloha 'awa Leaders, Just back from Samoa and woke up this morning and I ill. Either I'm dying from ebola virus, wish I was dying from dengue or feel like I'm dying with the flu. So I may be slow to respond. I salute Jonathan Yee's Hawaii Kona Forum this is great way to gather input for the 2/22/03 meeting in Hilo as well as sharing information and dispelling rumors . Yes I ready to handle items related to the meeting and UH activities and what ever else. Though when possible to avoid over lap and honest differences I think moderators should have different forums. SKip Aloha Skip, Looks like you're on the mainland, and I don't know if you read your e-mail... As a venue for helping the Hawaiian kava ('awa) industry develop a cultural and scientific body of knowledge through cooperation and collaboration between private industry, academia, government, and the public, the Hawaiian Kava Forum has been established. See http://hawaiiankava.com and click on "Discussions". The Hawaiian kava forum is a free public-service program of Hawaiian Kava Center whereby panelists or moderators from academia, government, private industry, and consumers have an opportunity to express their views on kava, and on Hawaiian kava ('awa) in particular. So far we have Ed Johnston and Jeri Ooka serving as moderators for the Hawaiian kava forum. Another invitation has been sent to Jerry Konanui and he has indicated his willingness to assist. Ed moderates three forums: (1) Hawaiian kava industry interests - General (2) Kava Consumer Interests - Beverage Recipes (3) Kava Consumer Interests - General. Jeri moderates four forums: (1) Hawaiian kava industry interests - General (2) Kava Consumer Interests - Beverage Recipes (3) Kava Consumer Interests - General (4) Native Plants - General Perhaps you could moderate the following four forums: (1) Hawaiian kava industry interests - Hilo Meeting of Feb. 22, 2003 (2) Hawaiian kava industry interests - General (3) Kava Consumer Interests - Beverage Recipes (4) Kava Consumer Interests - General As the Hawaiian kava forum develops, perhaps additional forum specialties, including ethnobotany, and perhaps biochemical, and physiologic research will be added as necessary. The role of the moderator is voluntary, and is honorary. Your forum will be continually updated by participant members. You will have the privilege of editing your respective forum including all deletions, re-editing other's posts, etc. (see FAQ after reaching the forum). To become a moderator, simply click on Register, fill in the Form, and as administrator, I will upgrade your status to "Moderator". Although the forums are subject to continual update from participants, your role is not an obligation, however, your participation would be most welcome as a contribution to the body of knowledge. It is your choice to the extent of your participation. If you have any suggestions for additional forums please let me know. And as voluntary administrator, I will see how to fit this into the Hawaiian kava forum format. Mahalo, Jonathan Manager Hawaiian Kava Center, LLC PO Box 26344 Honolulu HI 96825 (808) 256-5605 http://hawaiiankava.com yee@hawaiiankava.com -- H.C. 'Skip' Bittenbender , Ph.D. Extension Specialist for Coffee, Kava, and Cacao address: Department of Tropical Plant and Soil Science CTAHR (College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources) University of Hawaii at Manoa 3190 Maile Way Honolulu, HI 96822-2279 telephone : 808-956-6043 fax: 808-956-3894 http://www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/ctahr2001 |
| yee | We now have four moderators for the Hawaiian Kava Forum. They include H.C. "Skip" Bittenbender, Ed Johnston, Will McClatchy, and Jeri Ooka. Each comes from a unique background and discipline that can simply be called complementary. In today's rough and tumble knowledge age, it seems that the wider or more multi-faceted collaborative effort, the better to progress an interest. In this case, our Hawaiian kava ('awa) industry, and the exchange it has with our society, culture, and economics. The expertise of the moderators is broad. It ranges from plant & environmental protection sciences, tropical plant & sciences, botany & ethnobotany, to nursery & growing experiences. Personally, I got started from small kid time reading a legend of Pua Pua Lena Lena and the Magic Kiha-pu - a story about