Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 31, Number 5, 1 May 2014 — SETTING SAIL [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

SETTING

SAIL

BY HEIDI CHANG

or the past six years, the Polynesian Voyaging Society has been gearing up for its biggest challenge - to sail Hōkūle'a around the world. Ever since the double-hulled Hawaiian voyaging eanoe first sailed from Hawai'i to Tahiti in 1976, it's sparked a revival of Polynesian voyaging throughout the Paeihe. "We never quite expected that Hōkūle'a would heeome the cultural, political symbol that it is. ... And that eanoe Hōkūle'a has helped give the Hawaiians back their pride, and that has to be the base for all positive aehon," says Ben Finney, founding president of the Polynesian Voyaging Society. Finney says initially they wanted to demonstrate it was possible for Polynesians to have intentionally explored and settled the Paeihe. They also wanted to revive the lost art of wayfinding - navigating without instruments. "Our primary motivation in building and sailing and navigating canoes was to have Hawaiians and other Polynesians, and other Paeihe Islanders take over the leadership in relearning, reinventing the technology and putting it to use, and demonstrating its use, so it becomes their project," says the retired University of Hawai'i anthropologist, who's now 82. That dream eame true when Nainoa Thompson heeame the first Hawaiian to practice the art of wayfinding since the 14th century, guided only by the signs of nature - the stars, the moon, the sun and the oeean

sweiis. Thompson learned the aneiei tradition from Microne-

sian master navigator Mau Piailug, who guided Hōkūle'a on its maiden voyage to Tahiti. Thompson also integrated tradition with modern science by studying with Will Kyselka, who was a lecturer at the Bishop Museum Planetarium. Since then, Thompson has helped train a whole new generation of navigators. CIRCUM]\[AVIGATI]\[G ISLAJ\1D EARTH

Now, after nearly 40 years of sailing around the Paeihe and the Paeihe Rim, Hōkūle'a is about to embark on a worldwide voyage called Mālama Honua, caring for our Island Earth. Thompson says the seeds of the voyage were planted long ago by some of his greatest teachers and mentors who are no longer with us, including his father, Hawaiian leader Myron "Pinky" Thompson, and NAS A astronaut Charles Facy Veach. As Veach flew around the Earth in a shuttle, Thompson recalls him saying: "You need to know how beautiful your Island Earth is. It's just one island in space. It's all we got. There's no other island we ean go to. ... It's fragile, and it needs to be protected, and Hōkūle'a needs to help us k learn and find the way. Take K it around the world."

The Hōkūle'a voyaging eanoe is named after a star that marks the latitude of Hawai'i when the star is at its highest point in the sky. Hōkūle'a means "star ofgladness."

TWO STARS, RISD\[G TOGETHER To prepare for the upcoming voyage, a fully restored Hōkūle'a spent the past year sailing around the Hawaiian Islands with a new eanoe, Hikianalia. "We wanted to ideally go around the world with two voyaging canoes, so we could double the amount of the experience for the crew members that could participate," says Thompson, _ . now president of the Polyne-

sian Voyaging Society. "We escort eaeh other. It's not like Hōkūle'a is the only one at risk, everybody at sea is at risk." So both canoes will be taking care of eaeh other like a family. Hōkūle'a is the Hawaiian name for the star Arcturus. The new escort boat, Hikianalia, is the Hawaiian name for the star Spica. "These two stars rise together only in the latitude of

Hawai'i." exnlains Thomnson. "Thev're the two naviuation

stars we use to find home." Hundreds of crew members have been training on both canoes. Thompson says they'U be sailing around the world for young people and to strengthen a new generation of navigators and voyagers. That's why half the crew is under H a§e When asked, "Why is

i the push for education so important on the worldwide voyage?" Thompson puts it this way: "If you don't teach children how to take care of the world, they won't have the tools to do that. We're not going to go save the world. All we're trying to do with Hōkūle'a and Hikianalia is do our part. And our part is ( to sail. And so we want to j join that human movement of kindness and compas- ] SEE V0YAGE ŪN PAGE 24

