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Modern Hawaiian's Ancient Voyage:NW Islands Expedition

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Modern Hawaiian's Ancient Voyage:NW Hawaiian Islands Expedition

Currently here in Hawaii, an exciting Naval Voyage is taking place.

Modern Hawaiins are replicating the ancient travels of their

anscestors.The canoe they are sailing is also an exact replica of

the ancient Hawaiian voyaging canoe and it is it uses no modern

fuels. For safety purposes the boat has modern devices but they are

only used as a last resort.Also modern products were used in its

construction but as much as possible the builders tried to be as

authentic as possible to the Ancient Hawaiian ocean going canoes.The

canoe is called Hokule'a, the Hawaiian name of the star Arcturus.

 

They are currently undertaking a journey to Hawaii's uninhabited NW

Islands. In Ancient times these islands were used for many

indigenous spiritual ceremonies and many Heiaus or Hawaiian Temples

have been discovered.Daily Updates of the voyage are available at

this link.

http://www.pvs-hawaii.com/voyages/voyaging_03_nwhi_reports.php

It would be wonderful if the Hindus could undertake some similar

projects.

Vrn Parker

 

Navigating Change: The Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Expedition

http://www.pvs-hawaii.com/voyages/voyaging_03_nwhi.php

 

 

"Navigating Change" is a project focused on raising awareness and

ultimately motivating people to change their attitudes and behaviors

to better care for our islands and our ocean resources. The project

is an educational partnership that includes private non-government

organizations, state agencies and federal agencies that share a

collective vision for creating a healthier future for Hawai`i and

for our planet. This collaborative multi-agency effort aims to

change behaviors by creating an awareness of the ecological problems

we face and by making it relevant to the decisions that confront us

in our daily lives.

 

Participating Partners are:

 

Bishop Museum

U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service

Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Coral Ecosystem Reserve

Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council

University of Hawai`i School of Ocean and Earth Sciences and

Technology

University of Hawaii Sea Grant College

University of Hawai`i Center for Hawaiian Studies

University of Hawai`i – Hawai`i Institute of Marine Biology

Hawai`i Maritime Center

Hawai`i State Department of Education

Hawai`i State Department of Land and Natural Resources

The Nature Conservancy

Polynesian Voyaging Society (PVS)

To raise awareness of the environmental decline occurring in the

main Hawaiian Islands, the Polynesian Voyaging Society has sailed

the double hulled canoe Hokule`a throughout the main Hawaiian

Islands carrying the Navigating Change message. Our partner

organizations have held teacher workshops, talked to students and

distributed educational material regarding our delicate environment.

 

In May of this year, Hokule`a will sail to the remote Northwestern

Hawaiian Islands (NWHI), which contain 9,124 square kilometers of

coral reefs that account for 69% of all the coral reefs in the U.S.

Here, in a nearly pristine environment, 10 small islands support

millions of nesting seabirds and the breeding grounds for the

endangered Hawaiian monk seal and the threatened green sea turtle.

The reefs also provide essential habitat for several commercial

fisheries and countless indigenous and endemic reef species, half of

which exist nowhere else.

 

The Northwestern Hawaiian Islands is a microcosm of island ecology

where we can learn to manage and care for a pristine and fragile

ecosystem and apply these lessons back to the main Hawaiian Islands.

It also provides a basis for comparison of the health of our coral

reefs back home. Hokule`a's mission is to restore an ancient wisdom,

the Hawaiian concept of malama – of caring for our land and sea to

ensure a balance among all forms of life.

 

 

Description of the Voyage

 

The voyage began with Hokule`a sailing to several destinations

throughout the main Hawaiian Islands carrying with it a message of

Malama Hawai`i (caring for Hawai`i) and Malama Ka Honua (caring for

Earth). School children and entire communities were challenged to

take responsibility for our natural resources and our natural

environment. This statewide sail began in March 2003.

 

In September 2003, PVS sailed Hokule`a along an ancient exploratory

route to the NWHI to further examine the cultural and biological

wonders of this unique and rarely seen ecosystem. The "Ancestral"

leg of our journey took us to the islands of Nihoa, where cultural

protocols were performed to set the stage for the rest of the

voyage. The remainder of the voyage then continues to the remaining

Northwestern Hawaiian Islands in May 2004. These islands will reveal

a rare sanctuary of natural beauty symbolized by the tiny coral

polyp – the building block of life - according to one Hawaiian

tradition.

 

The "Homecoming" leg, in which the canoe returns to Hawai`i, bears

the gift of lessons learned along the kupuna (older) islands. "NO

longer do we seek only the knowledge of how to voyage between the

islands," says Nainoa Thompson. "We seek lessons to carry home to

our children - ways to inspire the present generation to love and

preserve our Earth as a sanctuary for those who will inherit it."

 

While on the voyage to the NWHI, crewmembers aboard Hokule`a will

communicate by satellite phone with students back home. The students

will be shown videotapes comparing the NHWI, which has been part of

a reserve for nearly a century, to the main Hawaiian Islands. There

will be daily updates posted on our website at: http://www.pvs-

hawaii.com/voyages/voyaging_03_nwhi_reports.php and a web-based game

for students at: http://www.navigatingchange.org.

