|
Ku Holo Mau / Sail On, Sail Always, Sail Forever 2007 Voyage to Micronesia for Mau Piailug Maisu: A Gift for Mau (Photo above: Maisu under construction at Kawaihae by Wes Correa, in the OHA newsletter. Photo below: Lashing the crossbeams, from the Honolulu Advertiser )
The Satawalese name Maisu [pronounced mai-shu] refers to breadfruit that has been knocked to the ground by high wind. “When it stay breadfruit season in our island, and a strong wind coming and shake all the breadfruits down, then you can go and collect it, even if it is not your tree,” Mau says. “We call that ‘maisu.’” In the same way, he says, the canoe Maisu will be available for anyone to partake freely of its learning: “Today, Micronesia is becoming like Hawaii – a lot of modern custom. So I am trying to have a canoe to teach the kids navigation. They can come any time; the canoe is gonna be there waiting.” Other article about Mau and Maisu:
|
On the voyage to Micronesia, Hokule’a is accompanying Mau’s new 56-foot long double-hulled voyaging canoe Maisu. Maisu, built by Na Kalai Wa’a Moku o Hawaii at Kawaihae Harbor, is a gift to Mau so he can carry on his legacy of navigation in his home islands of Micronesia. The canoe was started several years ago under the leadership of the late navigator Clay Bertelmann and his brother Shorty, two students of Mau. As voyager Junior Coleman explains, “It’s Papa Mau’s last request to have this canoe for his islands, to help teach the youth about their cultural identity amid all these outside influences…. It would be a real symbol to look to, just as we look up to Hokulea as a spark to give us cultural pride and motivation to do what’s right for our islands and our people.” The name of the voyage, " Ku Holo Mau / Sail On, Sail Always, Sail Forever," given by Pua Kanaka'ole, emphasizes the perpetuation of Mau's voyaging and navigation tradition through Maisu.
To read more about Maisu, see “