March 2006

Hōkūle`a Revives an Ancient Tradition

The Polynesian Voyaging canoe Hōkūle`a made her first journey of 2,500 miles back to Tahiti in 1976 using traditional navigation skills. Since then, Hawaiians have made many canoe voyages around the Pacific Ocean with modern instruments.
Photo © Monte Costa

 

Hawai`i Loa

On a Northwest note, a second canoe, Hawai`i Loa was built in the early 1990s in the traditional way, with two Sitka Spruce trees given by the Tlingit and Haida tribes of Alaska because Hawai`i’s forests have been depleted of the massive koa trees needed for the large canoes. In 1996, Hōkūle`a and Hawai`i Loa arrived in Seattle to begin their journey: Hōkūle`a sailed south along the Northwest coast to California to pay tribute to the many people from Hawai`i now living on the West Coast, and Hawai`i Loa went north to Alaska, to thank the Native Alaskans who donated the trees.
Photo © Monte Costa