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[00:01.80]Last summer on the Hawaiian Island of Kauai,

[00:05.72]Tina Taniguchi was working close to the ground.

[00:10.12]Her coconut leaf hat

[00:11.68]covered most of her thick brown hair.

[00:15.20]Wet soil had gotten on her clothes

[00:17.76]and her smiling face.

[00:20.56]Taniguchi smiles a lot

[00:22.36]while working on the Hanapepe salt patch

[00:25.16]on the west side of Kauai.

[00:28.80]It is a piece of land about half a hectare in size

[00:33.00]with pools of salty water.

[00:36.12]The salt becomes crystals as the water dries.

[00:40.20]"It's hard work, but for me it's also play,"

[00:44.00]Taniguchi said with a laugh.

[00:47.00]Taniguchi's family is one of 22 families

[00:50.88]who make "paakai," the Hawaiian word for salt,

[00:54.88]following a cultural and spiritual tradition.

[00:59.36]Hanapepe is one of the last remaining

[01:02.20]salt patches in Hawaii.

[01:04.84]Its holy salt can be traded or given away

[01:08.52]but must never be sold.

[01:10.92]Hawaiians use it in cooking,

[01:13.36]healing, rituals and as protection.

[01:17.60]Taniguchi drives a car

[01:19.24]for about an hour to get to the salt patch.

[01:22.40]For her, it is like religion and play at the same time.

[01:27.96]It is the time when she makes

[01:29.64]a spiritual connection to the land.

[01:33.00]"This would be a religious prac tice of

[01:35.00]mine for sure," Taniguchi said.

[01:38.08]"My dad raised us

[01:39.88]saying that these mountains are his church,

[01:42.44]and the ocean is where you get cleansed."

[01:45.32]Malia Nobrega-Olivera is another salt maker.

[01:50.48]She is also an educator and activist

[01:54.20]who leads efforts to preserve this old tradition.

[01:59.56]Her grandfather helped

[02:01.36]form the group of salt-making families

[02:04.00]called Hui Hana Paakai.

[02:07.08]The organization's goal, she said,

[02:09.56]is to communicate with the landowner,

[02:11.96]the state of Hawaii, whenever problems arise.

[02:16.72]Nobrega-Olivera said the salt patch

[02:20.04]is part of the lands

[02:21.56]taken away from Native Hawaiians

[02:23.96]after the U.S.-supported overthrow

[02:27.04]of Hawaii's monarchy in 1893.

[02:32.56]"Regardless of what a piece of paper might say,

[02:36.20]we are stewards of the area," she said.

[02:40.76]Over the past 10 years

[02:43.20]there have been several threats to this field.

[02:47.16]They include development,

[02:49.44]pollution from a neighboring airfield,

[02:52.00]damage to the sand from vehicle traffic

[02:55.80]and waste left by visitors to the nearby beach.

[03:00.20]In addition, rising sea levels and weather

[03:04.72]might stop the practice.

[03:06.92]Nobrega-Olivera believes Western science

[03:11.72]and native knowledge can combine

[03:14.72]to combat the effects of climate change

[03:17.88]and save the salt patch.

[03:21.12]The steps she takes include

[03:23.44]building up the wells' edges,

[03:26.00]so water won't cover the salt beds.

[03:29.56]Another step is to prevent

[03:31.76]damage to the beach from vehicle traffic.

[03:35.36]"Some ask us why we can't

[03:37.32]move this practice to a different location," she said.

[03:40.72]"That's impossible because our cultural practice

[03:45.16]is particular to this land.

[03:48.48]There are elements here

[03:50.52]that make this place special

[03:52.56]for making this type of salt.

[03:54.44]You cannot find that anywhere else."

[03:58.24]The process of turning sea water

[04:00.44]into salt can be slow.

[04:02.40]The season begins once the rain stops,

[04:05.56]and water starts to disappear from the salt beds.

[04:09.48]Ocean water travels underground

[04:12.44]and enters the wells.

[04:14.76]Each family has their own well.

[04:17.08]As water enters the well,

[04:19.36]so do tiny, red brine shrimp.

[04:23.08]These small ocean animals

[04:25.40]give Hanapepe salt

[04:27.16]its unusual, sweet taste,

[04:29.32]said Nobrega-Olivera.

[04:32.80]The families first clean the salt beds

[04:35.28]and line them with black clay.

[04:37.68]Then they move water from the wells into the beds.

[04:42.12]There, salt crystals form.

[04:44.68]The top level, or layer, is the whitest.

[04:48.48]It is used for table salt.

[04:51.04]The middle layer is pinkish

[04:53.48]and is used in cooking,

[04:55.40]while the bottom layer,

[04:57.12]which is a deep red color,

[04:59.16]is used in blessings and rituals.

[05:03.08]Fires on the island of Maui in August

[05:06.16]claimed 100 lives.

[05:08.04]After the fires,

[05:10.20]salt makers began sending their salt to survivors,

[05:13.72]so they can "make their food delicious

[05:16.76]and bring some of that joy

[05:18.68]into their lives," Nobrega-Olivera said.

[05:23.00]Interest in Hawaiian culture and language

[05:25.40]has recently grown on the islands,

[05:27.56]Nobrega-Olivera said.

[05:29.56]She now thinks about

[05:31.56]how to teach her knowledge to younger generations.

[05:35.40]One way she honors

[05:37.48]the Hanapepe salt patch

[05:39.80]is by writing Hawaiian songs and chants.

[05:43.76]She recently taught some school children

[05:47.00]one of those chants using the words

[05:49.36]aloha aina, which means "love of the land."

[05:54.64]"Aloha aina captures our philosophy,

[05:58.48]the reason we do this," Nobrega-Olivera said.

[06:02.52]"You take care of the land,

[06:04.60]and the land takes care of you."

[06:07.24]I'm Dan Friedell.

[06:10.20]And I'm Jill Robbins.

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Words in This Story

patch – n. a small area of land where a particular plant or crop grows or is produced

crystal – n. a small piece of a substance that has formed naturally into a regular symmetrical shape.

ritual - n. a religious service or other ceremony which involves a series of actions performed in a fixed order

cleanse – v. to make clean, pure

steward – n. someone who has the responsibility for looking after property

preserve – v. to save or protect something from damage or decay

clay – n. a kind of earth that is soft when it is wet and hard when it is dry

blessing – n. a prayer asking God to look kindly upon the people who are present or the event that is taking place

chant –n. to sing a word or phrase repeatedly usually in connection with prayers or a religious ceremony

philosophy –n. a system of ideas about truth and meaning