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A replica of a traditional Polynesian voyaging canoe, Hklea first launched in 1975. This sailing ... [+] canoe has sparked a cultural revival in Hawai'i and across the Pacific Ocean. Polynesian Voyaging SocietyMoana 2 has enthralled millions of viewers around the world, all of them clamoring to watch a brave girl voyage across a vast ocean. What viewers might not know is that this popular Disney character is based on real-life Polynesians who are reviving the ancient art and science of wayfinding. These modern-day sailors use nothing but nature to navigate across the deep, blue sea.Take captain Kaiulani Murphy. She wasthe first woman to navigate from Tahiti to Hawaii in 2017, and has been crewing aboard traditional sailing canoes in Hawaii since 1998.But while navigating at the end of a more recent voyage from Tahiti, Murphy was starting to get a tad nervous.Her crew of 14 had been at sea for weeks aboard an open-air, double-hulled sailboat. They had no compass, no phones, no GPS, no navigation instruments of any kind, save their bodies, minds and the boat. They took turns sleeping under tarps and cooking on a propane camp stove.Murphy was nervous because she knew they needed to head west soon so they didnt overshoot Hawaii. But it had been cloudy for days and she couldnt get a fix on the stars to determine their exact latitude.Then at sunset, just for this magical moment, Murphy recalls, the clouds cleared and our guiding star was right there. And it just feels like you're not alone, right? Like they're helping you out, like the stars are your friends up there in the sky. There are lots of moments like that, navigating.Murphy made her hand measurements against the Southern Cross sitting low on the horizon, and the crew made a confident left turn. They arrived home in Hawaii the next day.Ka'iulani Murphy was the first woman to navigate with traditional wayfinding methods from Tahiti to ... [+] Hawai'i. 2017 Polynesian Voyaging Society. Photo: iwi TV. Photographer: Na'alehu Anthony.The Worlds Best VoyagersMore than a millennia ago, traditional Polynesian explorers were successfully traveling between far-flung islands in the largest ocean on earth using a suite of natural clues: the direction of swells, the flight path of birds, the position of stars, the color of clouds.Murphy, 44, says shes part of the second wave of Hawaiians who learned how to navigate and voyage as their ancestors did. She calls the young people learning today the fourth wave. This traditional voyaging knowledge was lost after Hawaii was colonized by westerners and then annexed by the U.S. in 1898. The Hawaiian language and much of its rich culture was lost, too.Then a group of visionaries decided to build a replica of an ancient sailing canoe, like the ones the first Hawaiians traveled on to reach the archipelago roughly 1,500 years ago. On March 8, 1975, the Polynesian Voyaging Society launched Hklea. Her name means Star of Gladness, which is a zenith star (also known as Arcturus) that appears directly over the Hawaiian islands.Since her first successful voyage from Hawaii to Tahiti in 1976, Hklea has sailed more than 275,000 nautical miles and sparked a cultural renaissance in Hawaii. Resurrecting traditional navigation also restored Hawaiians pride in their heritage, language and traditions.Hklea Inspires New Navigators (And Moana)This renaissance has rippled across the Pacific, prompting a rebirth of cultural pride in seafaring Indigenous communities from the Americas to Asia. It even inspired Disney to create Moana and Moana 2.Hawaiian culture was on the brink of extinction before we built Hklea, says Nainoa Thompson, CEO of the Polynesian Voyaging Society.To honor Hkleas impact on the world, the Polynesian Voyaging Society is celebrating the 50th birthday of this special sailing canoe. Beginning Saturday, March 8, a week-long series of public events in Honolulu will commemorate a half-century of cultural revival, environmental advocacy, and educational opportunities that have connected millions of people to the ocean.Science has shown us that the health of our communities depends on the health of our oceans. This celebration is not only for Hklea but for the Eartha reminder of our shared responsibility to protect the only home we have, said Thompson in a press release.In 1980, Thompson became the first Hawaiian in 600 years to navigate a traditional voyaging canoe thousands of miles by wayfinding. He is also a mentor to hundreds of younger navigators, including Murphy. Thompson, along with a handful of other master navigators, have taught hundreds of Polynesians the techniques and values associated with voyaging.Ka'iulani Murphy, right, steers Hklea. She is teaching the next generation how to voyage and ... [+] navigate like their ancestors did. 2017 Polynesian Voyaging Society. Photo: iwi TV. Photographer: Na'alehu Anthony.A Voyage To Care For The Ocean That Connects UsMurphy is now a mentor herself. She teaches Hawaiian astronomy and voyaging at the University of Hawaii. Today, children in Hawaii are introduced to traditional navigation from a young age, some as early as preschool. Many visited Hklea during this past years Pae ina Statewide Sail.We are lucky to be the ones bestowed with this knowledge, to ensure that knowledge doesn't go to sleep here again, Murphy says. I feel grateful for the responsibility. It is a privilege. An honor.Murphy is expected to become one of the first women in history to be granted master navigator status in the coming years. Meanwhile, she is looking forward to sailing on Hklea or her sister ship, Hikianalia, as part of the Moananuikea Voyage, which resumes this spring.A 43,000-mile circumnavigation of the largest ocean on earth, Moananuikea Voyage will bring 400 crew members to 36 countries, 100 Indigenous territories and 345 ports across the Pacific. Its goal, according to Thompson, is to ignite a movement of 10 million planetary navigators who will ensure a better future for the earth.Hklea is slated to depart Hilo for Tahiti in May. From there, the canoe will continue its circumnavigation of the Pacific Ocean, which began in Alaska in June 2023. The voyage will include visits to several Polynesian islands, Aotearoa (New Zealand), Melanesia, Micronesia, Palau and Japan.While Murphy and other seasoned deep sea navigators will often be at the helm, about one-third of the crew serving on the Moananuikea Voyage is in their early 20s. Like the fictional Moana, these women and men will inspire the world with with whats possible when we sail like our ancestors did.Follow the voyage or learn more at hokulea.com.
