Native Hawaiian salt makers combat climate change and pollution to protect a sacred tradition

Roz Choi, left, and friend Eddie Topenio, tend to Choi’s family salt beds on Sunday, July 9, 2023, in Hanapepe, Hawaii. The Choi family is one of 22 who over generations have dedicated themselves to the cultural and spiritual practice of “paakai,” or Hawaiian salt. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)

Kanani Santos stands for a portrait near his family’s salt beds used in making Native Hawaiian salt on Sunday, July 9, 2023, in Hanapepe, Hawaii. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)

Tina Taniguchi prepares one of her family’s many salt beds by rubbing it with a smooth river rock on Monday, July 10, 2023, in Hanapepe, Hawaii. Taniguchi’s family is one of 22 who over generations have dedicated themselves to the cultural and spiritual practice of “paakai,” or Hawaiian salt. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)

An arial view of the Hanapepe salt patch near Salt Pond Beach Park on Tuesday, July 11, 2023, in Hanapepe, Hawaii. The existence of this salt patch is being threatened by climate change, rising sea levels and pollution. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)

HANAPEPE, Hawai‘i — On a warm summer afternoon, Tina Taniguchi was on her hands and knees scraping dirt off an oblong depression in the ground. Thick brown hair peeked out from her coconut leaf hat. Splotches of mud stuck to her T-shirt and speckled her smiling face.

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