Voyage of Rediscovery: A Cultural Odyssey Through PolynesiaIn the summer of 1985, a mostly Hawaiian crew set out aboard Hokule'a, a reconstructed ancient double canoe, to demonstrate what skeptics had steadfastly denied: that their ancestors, sailing in such canoes and navigating solely by reading stars, ocean swells, and other natural signs, could intentionally have sailed across the Pacific, exploring the vast oceanic realm of Polynesia and discovering and settling all its inhabitable islands. Their round-trip odyssey from Hawai'i to Aotearoa (New Zealand), across 12,000 nautical miles, dramatically refuted all theories declaring that—because of their unseaworthy canoes and inaccurate navigational methods—the ancient Polynesians could only have been pushed accidentally to their islands by the vagaries of wind and current. Voyage of Rediscovery is a vivid, immensely readable account of this remarkable journey through the Pacific, including tales of a curiosity attack by sperm whales and the crew's welcome to Aotearoa by Maori tribesmen, who dubbed them their sixth tribe. It describes how Hawaiian navigator Nainoa Thompson guided the canoe over thousands of miles of open ocean without compass, sextant, charts, or any other navigational aids. In so doing, it documents the experimental voyaging approach, developed by Ben Finney, which has both transformed our ideas about Polynesian migration and voyaging and been embraced by present-day Polynesians as a way to experience and celebrate their rich ancestral heritage as premier seafarers. By sailing in the wake of their ancestors, the Hawaiians and other Polynesians who captained, navigated, and crewed Hokule'a made the journey described here a cultural as well as a scientific odyssey of exploration. |
Contents
Experimental Voyaging | 35 |
Cultural Revival | 71 |
More than Halfway Around the World | 96 |
Wait for the West Wind | 125 |
Voyage to Aotearoa | 163 |
Sailing Back and Forth Between Hawaii and Tahiti | 202 |
Putting Voyaging Back into Polynesian Prehistory | 255 |
The Family of the Canoe | 307 |
Common terms and phrases
able Aitutaki Aotearoa archaeological archaeologists archipelagos atoll Austral Bay of Islands Bishop Museum canoe sailing canoe's central East Polynesia Chad Baybayan coast colonization Cook Islands course crew members cultural dead reckoning direction doldrums double canoe eastward equator estimates explorers Figure Hawai'i and Tahiti Hawai'i to Tahiti Hawaiian heading Heyerdahl Hōkūle'a Honolulu horizon hulls indicate island of Hawai'i Kahiki Kermadecs Kirch land landfall Lapita latitude Māori Marquesas Mau Piailug migration miles Nainoa Thompson navigator nesian North Island northeast northern northwest ocean Pa'ao Polaris Poly Polyne Polynesian Voyaging Polynesian Voyaging Society position Ra'iatea Rangiroa Rapa Nui Rarotonga Rarotonga to Aotearoa reach route sail back seafarers settled settlement Sharp sight southeast trade Southern Cooks southwest stars steering surface weather map tack Tahiti Tahiti to Hawai'i Tahitian tion Tonga trade winds traditions tropical trough Tuamotus vessel Voyage of Rediscovery voyaging canoe wai'i westerly winds wind shifts windward