a very famous, magical dog in Hawaiian folklore and his quest for obtaining 'awa for his master. I have always wondered about this plant ever since. Titles, however, only tell part of the story. Like Mauna Loa, there's a lot more to be seen beneath this surface. So please feel free to explore the depths, ask questions, comment from your experiences & knowledge, and learn about 'awa. Let us know you exist. Perhaps another way as expressed in the arts comes from the Hawaiian saying, A'o i ka hula, waiho ka hilahila i ka hale. I think it fair to say that with this collaborative effort of learning & teaching about 'awa and furthering its progress, much understanding and aloha follow. mahalo, Jonathan |
| yee | Please welcome Kawika Winter as our fifth moderator to the Hawaiian Kava Forum. Kawika is a graduate student of ethnobotany at the University of Hawai'i, Manoa. He is doing research on Hawaiian kava ('awa), and co-lectures our kava classes at Lyon and HCC. His research on the Hawaiians' use of 'awa is a fascinating component of the lectures. Kawika speaks fluent Hawaiian and has opportunities to speak extensively with kupuna about the cultural aspects of 'awa. Knowing the Hawaiian language is certainly boon to understanding archival material. It is a very very happy circumstance to have him as a friend and to see him at his efforts of enlightening current and future generations of the use and care of this Hawaiian cultural plant. With such a distinguished panel of moderators, we welcome you to please feel free to post questions, comments, answers, and to otherwise challenge our thinking about 'awa - its current use, future, and all things related. (We also have a section, Mauna Loa, if doesn't seem related.) It would surely help someone. Your input is valued. [:)] |
| yee | Please welcome Donna Schultz as our sixth moderator to the Hawaiian Kava Forum. She along with Will McClatchy will moderate the Hawai'i Pacific Kava Festival forum. This forum serves to provide up to date information on the festival and allows the public to participate and provide feedback with Donna & Will serving the roles similar to referees if necessary. [B)] Donna is comes from the Lyon Arboretum Association and is serving as the Event Coordinator for the Hawai'i Pacific Islands Kava Festival. She has extensive experience in organizing large public events, the latest being this year's annual Lyon Arboretum Plant Sale at the Neal Blaisdell Exhibition Hall (July 12). If there's anybody who knows what's going on with the Kava Festival, Donna is central. Donna's dedication, jovial nature and diplomacy really shine through during our Kava Festival meetings. And I'm convinced by the time the Kava Festival rolls around, she'll be an enthusiastic kava drinker like the rest of us. [:)] Mahalo, Jonathan |
| yee | Please welcome Trevor Yee (bigfatgorilla) as our seventh moderator to the Hawaiian Kava Forum. He along with Will McClatchy and Donna Schultz will moderate the Hawai'i Pacific Kava Festival forums. This forum serves to provide up to date information on the festival and allows the public to participate and provide feedback with Trevor, Donna & Will serving the roles similar to referees if necessary. Trevor is on the Kava Festival Planning Board and has provided much valuable advice and common sense suggestions to the table which then implemented at our first kava festival. He has a degree in MIS and is a guy to count on for real business world experience and technical matters. Mahalo, Jonathan Hawaiian Kava Center, LLC http://hawaiiankava.com |
| yee | Please welcome Gary Henderson (garyh) as our eighth moderator to the Hawaiian Kava Forum. He will moderate the General categories for the Kava Industry and Consumer Interests forums. Gary is Professor of Pharmacology and Toxicology at UC Davis. His research interests include the study of interactions between kava and medications. If you do a search on the web of his background you will be certainly impressed by his accomplishments and the relevancy of his research to the kava industry. I first met Gary at a kava conference sponsored by AHA in Hilo in 2002 [1]. He was a featured speaker. I didn't know anything about his background then. Out of the five speakers, he was the only one to simply walk up to the front and begin speaking without any notes, powerpoint, or any other crutches. It