Polynesian Seafaring
Around 1500 B.C., voyagers from the islands along the north shore of New Guinea began moving east along the Solomon Island chain, and then to the Banks and Vanuatu Archipelagos. As the gaps between islands grew from tens of miles at the edge of the western Pacific to hundreds of miles along the way to Polynesia, and then to thousands of miles in the case of voyages to the far corners of the Polynesian triangle, these oceanic colonizers developed great double-hulled canoes.
The two hulls gave this craft stability and the capacity to carry heavy loads of migrating families, their food supplies, livestock, and planting materials, while a central platform laid over the crossbeams provided the needed working, living, and storage space. Sails made of matting drove it swiftly through the seas, and long steering paddles enabled Polynesian mariners to keep it sailing on course.
As the voyages became longer, they developed a highly sophisticated navigation system based on observations of the stars, the ocean swells, the flight patterns of birds and other natural signs to find their way over the open ocean. And, as they moved farther away from the biotic centers of Southeast Asia and New Guinea, finding the flora and fauna increasingly diminished, they developed a portable agricultural system, whereby the domesticated plants and animals were carried in their canoes for transplantation on the islands they found.
Once they had reached the mid-ocean archipelagos of Fiji, Tonga, and Samoa, these seafarers were alone in the ocean, for only they had the canoes and navigational skills needed to push so far into the Pacific. The gaps between islands widen greatly in the eastern Pacific and the prevailing winds become less and less favorable for sailing to the east. Nonetheless, the archaeological evidence indicates that they sailed eastward to the Cook, Society, and Marquesas Groups, and from there crossed thousands of miles of open ocean to colonize the islands of Hawai’i in the north, Easter Island in the southeast, and New Zealand in the southwest.
Hawaiian History and Lo‘ihi Seamount
Loʻihi Seamount is an active undersea volcano located about 22 miles off the southeast coast of the Big Island of Hawaiʻi. Volcanoes in the Hawaiian Islands arise from the Hawaiʻi hotspot, and Loʻihi is the newest volcano in the Hawaiian-Emperor seamount chain that stretches over 3,600 miles northwest.
Loʻihi began forming around 400,000 years ago and is expected to begin emerging above sea level about 10,000 to100,000 years from now. It rises more than 10,000 ft from the ocean floor, but its peak is still 3,199 ft below the ocean surface. The name Lo’ihi means “long” in Hawaiian to describe the elongate shape of the seamount.
When scientists investigated a series of earthquakes off Hawaiʻi in 1970, they discovered that Loʻihi was an active member of the Hawaiian-Emperor seamount chain following the pattern of development that is characteristic of all Hawaiʻian volcanoes. In the summer of 1996, a swarm of 4,070 earthquakes was altering 4 to 5 sq mi of the seamount’s summit. One section, Pele’s Vents, collapsed entirely upon itself and formed the renamed Pele’s Pit. The new crater is about 2000 feet in diameter and its bottom is 1500 feet below the previous surface. Exploration in the manned submersible Pisces V revealed hydrothermal vents with temperatures up to 390F degrees.
Hokulea Construction
Wooden voyaging canoes have not been used in Hawaii for eight centuries, and there were no examples available to use as a model for Hokule’a. So Hawaiian artist Herb Kane based the design of Hokule’a on drawings of canoes made by artists and draftsmen employed by Captain Cook and other early explorers of the Pacific.
Hokule’a measures 61.5 feet in length, 15.5 feet at the beam, and can carry 11,000 pounds of gear, supplies, and 12 to 16 crew. With two masts and 540-square-foot sail, she is capable of speeds around five knots while reaching in 15 to 25 knot trade winds. She has no auxiliary motor, and is steered with a long paddle.
Traditional voyaging canoes had koa wood hulls, lauhala sails, and sennit lashing made with adzes, bone gouges, coral files, and sharkskin for sanding. Although the Polynesian Voyaging Society wanted the Hokule’a to resemble an early voyaging canoe, relearning the arts of working with such materials and tools would have been too time consuming. Instead, the hulls were constructed out of plywood, fiberglass, and resin, the sails were made from canvas, and the lashings were done with synthetic cordage.
Hokule’a was launched in 1975 on the windward side of Oahu, and made its first voyage to and from Tahiti in 1976. Her name means “star of gladness” in Hawaiian, and refers to Arcturus, a guiding zenith star for Hawaiian navigators. In 1975, no Hawaiian living knew the ancient techniques for open ocean voyaging, so the Polynesian Voyaging Society recruited Master Navigator Mau Piailug from the Caroline Islands to share his knowledge of non-instrument navigation. Mau, who barely spoke English, realized that sharing this knowledge could save it from loss, and as a result helped spark pride in the Hawaiian and Polynesian culture.