OHA grant buoys the World Wide Voyage The Office of Hawaiian Affairs is supporting the World Wide Voyage through a $300,000 grant. The journey and its objectives align with several OHA priorities: Mo'omeheu, by perpetuating traditional navigation and oeean voyaging. 'Āina, by increasing awareness of issues affecting shorelines, reefs, deep oceans and sustainability of natural resources. And Ho'ona'auao, by integrating voyaging curriculum in both puhlie and private schools. OHA previouslv awarded a

grant to the Polynesian Voyaging Society in <Riinnrirt r>f it« vnv-

ages to Micronesia and Japan. ■ \

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HŌKŪLEAS WORLD WIDE VOYAGE IS A JOURNEYv FOREDUCATIO]V W AND EXPLORATIO]V

l M FUN FACTS ^he Polynesian Voyaging Society has used traditional navigation to sail Hōkūle'a more than 140,000 miles throughout the Paciflc Oeean. 1 Traditional navigators use the stars, winds, waves, birds and other W signs in nature to find their way. ■ __ The Mālama Honua World Wide Voyage marks the first time that M Hōkūle'awillexploreotherworldoceans.

ksJUUUUbMLA 4r KU / jt

i MO'OLELO NUI v www.oha.org/kwo | kwo@OHA.org Follow us: LJ/oha_ .hawaii | Fan us:B/officeofhawaiianaffairs | Watoh us: /OHAHawaii j MOOLELO NUI v I C0VER FEATURE r native hawaman >» news i features i events ' C0VER FEATURE

Nainoa Thompson looks to the heavens from the Hōkūle'a at sunset. - Photo : Monte Costa

From left are Ben Finney and Haunani Kane. - Photos: Heiē Chang, and Chad Baybayan. - Courtesy photo

The Hōkūle'a will travel more than 46,000 nautical miles over four years - approximately 21 times the distance between New York and San Francisco by land.

Birds that fly away from the coast to feed on fish in the oeean are a sign that White tern. - Photo: navigators use to help direct them toward Ounean Wright/ iand. The white tern (Manu-o-Kū) ean Wikimedia Commons travel as far as 120 miles from shore. il f

k / Hōkūle'a eclipses the sun,- Photo: Arna Johnson/Hōkūle 'a" licensed by Polynesian I /oyaging Society

Malia Ane, Hawaiian studies director at Punahoi School, sits on the wooden deck built by stu dents and alumni. She's displaying papier-ma ehe art made by students depicting plants ane animals Polynesians first brought to Hawai'i. Photo: Heidi Chang

Punahou senior Sydney Fanoga works in the school's vegetable garden, whieh is a living part of its voyaging classes. Bananas from the garden have been dried and given to the crew of the Hōkūle'a to take on their travels. - Photo: Heidi Chang I <

Punahou teacher Tai Crouch points to the Hawaiian star compass, where ;tudents learn about celestial bodies and winds. - Photo: iohn Matsuzaki

Hikianalia is Hōkūle'a's sister eanoe and escort boat. Hikianalia is a wind- and solar-powered Polynesian voyaging eanoe equipped with the technology to connect with the world. The eanoe has six science research projects, and the crew will promote sustainability and conservation through educational programs and outreach. Hikianalia's solar panels are . shown above. - Photo: Alexis Panoneillo

V0YAGE

Continued from page 19

sion on the planet with the belief that collectively we ean make a difference."

FORSTUDENTS OM TERRA I IKMA. AM EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUMITY While thousands of volunteers have been helping the Polynesian Voyage Society prepare for the worldwide voyage, students across the Hawaiian Islands have been preparing for it, too, as part of their

educational j ourney. Malia Ane is the director of Hawaiian studies at Punahou School. She says this year, students have been learning about the history of Hōkūle'a, its purpose and values. "When you're on a eanoe, every person that's on the eanoe is important in getting the eanoe to its destination," she said. "I make a difference. There's value to what I bring. And on the eanoe everybody

has a job that has to be done to make it all work. And so everybody has a pieee in making this a successful journey and that's a huge lesson. And it's a good lesson." To help students understand how small the eanoe really is in the open oeean, Punahou students and alumni built a wooden eanoe deck the same size as Hōkūle'a. It's also provided students an opportunity to practice cooking, standing watch and steering on the platform, according to Punahou Outdoor Education Teacher Tai Crouch, who first sailed on Hōkūle'a's Voyage of Rediscovery in the mid-1980s. Crouch teaches students about celestial bodies by taking

them to the Hawanan star compass created by Nainoa Thompson, who graduated from Punahou. When students ask him, "How do you stay on the eanoe for a long time?" Crouch says, "You have to be able to get along with people, you have to be patient, you have to be kind and considerate. And if we ean do it on the eanoe, then you ean do it in your class." Over 2,000 Punahou students have also visited Hōkūle'a and Hikianalia to experience the canoes firsthand, see the sleeping quarters and crawl in the hulls. Art studentsresearched the nlants and animals

