Voyaging Canoe Hokulea
Hokuleʻa is a replica of a Polynesian double-hulled voyaging canoe (waʻa kaulua). It was built by the Polynesian Voyaging Society to promote the cultural revitalization of Hawaiians, and support the theory of Polynesians as masterful navigators in the Pacific. A year after Hokuleʻa was launched in 1975, she voyaged from Hawaii to Tahiti and back without the use of modern navigational instruments. Since that voyage, Hokuleʻa has completed nine more voyages to Micronesia, Polynesia, Japan, Canada, and the United States, all using ancient wayfinding techniques of celestial navigation.
To simulate a voyaging canoe in shape, weight, and performance, archaeologists, maritime historians, and anthropologists collaborated on the design. HokuleÊ»a has … Details