Voyaging was an important part of the culture in ancient Polynesia। Voyagers would sail thousands of miles over the vast ocean, using the stars in the sky to navigate their canoes.
In the 19th century, Hawaiian scholars Kamakau and Kepelino attributed the discovery of Hawai‘i to a fisherman named Hawai'iloa. He is said to have discovered the islands during a long fishing trip from a homeland in the west called Ka ‘Aina kai melemelea Kane (“Land of the yellow sea of Kane”).
Hawai‘iloa’s navigator, Makali‘i, steered in the direction of Iao, the Eastern Star, and Hoku‘ula, the red star. After replenishing his supplies, Hawai‘iloa returned home and brought his wife and his children back to Hawai‘i.
In 1973, Ben Finney, Herb Kane and Tommy Holmes a group of Polynesian specialists and canoe enthusiasts formed the Polynesian Voyaging Society to build a canoe and sail it 2,500 miles without instruments. They were going to navigate by using the stars. In the old days a name would come to a canoe designer in a dream. Herb Kane was charting starts and locating and memorizing their relative positions one night and after he went to bed he was said to have dreamed of stars. His attention was attracted to Arcturus, our Hokule'a. It appeared to grow larger and brighter, so brilliant that he awoke. As so the name was given-Hokule‘a meaning “bright star”.
Some scholars have argued that the Polynesians drifted to these islands by accident; the Polynesian Voyaging Society (PVS) set out to show that a voyaging canoe of Polynesian design could be navigated without instruments over the vast ocean। This voyage would help to show that the Polynesians came here to Hawai‘i by sailing and navigating their canoes, not just drifting by accident here on ocean currents or driven off course by storms.
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.
Hokule‘a was launched on March 8, 1975 at Kualoa on the windward side of O‘ahu. This was the first voyaging canoe to be built in Hawai'i in more than 600 years. On May 1st, 1976 Hokule‘a left Hawai‘i on her maiden voyage to Tahiti, attempting to retrace this traditional migratory route. The Hokule‘a was navigated without instruments by Micronesian navigator, Mau Piailug, a traditional navigator from the Caroline Islands of Micronesia. His method of navigating by the stars and swells was closely similar to extinct Polynesian methods. The canoe arrived 33 days later in Papeete, Tahiti, to a crowd of more than 17,000. Over half of the island had turned out to greet the canoe. What had begun as a scientific experiment to prove a theory had touched a deep root of cultural pride in Polynesian people.
This voyage demonstrated that it was possible to navigate these routes without instruments, and that contrary to popular theories, it was possible for traditional voyaging canoes to sail against the prevailing winds, by taking advantage of seasonal wind shifts.
Hokule‘a’s voyages to date had demonstrated that the ancient Polynesians could have intentionally settled the Polynesian Triangle, an area of 10 million square miles, making it one of the greatest feats of exploration in human history.
For more information: Please visit the Polynesian Voyaging Society at http://www.pvs-hawaii.com
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