 

The goal of Navigating Change is to motivate, encourage and

challenge people to take action to improve the environmental

conditions in their own backyards, especially as it pertains to our

coral reefs. We want people to take responsibility for the

stewardship and sustainability of our islands and our ocean. We are

targeting our message to the youth of Hawai`i because the future is

in their hands.

 

Building Hokule`a

 

[sources: Ben Finney's "Voyaging into Polynesia's Past" in From Sea

to Space, Palmerston North, New Zealand: Massey Press 1992 and

Voyage of Rediscovery, Berkeley: University of California Press,

1994; Notes from Herb Kawainui Kane on the early history of

Hokule'a; also, David Lewis` The Voyaging Stars: Secrets of the

Pacific Island Navigators, New York: W.W. Norton, 1978.]

 

Hokule`a was completed in 1975. It has two 62-foot hulls; eight

`iako, or crossbeams, joining the two hulls; pola, or decking,

lashing to the crossbeams between the two hulls; rails along the

decking; and two masts.

 

Herb Kawainui Kane, who came up with the conceptual design for the

canoe, notes, with Kenneth Emory. [Click here for details on how

Hokule'a was designed: "In Search of the Ancient Polynesian Voyaging

Canoe"]

 

How the Canoe was Named: "This happened when the parts of the canoe

were close to being completed. One day when I visited the building

site, a large shed at Young Bros., one of the guys had chalked 'Da

Boat' on the side of one of the hulls. When I asked the reason for

the graffiti, they said it was to remind me that it was time to come

up with a name.

 

"According to Kenneth Emory, in the old days a name would come to a

canoe designer in a dream. Be that as it may, we tossed the question

around at the board meeting a few days later. Several names were

suggested, mostly compound names, each including several words; none

seemed to be what everyone was looking for. Several weeks went by.

 

"One exceptionally clear night I stayed up quite late, star chart in

hand, locating and memorizing stars and their relative positions. I

think I turned in around midnight. Some time later, I dreamed of

stars. My attention was attracted to Arcturus, our Hokule'a. It

appeared to grow larger and brighter, so brilliant that I awoke.

 

"It's been a habit for many years to keep a pad and pen on my

nightstand. When the body is at rest, the mind half-awake, thoughts

range about freely, and ideas form which I've found are sometimes

worth noting down. Some painting ideas have come to me that way. I

turned on my reading light and wrote 'Hokule'a.'

 

"The next morning, I saw the notation, and immediately recognized it

as a fitting name for the canoe. As a zenith star for Hawai'i it

would be a star of gladness if it led to landfall. I phoned Paige

Kawelo Barber; she thought it appropriate. I tried it on a few

others and got a positive response. The name was proposed at the

next board meeting and adopted." (e-mail from Herb, 2/20/99).

 

Hokule`a was launched on March 8, 1975 at Kualoa on the windward

side of O`ahu. Ka`upena Wong organized the religious ceremonies for

the launching, with Kalena Silva and Keli`i Tau`a assisting in the

rituals. Kahu Kaupu gave the Christian blessing. Hokule`a made its

first voyage to and from Tahiti in 1976.

 

The 8-ton Hokule`a can be loaded with about 11,000 pounds, or 5.5

tons, including the weight of a crew of 12-16 people and equipment

and supplies. It can make up to 10-12 knots sailing on a reach in

strong winds.

 

Since Hawaiians had ceased long-distance, open-ocean voyaging eight

centuries ago in the 12th century, no examples of actual ancient

voyaging canoes were available as models for Hokule`a. Hawaiian

artist Herb Kane based the design of Hokule`a on drawings of canoes

made by artists and draftsmen employed by Captain Cook and other

early explorers of the Pacific.

 

How close to an ancient voyaging canoe is Hokule`a? Hokule`a is

considerably smaller than the 100-foot plus Polynesian canoes seen

by early European visitors. Also, while the design of the hulls and

upper parts of the canoe was based on what is known of the

traditional Polynesian canoe, the design of the sail-rig departed

from traditional precedents. The traditional Polynesian sprit sail

was typically laced to two spars, one of which acted as the mast and

the other as the boom. The rig Hokule`a consists of a sail attached

to spar and boom plus a shorter mast on which the spar, boom and

sail are raised and lowered. Hokule`a's rig, with the mast first

raised and stayed, was used to facilitate the raising and lowering

of the sail.

 

Although the Polynesian Voyaging Society (PVS) wanted to use

traditional materials (koa wood hulls, lauhala sails, sennit

lashing) and traditional tools (adzes, bone gouges, coral files, and

sharkskin for sanding) in building the canoe, the construction would

have been too time-consuming as the builders tried to relearn the

arts of working with such materials and tools. Instead, the hulls

were constructed out of plywood, fiberglass, and resin, and the

sails were made from canvas; the lashings were done with synthetic

cordage. (For the story of the recent effort to build a canoe out of

traditional native materials, see "The Building of Hawai'iloa").

 

Because of the use of modern materials, sailing the canoe could not

tell PVS about the strength and durability of traditional canoes.

However, the builders strove to approximate the shape and weight of

a traditional canoe, avoiding such innovations as wider stance for

the hulls for greater stability and a deeper keel for improved

sailing capability; so the canoe was a "performance accurate"

replica, handling much like the voyaging canoes that once sailed in

Polynesian seas.

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