Hawaiian Navigation

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Hawaiian Navigation

How did the Polynesians find their way to Hawaii, over two thousand miles from any other land? Was it over population at home, or political turmoil? Whatever reason for leaving these people used amazing knowledge and skill of the ocean and of the sky to navigate them to this new land. They faced the unknown and braved into the wide-open ocean for long periods of time. The real focus in this paper is on the navigation techniques that they used in these voyages throughout the Pacific.

It's impossible to teach someone the significance or the act of loving the stars and the ocean but that's what makes navigation without instruments (wayfinding) so beautiful. One can "give the heavens a meaning his own meaning" says Nainoa Thompson. Anyone can learn the aspects of navigation through personal observation and the study of charts and maps. Thus creative thinking and logic are two important skills in learning the ancient art of wayfinding.

It is inspiring to think of how much water the Polynesians covered in the Pacific, over one million square miles, in a time frame of about 1000 years. Some members of the modern Hawaiian community were so impressed that they established the Polynesian Voyaging Society in 1973. They did some voyages throughout the Pacific without the help of instruments for scientific research and education. The topic was so interesting to so many people throughout the South Pacific that the voyages became more about recovering culture and about teaching the art of wayfinding so that it is not lost in time.

Revival of Interest:

A serious rebirth in Polynesian culture and traditions arouse after the voyages by the Hokule'a. In 1975 a replica of a Polynesian voyaging can...

... middle of paper ...

... circumference. As long as people care about what's going on in the Polynesian revival of culture there will be growth. There will be energy left for people to search out the answers to our questions and the lost secrets of these amazing people who found these islands over 1,500 years ago.

References:

Baybayan, Chad, Kawaharada, Dennis. ( May 1996 ). Polynesian Voyaging Society Manuel. Honolulu, Hawaii: Polynesian Voyaging Society.

Finney, Ben. (1994) Voyage Of Rediscovery. University of California Press.

Kyselka, Will. (1987) An Ocean In Mind. Honolulu, Hawaii. University of Hawaii Press.

http://leahi.kcc.hawaii.edu/org/pvs/buildloa/html

http://leahi.kcc.hawaii.edu/org/pvs/ohanabackground.html

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