Voyaging Canoe Hokulea
Hokuleʻa is a replica of a Polynesian double-hulled voyaging canoe (waʻa kaulua). It was built by the Polynesian Voyaging Society to promote the cultural revitalization of Hawaiians, and support the theory of Polynesians as masterful navigators in the Pacific. A year after Hokuleʻa was launched in 1975, she voyaged from Hawaii to Tahiti and back without the use of modern navigational instruments. Since that voyage, Hokuleʻa has completed nine more voyages to Micronesia, Polynesia, Japan, Canada, and the United States, all using ancient wayfinding techniques of celestial navigation.
To simulate a voyaging canoe in shape, weight, and performance, archaeologists, maritime historians, and anthropologists collaborated on the design. Hokuleʻa has two 62-foot hulls, eight crossbeams (‘iako) joining the two hulls, decking lashed to the crossbeams between the hulls, and two masts. She was christened Hokule’a, which is Hawaiian for the bright star Arcturus that passes directly over the island of Hawai’i.
Mau Piailug, a navigator using traditional Polynesian methods, was chosen to guide the canoe. Mau used the rising points of the stars, supplemented by observations of the sun, moon, and ocean swells, as a natural compass to guide the canoe. Even when days of solid cloud cover hid the stars, sun, and moon from sight, he was able to keep the canoe on course and keep in his mind an accurate picture of the canoe’s progress toward Tahiti. He also used the sighting of white fairy terns skimming over the sea of the approaching atoll of Mataiva, just to the north-northwest of Tahiti, before it could actually be seen.
The Hokuleʻa has shown it was possible for ancient Polynesians to sail and explore the Pacific Ocean, finding new homelands scattered over an ocean of ten million square miles. The fact that the canoe sailed from Hawai’i to Tahiti and back guided solely by traditional navigation, effectively demonstrated that Polynesian settlers were up to the task of planned, long-distance voyaging. Illustration by Herb Kane.
Kauai History and Distinction
Easter island once possessed a forest of palms and it is thought that natives deforested the island in the process of erecting their statues. The disappearance of the island’s trees seems to coincide with a decline of their civilization around the 17th century AD. Midden contents show a sudden drop in quantities of fish and bird bones as the islanders lost the means to construct fishing vessels and the birds lost their nesting sites. Soil erosion due to lack of trees is apparent in some places, and sediment samples show that up to half of the native plants had become extinct and vegetation of the island was drastically altered. Obsidian spear points and the toppling of many statues indicate a breakdown of the social structure, possibly even leading to civil strife.
Meanwhile, back on Kauai, the Hawaiian culture originated from the same areas of Polynesia and the islands of the Western Pacific and the edges of Asia. The first settlers to Hawaii brought with them ancient Polynesian traditions and lifestyles. Over generations, they adapted their beliefs and ways of living to accommodate their new island home, adding new gods to their pantheon and honing new skills such as surfing. The differences between Hawaii and their Polynesian family grew more pronounced once the era of transpacific migrations ended. In many artistic endeavors like kapa making, featherwork, and hula, Hawaiians surpassed the rest of their cousins in skill and proficiency. A highly structured and sophisticated culture blossomed in Kauai’s gentle climate and lush abundance. With time and isolation, Hawaiian culture grew as distinct as the endemic plant and animal communities.
Kauai History and Easter Island Moai
Moai have a considerable size range, from 6 feet to over 30 feet tall. One giant moai still attached to the matrix of rock in the quarry is over 65 feet long, and has an estimated weight of 270 tons. This remarkable quarry site lies littered with statues in all stages of fabrication. Some moai lie on their backs, and others are nearly vertical. As the carvers worked, the front and sides were carved first. When nearly finished, only a keel attached the back of the statue to the rock. Gradually it was pecked away, the figure was moved downhill, and stood up in a hole dug into the hillside. Once completed, the statues were ready to be transported to the ahu for which they had been carved. Island legends claim they ‘walked’ from the quarry to their ahu under their own spiritual power (mana). Some researchers claim the moai were laid on wood sledges and moved along by means of log rollers. Others believe they were moved while standing up on a sledge. One method has them rocking along on a wooden fulcrum. It is probable that the means of transport varied from time to time, depending upon size and form of the statue involved.
Once a statue reached its ahu, it was raised by means of wood poles and stones placed beneath it. Gradually the statue became upright as the pile of small rocks grew. Only those statues placed upright on ahu were given eyes. This ‘opening’ of the eyes activated the power and ‘mana’ of the statue. At least some of the statues had inlaid eyes fashioned of coral and with stone pupils. Great cylindrical topknots (pukao) were carved from red scoria and added to the heads of certain statues.
