Twelve years ago, during one of my many trips to Hawaiʻi, I had the great pleasure of meeting William Keala Kai, a crew member of the Polynesian voyaging canoes, Hokuleʻa and Namahoe. He and a local astronomer were giving a talk at Poipu Beach Park at the southern end of Kauai. Only a small group showed up, and my wife and I stayed after to share “talk story” with him. Sitting around a fire, we spent hours sharing our mutual love for navigation. I had sailed ocean-going sloops, navigated submarines, and piloted aircraft throughout my life and always had a keen fascination with navigation, especially celestial navigation. So, Keala and I really hit it off.
What struck me the most about our time together was how Keala continued the tradition of Polynesian wayfinding across the Pacific, on voyages of thousands of miles, only guided by the wisdom of their kūpuna, or elders.
According to Scott M. Fitzpatrick of the University of Oregon, the ancient colonization of islands in remote Oceania began about 3,400 B.C.E. and was the most expansive and ambitious human diaspora across any of the world’s seas or oceans. Before the rise of Ancient Greece, Polynesians left the Solomon Islands for the cerulean seas of the South Pacific. Their adventures brought humanity to the most remote reaches of Oceania, eventually reaching the Tonga, Fiji, and the Hawaiian archipelago.
As in many cases in the story of human migration, Polynesian exploration came in halting steps. The archaeological record suggests that they first crossed more than 2,000 miles of open ocean to colonize islands like Tonga and Samoa. Then, after 300 years of island hopping, they stayed put for 2,000 years more before continuing—a period named the Long Pause that delayed expansion into Hawaii, Tahiti and Easter Island. Perhaps this occurred because the early explorers could only sail downwind through the strong winds that surround Tonga and Samoa. As reported in the journal of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, prevailing wind patterns were an essential part of Polynesian migration to these islands. While they sailed east from the Solomon Islands to Tonga, Samoa, and Fiji, the wind was behind their sails. But after reaching the eastern most extend of these trade winds, the wind and ocean currents changed significantly. At that point, instead of traveling with the wind they needed to travel against it. Much like the early European explorers with their square-rigged ships, their journey was limited until they found a method to sail and tack into the wind. Once they refined their ocean-going canoes, Polynesian wayfinders ended their 2,000-year hiatus, and over a period of four-hundred years colonized the rest of Oceania, such as the islands of Hawaii, Tahiti and New Zealand.
Between about 1,200 and 800 B.C.E., the nodes of the Polynesian triangle (Hawai’i, New Zealand, and Easter Island) were settled. However, questions remain about their navigation techniques, cultural, and weather that influenced their final migration. To explore this mystery is the goal of the continued voyages of the Polynesian voyaging canoe, Hokuleʻa. During her successful voyage from Hawai‘i to Tahiti—carrying her crew 2400 miles in thirty-five days, Polynesian descendants practiced ancient wayfinding, without charts or instruments, only relying instead on nature’s signs: the celestial sphere, the shapes and movement of waves, and the flight of sea birds. The stories from Keala Kai, Sam Low, and others like him provided the inspiration for Brett Akamu, one of the main characters in my debut science fiction book, Mauna Kea Rising.
For further reading:
Álvaro Montenegro, Richard T. Callaghan, Scott M. Fitzpatrick. Simulations of prehistoric colonization of Oceania (2016). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Oct 2016, 201612426; DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1612426113
Polynesian Voyaging Society: Founded on a legacy of Pacific Ocean exploration, the Polynesian Voyaging Society seeks to perpetuate the art and science of traditional Polynesian voyaging and the spirit of exploration.
Sam Low. Hawaiki Rising: Hokule’a, Nainoa Thompson and the Hawaiian Renaissance. Island Heritage Publishing.