The Hanapepe Salt Pond area has been used since ancient times for the
production of salt for food seasoning and preservation.
Every summer, the families of this region gather to build their “pans”
to prepare salt for the next year. The
earthen pans impart a distinct red hue and flavor to the salt.
Pa‘akai (sea salt or, literally, “to solidify the sea”) from the
Hanapepe Salt Ponds is created by accessing underground saltwater from a deep
ancient source through wells and transferring the saltwater to shallow pools
called wai kū, then into salt pans that are shaped carefully with clay from
the area.
The farms near Hanapepe are one of only two remaining major areas in
the Islands where natural sea salt is still harvested; the other spot is on the
Big Island at Pu‘uhonua o Honaunau.
But the unique red salt, called ‘alaea salt, is produced only on
Kaua‘i.
This type of salt-making is unique and authentic, and harvested
traditional Hawaiian sea salt mixed with ‘alaea, a form of red dirt from
Wailua, is used for traditional Hawaiian ceremonies to cleanse, purify and
bless, as well as healing rituals for medicinal purposes.
It was a crucial commodity for Hawai‘i’s early post-contact economy;
visiting ships, especially the whaling ships, needed the salt for food
preservation.
Today, the Hanapepe fields operate under that concept of communal
stewardship; the salt may be given or traded, but not sold.
The harvest season is in the height of summer, when the waves are calm
and rain scarce.
The first task in making salt is to work on maintaining the salt beds,
smoothing wet mud over the walls of the beds, filling cracks and reinforcing
the structure of these holding beds; this can take up to a week.
The punawai (feed water wells) are cleaned of leaves and debris, so
that only the purest sea water enters the rectangular holding tanks called wai
kū, literally “water standing.”
The brine is left in the wai kū to evaporate, which can take up to ten
days depending on the afternoon rains.
When the water in the wai kū turns frothy white and crystals form on
its surface, the harvester gently pours it into the lo‘i.
For several weeks, a rotation of new water, sunshine and evaporation
continues until a slushy layer of snow-white salt forms.
The salt is harvest by slowly and carefully raking the large, flat
crystalline flakes of salt from the base of the bed, and transferring them to a
basket.
The salt is then dipped in buckets of fresh water to rinse off the mud,
and remove rocks, chunks of dirt and other debris.
With each immersion into the water, the salt flakes change shape,
beginning to resemble large grains of what one would recognize as table
salt. The salt is drained and left to
dry in the sun for four to six weeks.
Depending on conditions, a family may complete three harvests in a
season, yielding as much as 200 pounds of salt.
Like wine, time is generous to salt; it mellows and gains character as
it ages (older salt is smoother.)
In addition to the image with this post, I have added additional images
on the Hanapepe Salt Ponds to a folder of like name in the photos section of my
Facebook page.
(Special thanks to the folks at Protecting Pa‘akai Farming at Salt Pond
for reviewing my summary and allowing me to share their images.)
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