permaculture

[John Schinnerer <eco_living@yahoo.com>]

Aloha,

Traditional Hawaiian healing arts are passed down through generations. 
The practitioners choose who they will pass their knowledge on to.  In
at least some cases I know of, they do not limit their teachings to
blood family nor to 'natives' (whatever that means these days in
Hawai'i...).

It is not appropriate to charge fees for one's services as a la'au
lapa'au (medicinal healer); if one does so, in fact, the medicine will
'not work' and will fail to produce the intended results.  

So it is not *taught* freely, but it is to be *given* freely.  As with
some N. American cultures, individuals might not directly pay for
servcies, but communities as a whole would support the healer in return
for their services to the community.

Commercial packaging and marketing of some Hawaiian herbal medicinals
has in no way prevented or obstructed the traditional practice of this
medicine.  It has led to commercial planting of some species, but so
far these small monocultures pale in comparison to the damage already
done by centuries of colonial export cropping.  At least they're
natives... ;-)


=====
John Schinnerer, MA
--------------------
- Eco-Living -
Cultural & Ecological Designing
Food - Shelter - Community
john@eco-living.net
http://eco-living.net

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