If you want to know where you are going, you must first remember where you came from. This is the basic tenet of the wayfarer. The only tool the traditional navigator needs is the star compass, the basic mental construct for navigation.
Nainoa Thompson
Master navigator
Nainoa has dedicated his life to exploring the deep meaning of Hawaiian wayfaring · Cristina Mittermeier
Two thousand years ago, about the time of Christ, there was a voyaging canoe. It belonged to the greatest navigators on Earth, the citizens of the largest oceanic country that ever existed.
“If we don’t learn about those traditions, then we will not know who our ancestors were, and therefore we cannot know who we are.” · Cristina Mittermeier
It was a terrible time, and even though Hawaiian people did not disappear, they also were not doing so well. They became the lowest rung in society in their homeland.
Since the overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom, the horrors of colonization have harmed the lives and culture of Hawaii’s Indigenous people · Cristina Mittermeier
The traditional voyaging canoe Hōkūleʻa sparked a journey to reassert the Hawaiian identity in the twentieth century · Paul Nicklen
Students learn how to hoist the sails of Hōkūleʻa · Cristina Mittermeier
As the sun falls below the horizon on our last night on the canoe, Nainoa — now in his sixties but still agile as a teenager — skips to the bow of the canoe to look at the incoming waves and memorize the currents.
The sun falls below the horizon behind Hōkūleʻa, after a day of wayfaring teachings · Cristina Mittermeier
The journey will be a long one, but Nainoa reminds us that the wayfarer knows that patience and determination are vital qualities during a long crossing.
Hōkūleʻa was meant to sail only once, to demonstrate that Hawaiians had arrived at our islands from Tahiti in sailing canoes. But she is still sailing now and passing down the art of wayfaring · Paul Nicklen
Mālama Honua is a Hawaiian principle that invites us all to take pride in caring for the planet we call home. Traditional “kākau” (the art of tattooing) is one of the ancient practises that Hawaiians have revived · Paul Nicklen