Empirical Science in PreContact Hawaii

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Empirical Science in Pre-Contact Hawaii
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Polynesian Voyaging

• From the Bismarck Archipelago
• Lapita cultures east to Samoa
• Polynesian north to Hawaii
• East to Rapa Nui (Easter Island)
• South to Aotearoa (New Zealand)

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Prerequisite Science Technology

• 1. Canoe-building technology sufficient for long
  voyages.
  
• 2. Understanding of empirical astronomy for
  navigation.
  
• 3. Years of apprenticeship in dead reckoning at
  sea.
  
• 4. Ethno-botanical knowledge.

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Celestial Navigation

• Latitude easy
• Stars constant
• Memorize rising and setting points
• Zenith star for relocation of islands
• Height above horizon of Hokupaa or
  Hanaiakamalama
  
• Longitude hard
• Intentional error offset
• Landfinding via natural history knowledge
• Geology of island chains
• Hot spots and island arcs

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Celestial Navigation

• Aa Sirius
• Zenith star for Samoa
• Hokulea Arcturus
• Zenith star for Hawaii

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Celestial Navigation
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Why voyage?

• 1. Adventure Genes?
• 2. Overpopulation?
• 3. Accidental discoveries?
• While fishing, or when ship-wrecked
• 4. Cultural imperatives and great stories?

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Origins Papa and Wakeaand the desire to voyage

• Legends in many versions throughout Polynesia.
  This version is from New Zealand, told to me by
  a Tongan elder and high school teacher in
  Hawaii.
• Papa and Wakea separated through the efforts of
  Maui.

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Papa and Wakea

• When Papa grieves, the earth shakes.
• When Wakea grieves, the sky cries and we have
  rain.
  
• Stars to appease Wakea
• Children of Papa and Wakea take up residence on
  the stars and fish up islands from the bottom of
  the sea.

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Non-instrument Voyaging in the Modern Era

• Dr. Ben Finney -- anthropologist
• Herb Kane -- artist
• Tommy Holmes waterman
• Polynesian Voyaging Society To build and sail to
  Tahiti by traditional methods, a modern Hawaiian
  voyaging canoe.

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Envisioning Hokulea
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No metal, so everything is lashed.
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And more lashing.
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Polynesian Voyaging Society
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But who will navigate?

• There were no traditionally trained Hawaiian or
  Polynesian navigators left.
  
• Only in Micronesia were the ancient ways still
  practiced.
  
• So, from Satawal, Micronesia, came

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Mau Piailug
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Cultural Renaissance 1976 arrival of Hokulea in
Tahiti
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Nainoa Thompson
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Hybrid model for navigation

• Western ideas about direction Maus
  instructions Bishop Museum planetarium
  
• a new hybrid system
• Nainoa has taken Hokulea to Tahiti, Aotearoa,
  and Rapa Nui
  
• Has trained a new generation of Hawaiian
  navigators.

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Voyage to Tahiti - 1980
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New Education Mission

• PVS now has a new role in education and promotion
  of the value of Hawaiian traditional wisdom, of
  understanding the related math and science, and
  an appreciation for the skills of the ancestors.
• Visit their website at http//leahi.kcc.hawaii.edu
  /org/pvs/
  
• Or do a google search on Polynesian Voyaging
  Society.

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North Shore Canoe Club
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Ancient Modern Combine
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Origins The origin of humans, according to the
Kumulipo

• Papa and Wakea Their first child Haloanaka, was
  stillborn
  
• A Kalo (taro) plant sprouted from the burial
  site.
  
• The second child was the daughter Hoohokukalani,
  by whom Wakea had a human son, Haloa, ancestor of
  Hawaiian alii and thus of all Hawaiians.
  
• Thus Hawaiians think of kalo as their brother.

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Origins The origin of humans, according to the
Kumulipo

• To make union with his daughter possible, Wakea
  established the kapu, requiring the separation of
  the sexes women ate separately, and kept apart
  during menstruation and childbirth.
• Kalo is a kinolau (body form)of the god Kane,
  and therefore, kapu to women
  

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Kalo

• Taro, Colocasia esculenta
• 342 names for kalo varieties recorded in the 30s
  in Hawaii.
  
• In ancient times, supported a population in the
  hundreds of thousands.
  

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Origins The origin of humans, according to the
Kumulipo

• In the 19th c., King David Kalakaua demonstrated
  his right to be king by having a genealogical
  search trace his family all the way back to
  Haloa. The kalo leaf appeared on his crown.

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Haleiwa, Hawaii