Page 28 - IB April 2018

Culture

always respect that which God has given. steered a traditional sailing canoe, the Piailug, who died at 78 on the western
It is our identity.” Hokulea, more than 4828km from Hawaii Pacific island of Satawal in Micronesia
Fuluna rebuked the curse of his family to Tahiti. where he was born while the Voyagers
when the Pacific Voyagers set sail, defy- Pitman was part of the journey, a project were on their way to the Americas, was
ing the odds across 50,000 kilometres of the Honolulu-based Polynesian Voyag- regarded one of the last masters of the
through the Pacific Islands, all the way to ing Society, which was co-founded by nearly lost traditional art of using stars,
the Americas, anthropologists interested in the endur- sun and wind to find safe passage across
Under the guidance of traditiotinal navi- ing mystery of how the Pacific’s scattered the ocean.
gators from the Cook Islands who were islands, often separated by hundreds of Fuluna said he was blessed to have
part of the 120-crew during the voyage, miles of water, had become populated by crossed Pitman’s path.
he gained insight into how his ancestors peoples who lacked nautical technologies “I believe that fate brought me back to
navigated from island to island without such as the compass and sextant. the ocean after I lost my father and grand-
the use of the compass and modern navi- Piailug broke with tradition to share father to it. Fate brought me to the Pacific
gational equipment. among other cultures his closely guarded Voyagers and the training that Mau had
Relying only on the pattern of the wave navigation secrets that had traditionally passed on. Tua taught me well and I owe
and understanding the power of the wind, been passed down only within families. what I know to the Pacific Voyagers and
the fleet of canoes sailed from country Among his students were Nainoa the men who passed on their wayfinding
to country, trekking distances that their Thompson, a Hawaiian who became a skills.
ancestors had once undertaken. master navigator, has many students and “For them to pass on that knowledge
Fuluna was one of three Uto Ni Yalo has completed long ocean-crossings; and means that my children can grow up and
crew that received training under Tua Steve Thomas, a California native who know how to sail across the ocean before
Pittman, one of two master navigators made a documentary and wrote a 1987 us one day.”
from the Cook Islands who sailed with the book (The Last Navigator) about the For Fuluna, bringing home that knowl-
Pacific Voyagers. months he spent learning from Piailug in edge and passing them on is the best
Pitman was a student of Mau Piailug Micronesia, and Pitman. tribute he could give Piailug, his father,
who, in 1976, made international head- Pitman passed on his knowledge to Paki and the Pacific Voyagers.
lines when - using nothing but nature’s the young Pacific Voyagers and Fuluna r ilaitia.turagabeci@gmail.com
clues and the lessons he’d learned from his became an eager student, learning the
grandfather, a master navigator schooled names of the different stars that are used NEXT: Sailors from way back on
in traditional Micronesian wayfaring - he by navigators in wayfinding at night. the horizon

World Customs Organization Asia/Pacific

2018 Private Sector Engagement Conference

Theme:
BORDER MANAGEMENT SOLUTIONS

THE WAY FORWARD!

SOFITEL RESORT & SPA Drive better business decisions with an overview of
DENARAU, NADI the future global trends;
FIJI
Interact with key leaders in the international customs
MONDAY 14TH MAY and trade community
2018

Go to https://www.frcs.org.fj/events
Phone: (679) 3243000 or email: vicechair.wcoap@frcs.org.fj

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28 Islands Business, April 2018