Ancient Hawaii, by
Herb Kawainui Kane:
NAVIGATORS
In 1769, at Tahiti, Lt. James Cook,
Captain of H.M. Bark Endeavour took aboard the navigator Tupaia, who
guided Cook 300 miles south to the island of Rurutu. The expedition sailed
westward on various courses to New Zealand, then to Australia, then northward
through the Great Barrier Reef, touching at New Guinea. Throughout this entire
convoluted voyage, Cook was astonished to discover that whenever Tupaia was
asked to point out the direction in which Tahiti lay, he could do so without
access to the ship's charts or compass. The experiment ended when the
expedition reached Batavia in the Dutch East Indies, where malaria and
dysentery killed Tupaia and many of Endeavour's crew.
Today, with our perceptions dulled by dependence on instruments, feats such as
Tupaia's—based on a sensitivity which comes from living intimately with
nature—seem incredible. But Cook was convinced that among the Polynesians
were navigators capable of guiding canoes over great distances.
A brotherhood of experts trained to acute powers of observation and memory,
Polynesian navigators were also priests responsible for conducting the rituals
of their profession and invoking spiritual help. Whereas the modern navigator
is equipped to fix his position without reference to his place of departure,
the Polynesian used a system that was home-oriented. He kept a mental record of
all courses steered and all phenomena affecting the movement of the canoe,
tracing these backwards in his mind so that at any time he could point in the
approximate direction of his home island and estimate the sailing time required
to reach it—a complex feat of dead reckoning. This required careful
attention. It also meant insufficient sleep. It's been said that the navigator
could always be distinguished among his companions on a canoe by his bloodshot
eyes.
After the discovery of a new island, the altitude of stars
passing overhead and the places on the horizon of rising and setting stars
would be carefully observed and incorporated into the lore of the navigators.
Such knowledge would enable them to find the island again. Places for
astronomical study were built, often as rock platforms oriented in some
relationship to certain celestial events.
By aligning a canoe with landmarks, departing canoes could set out upon known
courses. The rising and setting places of familiar stars provided a compass.
Knowledge of the paths of such stars rising or setting in succession enabled
navigators to steer on bearings which had been worked out from experience. When
stars were obscured, dominant ocean swells, marching consistently across vast
areas, were dependable direction indicators. The presence of low islands might
be detected by clouds building in rising warm air and appearing stationary
while smaller clouds drift with the wind. Over atolls, clouds may reflect the
green of sunlit lagoons. Other indicators of low islands below the horizon were
reflected ocean swells interrupting the dominant swells of the open ocean,
drifting flotsam and the daily flights of shore-based birds seeking fish as far
as thirty miles from home. Island groups presented larger, safer targets than
isolated islands; once a landfall was made at any island in a known group, the
canoe could be sailed to a specific island.
Navigating using star paths and landmarks... CLICK ON AND IMAGE
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The zenith stars of an island are those which appear to
pass directly overhead, such as Hokule'a (Arcturus) for Hawai'i and 'A'a
(Sirius) for Tahiti. On a voyage from Tahiti to Hawai'i, the navigator would
first be concerned with making sufficient easting to arrive at the latitude of
Hawai'i upwind of his objective; then, when Hoküle'a appeared to arch
directly overhead, the canoe could be turned downwind, and sailed directly
westward to Hawai'i. If there were any uncertainty of latitude, the canoe could
be sailed in long downwind tacks to expand its landfinding range. After an
arduous voyage, the name Hokule'a (star of gladness) is most appropriate as a
star that leads to a happy landing.
Such basic principles are much easier to express in words than in practice. On
its 1995 return voyage the canoe replica Hokule'a sailed northward under
heavy clouds which concealed the stars. Only a very brief sighting of
Hokupa'a (Polaris) was made. Its altitude above the horizon informed the
navigators that they had arrived at the approximate latitude of Hawai'i. They
turned the canoe downwind, and two nights later saw the glow of the lights of
the town of Hilo.
Navigating using landfall on island groups the ocean swells...
CLICK ON AND IMAGE
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There was, in addition to knowledge gained by training and
practical experience, evidence of a special talent which transcends conscious
reasoning and enters the realm of the intuitive. Incidents have been recorded
of landfalls accurately predicted by Polynesian sailors aboard European vessels
after overcast skies or accidents had caused uncertainty about the ships'
positions.
All sailors learn that success is possible only by trimming sails and ship to a
dynamic balance with natural forces. It was a lesson not lost on the
Polynesians, whose survival on land as well as at sea depended upon maintaining
an equilibrium with nature.
Polynesian navigation techniques... CLICK ON AND IMAGE
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