Our Founders, Our Teachers
Founders
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Ben Finney, a founder of PVS and first president
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Tommy Holmes, a founder of PVS
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Herb Kawainui Kāne, a founder of PVS and designer of Hōkūle‘a
Leaders, Teachers, Inspirational Guides
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Eddie Aikau, lifeguard and 1978 crew member
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Wright ‘Elemakule Bowman, Sr., master canoe builder
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Wright ‘Elemakule Bowman, Jr., master canoe builder
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Judson Brown, Tlingit elder
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Kenneth Francis Brown, kupuna
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Kawika Kapahulehua, Hōkūle‘a’s first captain, on the voyage to Tahiti in 1976
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Will Kyselka, teacher
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Pius Mau Piailug, master navigator and teacher
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Myron “Pinky” Thompson, president of the Polynesian Voyaging Society from 1979-2001
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Charles Lacy Veach, astronaut and teacher
Source of Traditional Navigational Knowledge
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Pius Mau Piailug, master navigator from Satawal, Yap State, Micronesia navigated Hōkūle‘a on her first voyage to Tahiti in 1976; subsequently, taught Hawaiians and other Polynesians to navigate without instruments. In 2007, PVS and Nā Kalai Wa‘a Moku o Hawaiʻi sailed to Mau's home island with the gift of a canoe built by Nā Kalai Wa‘a to thank Mau for his knowledge. For detailed bio of Mau, see Mau Piailug, at Wikipedia.
Mau teaching on Satawal
Mau teaching navigation to his nephew on Satawal. From "The Navigators: Pathfinders of the Pacific," posted on YouTube by Documentary Educational Resources.
Mau’s Hawaiian Graduates / Pwo Navigators and Teachers
On March 18, 2007, Mau Piailug inducted five Hawaiians and eleven Micronesians into Pwo, the ninth of fifteen degrees in the Weriyeng School of Navigation of Micronesia. The five Hawaiians were given the honor and responsibility of carrying on Mau's teachings. Pwo, as explained to Nainoa Thompson is light, love, kindness and compassion. If there are conflicts, the navigator must resolve them; if there is sickness, the navigator's responsibility is to heal; if there is damage, the navigator must repair it. His kuleana is to sail and bring back gifts to his home island.
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Chad Kalepa Baybayan
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Milton “Shorty” Bertelmann
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Bruce Blankenfeld
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Chadd ‘Onohi Paishon
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Charles Nainoa Thompson
Kalepa, Shorty, Nainoa, ‘Onohi, and Bruce
See Never Lost: Polynesian Navigation (a website by the Exploratorium in San Francisco), for video interviews with Hōkūle‘a crew members, including founders Ben Finney and Herb Kawainui Kāne; pwo navigators Chad Kālepa Baybayan, Milton “Shorty” Bertelmann, Bruce Blankenfeld, Chadd ‘Onohi Paishon, and Charles Nainoa Thompson; and president of the Friends of Hōkūle‘a and Hawai‘iloa Billy Richards.