PVS Newsletter / December 1990
ANNUAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING
Thursday, December 20, 1990
5 - 8 p.m.
Hawaiian pupus
Entertainment Hawai'i Maritime Center
(Pacific Room) Pier 7
President's Message / Pinky Thompson
Aloha! It has been some time since we communicated with the PVS membership and we have much to share with you. Since the completion of the Voyage of Rediscovery, our work has focused on educational goals. Thanks in great part to the knowledge generated by the voyages of the Hokule'a there is now a wealth of voyaging curriculum in our schools.
In addition, inspired by the canoe's accomplishments, cultural groups in New Zealand and the Cook Islands are now embarking on construction of their own voyaging canoes, and they have asked the Polynesian Voyaging Society for help in their endeavors. We have also instituted some new projects which are described elsewhere in this newsletter. Mahalo to all of you for your continued support of the Polynesian Voyaging Society. I hope to see you at our annual membership meeting.
Hokule'a
Hokule'a is presently moored at the Hawai'i Maritime Center on O‘ahu. The museum portrays
Hawai'i's rich nautical history and is popular with visitors and local residents alike. Thousands of people visit the Center annually, and Hokule'a is one of the most popular attractions.
Earlier this summer, the canoe sailed to the island of Hawai'i and was the focal point of two series of seminars for gifted and talented students of Hawaiian ancestry. Curriculum revolving around various hard sciences was complemented by visits to the canoe and lectures by Hokule'a crew members. In addition, the accomplishments of Hokule'a were featured during two conferences, one for national marine educators and another for educators from throughout the Pacific.
The canoe is scheduled to go into dry dock sometime this fall for some much needed repair work.
Lee and Will Kyselka ran a program for Gifted and Talented young Hawaiians this summer.
Native Hawaiian Culture and Arts Program
NHCAP is a federally funded program dedicated to the rcvitalization of the Hawaiian culture through the re-creation and re-articulation of Hawaiian history. Central to the project is the construction and voyaging of a canoe which is traditional in design and materials. Nainoa Thompson, navigator of the Hokule'a serves as project director for this Exploration Phase, and it is anticipated that PVS will be actively involved in the construction of the new canoe and the training of its crews. Plans call for sailing the new vessel from Hawai'i to the Marquesas in the spring of 1993.
Auntie Aggie Cope of the NHCAP Board of Directors and Moses Keale.
SeAlaska
As part of this new project, extensive searches were made for koa logs to fashion hulls for the canoe. After many months of work in forests on the island of Hawai'i, no suitable logs were found with the requisite dimensions. Hearing of this undertaking, the SeAlaska Corporation donated
spruce logs for the canoe. Along with this generous gift, various businesses in Hawai'i donated the services needed to bring the logs to Hawai'i.
A contingent from Hawai'i traveled to Alaska in May for the felling of trees. In July, the Alaskans reciprocated with a visit to Hawaili for the arrival and blessing of the logs. The logs are currently housed at the Bishop Museum where the canoe construction will be done.
Once again, brought together in the spirit established by the Hokule'a, the family of the canoe has expanded, and now includes our good friends in Alaska.
You'll be interested to know that news of Hokule'a and the Voyage of Rediscovery has reached Russia as well. Ben Finney traveled to the Soviet Union earlier this year to give a series of lectures and also shared with the Russian several video tape programs on the canoe. These shows were scheduled for broadcast nationally on Russian television.
An impressive gift of the Native Alaskan arrives at the Bishop Museum to become one of the hulls which will bring us home from the Marquesas.
Hawai'i Maritime Center Agreement
The Polynesian Voyaging Society and the Hawai'i Maritime Center have entered into a formal agreement regarding Hokule'a, as authorized by the PVS Board and ratified by the Society membership in the fall of 1984. At that time, PVS was becoming deeply involved in preparations. for the 2-year Voyage of Rediscovery, and both parties agreed to put off formal adoption of the agreement until after conclusion of the long voyage.
Under the terms of the agreement, FMC has taken possession of Hokirle'a and is responsible for the maintenance, repair and upkeep of the canoe, with the exception of ocean related ventures undertaken under the direction of the PVS. The canoe will be used for purposes jointly agreed to by the HMC and PVS. Both organizations have a strong commitment to education.
Decisions about the canoe's activities will be made by a joint Hokule'a comniittee. PVS is represented by:
- Nainoa Thompson
- Wally Froiseth
- Sol Kahoohalahala
- Shorty Bertehnann
- Ben Finney
- John Kruse
- Chad Baybayan
- Mel Paoa
In addition, the Maritime Center has hired Wally for the canoe’s upkeep.
Mahalo Ray!
For nearly a decade, PVS board member Ray Lanterman has been a one man recruitment team for the Polynesian Voyaging Society. Thanks to his hard work our membership has continued to grow, and he's kept supporters across the state and the country up-to-date on news of PVS and the canoe. Recently poor health has forced him to slow down a bit, but he's still an avid PVS supporter, and a tough editor! He continues to remain committed to keeping our membership informed and this newsletter is the product of his efforts.
Ray's been with the PVS since the early 70's when Hokule'a was first launched. He's a talented graphic artist and although he doesn't talk about it much, in his younger days he was quite an aviator.
Thank you Ray from all of us.
Reforestation Project
The inability of the search crews to locate suitable koa logs for the new canoe in fbwai'i brought attention to an increasingly severe problem -- the depletion of natural resources here. As part of an effort to address that problem, PVS and NHCAP have joined in koa reforestation efforts of the Karnehameha Schools/Bishop Estate on the island of Hawai'i. Earlier this summer crew members planted 1,000 koa smdlings in the Kilauea Forest. Another planting was done with our visitors from Alaska. This work will be done on an on-going basis.
Photos below by Monte Costa
Koa search team members Ricky Tavares and Clay Bertelmann.
Hokule'a captain Shorty Bertelmann and navigator Nainoa Thompson.
