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Polynesian Migrations

Voyages: From 1976

Painting Below: Hokule'a I by Herb Kawainui Kane

1976

1985-87

1992

Spr 1995

Sum 1995


2007: One Ocean, One People / Voyages to Micronesia and Japan: Hokule'a sailed to Micronesia, to Satwal, to accompany Alingano Maisu, a gift for Master Navigator Mau Piailug (Ku Holo Mau / "Sail On, Sail Always, Sail Forever"); then onto Japan to celebrate over a century of intercultural exchange (Ku Holo La Komohana “Sail On to the Western Sun”).

2003-2004: Navigating Change, a Voyage to the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands: Hokule'a sailed to the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands (NWHI) to explore the special and unique natural and cultural resources of this remote archipelago.
1999-2000: Voyage to Rapa Nui: Hokule'a reached the far southeastern corner of Polynesia, completing its modern exploration of the Polynesian Triangle.
Summer 1995: Hokule'a's West Coast Tour / Hawai'iloa's Northwest Tour: In the summer of 1995, the voyaging canoes Hokule'a and Hawai'iloa were shipped to Seattle; Hokule'a travelled down the West Coast to San Diego to share the mana of the canoe with Hawaiians, native Americans, and other Americans living there. Hawai'iloa, meanwhile, went from Seattle to Juneau Alaska to visit the land of the Tlingit, Haida, and Tshimshian, who donated the logs for its hulls.
Spring 1995: Na 'Ohana Holo Moana/The Voyaging Family of the Vast Ocean: the voyaging canoes Hokule'a, Hawai'iloa, and Makali'i sailed from Hawai'i to the Marquesas and back via Tahiti and Ra'iatea. Early settlers to Hawai'i are believed to have come from the Marquesas because of the similarities of the Hawaiian and Marquesan languages.
1992: No Na Mamo/For the Children: Hokule'a sailed from Hawai'i to Rarotoga and back via Tahiti and Ra'iatea. In Rarotonga, the canoe participated in the Sixth Pacific Arts Festival celebrating the revival of traditional canoe building and navigation in the Pacific. Called "The Voyage for Education," this voyage incorporated an educational program that allowed students to follow the canoe on its journey through live, daily radio reports.
1985-87: The Voyage of Rediscovery took Hokule'a on a 16,000 mile journey along the ancient migratory routes of the Polynesian Triangle--from Hawai`i to the Society Islands, the Cook Islands, New Zealand, Tonga, Samoa, and back home via Aitutaki, Tahiti, and Rangiroa in the Tuamotu Archipelago. This voyage showed that it was possible for Polynesian canoes to sail from west to east in the Pacific when the prevailing easterly tradewinds were replaced by seasonal westerlies.
1980: Hawai`i to Tahiti and Back; Nainoa Thompson, who studied under Satawalese navigator Mau Piailug (see "1976: Hawai'i to Tahiti and Back" below), became the first Hawaiian navigator in over 500 years to guide a canoe over this traditional route without instruments.
1978: Voyage to Tahiti Cancelled After Canoe Swamping In 1978, a voyage to Tahiti was cancelled because Hokule'a swamped south of Moloka'i in heavy seas; crew member Eddie Aikau, who attempted to paddle on a surfboard to get help on land, was lost at sea.
1976: Hawai`i to Tahiti and Back; Satawelese navigator Mau Piailug,with a Hawaiian crew, guided Hokule'a without instruments to Tahiti, a distance of 2400 miles. Piailug was called upon to navigate because no Hawaiian knew the ancient art of guiding canoes by the celestial bodies and ocean swells.