that the first Polynesians brought to Hawai'i, and recreated them out of

papier-mache. As part of her science exploration class, Punahou senior Sydney Fanoga has been teaching younger students about the kinds of food you ean bring on Hōkūle'a, where there's no refrigeration, and also what you ean eook on board the eanoe. "I'm happy to say that I'm a part of being able to feed the fire of the little kids. And get themexcited about leaming the history of Hōkūle'a and Hawaiian culture," says Fanoga,

www.oha.org/kwo | kwo@OHA.org NATIVE HAWAIIAN » NEWS | FEATURES | EVENTS

Nainoa Thompson speaks to a group of educators in Sand lsland where the Hōkūle'a and Hikianalia were docked, in April. - Photo: laeh Villanueva

who's African-American, Hawaiian, Samoan and Chinese. Earlier, when she lived on the U.S. continent, Fanoga says she didn't get the opportunity to learn mueh about her Hawaiian and Polynesian heritage. "So being able to eome here and teach kids, it's a good opportunity, because at the same time, I'mlearning as well." Fanoga also works with students in tending a garden on campus for the worldwide voyage. Fast fall, they began growing kalo, sweet potato and bananas for the first leg of the journey. HIGH-TECH OM THE HIGH SEAS. AMD SCIEMCE EXPERIMEMTS, TOO When Hōkūle'a takes off on the worldwide voyage, classrooms and people around the world will get to follow the voyage online and via social media, thanks to modern technology. The communications center for the voyage will be based on the support vessel, Hikianalia.

Keoni Fee says because the new eanoe has enough solar power and battery power to power a satellite dish, they'U be able to transmit eontent from the canoes to the rest of the world in real time. And they also plan to host Google hangouts. "Every day you'll get updated images of the voyage, and video throughout the week," says Fee, co-founder of 'Ōiwi TV. In the past, the ability to eommunicate with Hōkūle'a was limited, and the crew often had to wait weeks until they made landfall. But now, things have changed. Even techies like Eee are excited about the possibilities. "I love it. It's eool. It's mind-blowing what we'll be able to do on this voyage." During the journey, Haunani Kane, the science coordinator for the worldwide voyage, will be eonducting a number of experiments ranging from marine acoustics, recording all the sounds of the oeean; a plankton project; looking at the fish the crew are eating, and examining the guts of the fish

to better understand what it's been eating; collecting marine debris and microplastic; and measuring water quality. "One of the things that I think that's really important about this voyage is trying to inspire young native people to pursue degrees or jobs in natural resource management and in STEM - science, technology, engineering and math," says Kane. The 26-year-old graduate student at the University of Hawai'i at Mānoa notes that Hawaiians are underrepresented in those fields. AGIFTFORTHE MEXT GEMERATIOM Master navigator Chad Baybayan is looking forward to mentoring a new generation of explorers on the worldwide voyage and connecting with a global community. "Primary reason is to bring awareness to the planet about the condition and state of the world's oceans. We live on islands, and nobody knows more intimately about climate change and the rising sea levels."

Baybayan, a former hotel worker, says being involved with Hōkūle'a inspired him to change his direction in life and explore other career paths. Baybayan says he wanted to contribute more to his community, so he went back to college to major in Hawaiian studies, and eventually got his master's degree in education. He's now the navigator-in-residence at 'Imiloa Astronomy Center in Hilo. Nainoa Thompson, now in his 60s, will captain and navigate Hōkūle'a on the first leg of the worldwide voyage to Tahiti. In all, the eanoe is expected to visit more than 20 countries before retuming to Hawai'i in 2017, sharing a message of aloha and Mālama Honua. As the father of 5-year old twins, Thompson hopes the voyage will make a difference — especially as the Earth faces real threats of elimate change. "I'm worried about the world that they're going to inherit. It's scary. As a father, I need to do whatever I ean to make sure that their future is something that

is protected for them. This voyage personally is for my two children, but I hope it has an impact for all children." He adds, "Never underestimate the importance of inspiring the young mind of a child to feel good about who they are. I think First Peoples, native cultures, need to know where they eome from and be proud of it. I think that Hōkūle'a and all the other voyaging canoes are stories of that. I think that the navigation is a system that is brilliant. It allows us to remember and celebrate the intelligence and the strength of our ancestors." On May 17, Hōkūle'a will launeh from O'ahu and sail to Hilo, and then begin its voyage around the world. To follow the journey, visit hokulea.com. ■ Hei.di. Chang i.s a muītimedia journali.st, who produces news and feature stori.es for a glohal audi.ence. Hear her award-winning NPR storv on Wayfinders: Polynesian Navigation at hei.di.chang.com.

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