was very apparent that Gary was an authority on the research of kava's various interactions. In addition, Gary has provided much insight to how the FDA looks upon kava and other herbs that are under the auspices of DSHEA. Martha Harkey, his wife, also a professor of pharmacology and toxicology at UC Davis, has also provided invaluable commentary of the herb-drug interactions - putting things into context for the average person and why this research matters. Don't be shy of asking questions of these husband/wife team. They have been very gracious in answering all questions in my experience in Hilo, and at our informal conference at our office with other kava industry people this past New Year's Eve. The Hawaiian kava industry is very fortunate to have these world authorities on herb-drug interactions on-board as moderators to the Hawaiian kava forum here at http://kavaforum.org Mahalo, Jonathan 1. Hawaii kava conference, CD #5, Hilo, 8/17/02. Hawaiian Kava Center. For this video copy on CD please contact Hawaiian Kava Center. Hawaiian Kava Center, LLC http://hawaiiankava.com |
| yee | Please welcome Jerry Konanui (Jerry K) as our ninth moderator to the Hawaiian Kava Forum. He will moderate the General, Plant Identification, and Agronomy categories for the Kava Ethnobotany & Native Plants Forums. Jerry is well known in Hawai`i as both the taro and kava Hawaiian expert. He is president of the Hawaii Kava Growers Association, and AHA (Association for Hawaiian `Awa). Jerry has given numerous presentations and workshops on taro and `awa [1]. I first met him on the Big Island in the late 90s, when I wanted to learn more about how to grow kava. I had a kava variety from Papua New Guinea, some `awa mö`ï (a Hawaiian kava variety), and ava lea (a Samoan kava variety), but was unsure about my growing practices. Harvest was very, very difficult, and propagation was hit or miss. He really opened up my eyes with his methods (also by Ed Johnston) such as using spaghnum moss for propagules, wire baskets for planting, and tipping (a practice of cutting the tips of the stalks to encourage brand-new stalk growth). Together, Jerry Konanui, Ed Johnston, and Jerri Ooka of AHA are contributing and reviewing their knowledge on kava on the Hawaiian Kava Forum. In addition we look forward to their publication of their `awa book, which should provide a worthwhile color-photo ethnobotannic guide to all known `awa varieties existent [2]. We are very fortunate to have them help moderate the board. Mahalo, Jonathan Notes: 1. `Awa is the Hawaiian word for kava. It is referred here to kava that is grown in Hawaii, aka, Hawaiian kava, or Hawaii kava. Kava is the generic English word for Piper methysticum. Thus Hawaiian kava, Hawaii kava, and `awa are interchangeable. Hawaiian `awa is redundant, like saying Hawaiian kö (Hawaiian sugarcane), or Hawaiian kalo (Hawaiian taro) - a problem when mixing languages. However, it is already in use as well and was maybe an attempt to emphasize that it is kava that is Hawaii-grown, grown only by Native Hawaiians, created with no knowledge that the English defined term kava was already in existence, or as a way of remembering the Hawaiian indigenous term - ditto for Hawaii `awa. As an aside, in reference to the larger world community, to avoid confusing names and intent with country of origin laws, we say Fijian kava but not Fijian `awa. We say Hawaiian kava but not Hawaiian yanqona, and so forth. However, it's up to you. The English language has no police like the French, so it is not unexpected to have some confusion of concepts when mixing English defined terms with foreign languages. I think it is done somewhat in China and Japan where it's called Chinglish and Jinglish, respectively. I don't know if we can also say some people speak Hawanglish. I'd rather say my first language was pidgin. [:)] 2. Kawika Winter (student) and Will McClatchey (professor) are also doing a ethnobotannic study on `awa. The paper should be coming out sometime this year and will be another valuable contribution to the understanding of kava as found in Hawaii. If you have any historical or cultural information on `awa, please feel free to let us know. The better we understand kava, on scientific, cultural and economic levels, the more we can properly appreciate this plant. Hawaiian Kava Center, LLC http://hawaiiankava.com |