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Our Pacific ‘Ohana--One of mankind's greatest needs is to feel a sense of kinship with other people, and establish caring relationships with one another. The mana in this canoe comes from all the people in the past who have sailed aboard Hokule'a and cared for her. I think of the literally thousands of people who have come down and given to the canoe when she was in dry dock. I think of Bruno Schmidt in Mangareva who showed up with his truck every morning to take us wherever we needed to go. I think of the people in Tautira and Rarotonga and Aotearoa and the Marquesas and Rapa Nui who did the same. The list is endless. All of this malama-this caring-adds to the mana of the canoe. It is intangible but it is alive and well. We can all feel it. I just want to acknowledge it. --Bruce Blankenfeld Year after year Mau Piailug [from the Micronesian island of Satawal] came and took us by the hand as we prepared for our voyages. He cares about people, about tradition; he has a vision. His impact will be carried beyond himself. His teaching has become his legacy, and he will not soon be forgotten. On the 1980 voyage to Tahiti Mau made a fundamental step. He became, instead of the navigator, our teacher. An incredible feat, considering he could barely speak English. He was the one who came to Hawaiçi and made this enormous cultural jump. I believe that the great genius of Mau Pialug is not just in being a navigator, but that he could cross great cultural bridges and help us find our way at sea. All of this came from a very powerful sense of caring on his part. --Nainoa Thompson When Hokule'a reached Aotearoa in 1985, Sir James Henare, the most revered of the elders of Tai Tokelau, got up and spoke. He said, "You've proven that it could be done. And you've also proven that our ancestors had done it." This was a very special moment for him, a very special occasion, and he laughed and he cried. I recognized from him that we already come from a powerful heritage and ancestry. The canoe, on its voyages, is just one instrument to connect to that. Sir James Henare also made an incredible statement "... because the five tribes of Tai Tokerau trace their ancestry from the names of the canoes they arrived in, and because you people from Hawai'i came by canoe, therefore by our traditions, you must be the sixth tribe of Tai Tokerau." We didn't know what to make of that, such a powerful statement. But I do know-remember in my point of view, the most powerful things are these relationships-in a few sentences, Sir James Henare had connected us to his people. And he said that all the descendants from those who sailed the canoe are family in Tai Tokerau. --Nainoa Thompson [Judson Brown was the Tlingit Elder of Alaska who facilitated the donation of logs from the native Alaskan tribal corporation Sealaska for the hulls of the Hawaiian voyaging canoe Hawai'iloa in 1991.] Judson Brown was the spiritual link between his people and ours. His role was critical, not just in getting the trees, but in the celebration of culture. Even though Hawaiians and Alaskans are different people--defined by their different environments, languages and cultures--in the end, the native Alaskans share the same kinds of concerns and hopes and aspirations as we do. They believe that it is very important for the health of their people to rebuild their culture, to rebuild their traditions. At the koa forest he said, "When you sail, don't be afraid, because when you take your voyage we will be with you. When the north wind blows, take a moment to recognize that the wind is our people sailing with you." He was clear that the voyage wasn't about navigation. It wasn't about building a canoe. It wasn't about the stars. It was about bringing people together. He always saw Hawai'iloa as a celebration of a connection between native cultures. --Nainoa Thompson See two stories about Tautira and Hokule'a's Special Connection with this Tahitian Fishing Village, Its Home Away from Home: (1) Tautira (1976); (2) The Old Men of Tautira (1999) |