Mau Piailug
Encyclopedia
Pius "Mau" Piailug was a Micronesia
n navigator
from the Carolinian
island of Satawal
, best known as a teacher of traditional, non-instrument wayfinding
methods for deep-sea voyaging. Mau's Carolinian navigation system—which relies on navigational clues using the sun and stars, winds and clouds, seas and swells, and birds and fish—was acquired through rote learning
passed down through teachings in the oral tradition
. He earned the title of master navigator (palu) by the age of eighteen, around the time the first American missionaries arrived in Satawal. As he neared middle age, Mau grew concerned that the practice of navigation in Satawal would disappear as his people became acculturated
to Western values. In the hope that the navigational tradition would be preserved for future generations, Mau shared his knowledge with the Polynesian Voyaging Society
(PVS). With Mau's help, PVS used experimental archaeology
to recreate and test lost Hawaiian navigational techniques on the Hōkūle‘a
, a modern reconstruction of a double-hulled Hawaii
an voyaging canoe
.
The successful, non-instrument sailing of Hōkūle‘a to Tahiti
in 1976, proved the efficacy of Mau's navigational system to the world. To academia, Mau's achievement provided evidence for intentional two-way voyaging throughout Oceania, supporting a hypothesis that explained the Asiatic origin of Polynesians. The success of the Micronesian-Polynesian cultural exchange, symbolized by Hōkūle‘a, had an impact throughout the Pacific. It contributed to the emergence of the second Hawaiian cultural renaissance
and to a revival of Polynesian navigation
and canoe building in Hawaii, New Zealand
, Rarotonga
and Tahiti. It also sparked interest in traditional wayfinding on Mau's home island of Satawal. Later in life, Mau was respectfully known as a grandmaster navigator, and he was called "Papa Mau" by his friends with great reverence and affection. He received an honorary degree from the University of Hawaii
, and he was honored by the Smithsonian Institution
and the Bishop Museum
for his contributions to maritime history
. Mau's life and work was explored in several books and documentary films, and his legacy continues to be remembered and celebrated by the indigenous peoples of Oceania
.
, in Yap
State of the Caroline Islands
, a part of the Federated States of Micronesia
. Satawal is a wooded island with an area of 1.3 square kilometre (0.501932806170296 sq mi), located in the Western Pacific Ocean about 800 kilometres (497.1 mi) south of Guam
. Mau's personal connection to the sea began early in his life, when he was placed in tide pools in his infancy so he could feel the pull of the ocean. At the age of four or five, Mau was chosen by his grandfather Raangipi to study as an apprentice navigator. Mau initially protested his grandfather's teaching, preferring to spend his time playing on the beach with children his own age. Raangipi trained Mau as a young navigator for many years. Their day would begin at sunrise, when they would eat breakfast together and afterwards, take care of chores before going fishing. During the evening, Mau would join the men in the canoe house as they drank, listening to their stories about navigation and sailing. Raangipi told the young boy that if he chose to become a navigator, Mau could gain respect from his community, eat well, and maintain a position in Satawalese society higher than that of a chief. Encouraged, Mau learned basic navigational clues regarding the "stars, swells, and birds" from Raangipi, but his grandfather died sometime before Mau was fourteen.
After his grandfather died, Mau began training with his father, Orranipui. Mau learned more about navigating by stars (wofanu) from his father, and how to fish and build canoes. When his father died before he turned fifteen, Mau was adopted by his aunt and uncle. Sometime around the age of eighteen, Mau's aunt and uncle sent him to study with Angora, an acclaimed navigator. His studies culminated in his initiation as a master navigator (palu) in the Weriyeng
school of navigation during the revered pwo
ceremony presided over by Angora. It was to be the last pwo held on Satawal for the next fifty years. After the ceremony, Mau lived for a month in the canoe house where he received rigorous lessons from three navigators. When the final training was complete, Mau made his first solo voyage of about 92 kilometres (57.2 mi). Because he had a tendency to sail in all weather conditions, he was given the nickname "Mau", from the Satawalese word maumau, meaning "strong". After becoming a navigator, Mau married Nemwaeito with whom he raised ten boys and six girls.
Daily life in Mau's village on Satawal involved harvesting taro and gathering breadfruit and coconut. The Satawalese people also raised chicken and pork and caught fish, their primary source of protein. A freshwater pond served as bathing facilities. Local materials were used to construct outrigger canoes called proa
. The island's isolation helped preserve the lifestyle of the Satawalese people and Mau's role as a navigator. Even with the arrival of the Germans (1890) and the Japanese (1914) in Micronesia, Satawalese culture remained intact. American missionaries who arrived after World War II
built the first church and school on Satawal.
In the late 1960s, Mau attempted to verify his navigational knowledge of the wider Pacific by working as a seaman on an inter-island ship run by the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands
. From 1969–1973, Mau became friends with Mike McCoy, a Peace Corps
volunteer stationed on Satawal. As well as marrying Mau's niece, McCoy sailed with Mau and they worked together on a project tagging turtles. McCoy became interested in Satawalese navigation, published several articles on the topic and kept in touch with the anthropologist Ben Finney
, who was researching Polynesian navigation. When McCoy's assignment on Satawal ended, he asked Pialug if he wanted to come to Hawaii with him.
. Mau returned to Honolulu in April 1975 to begin work with the Hawaii-based Polynesian Voyaging Society, eventually navigating the double-hulled canoe, Hōkūle‘a, from Hawaii to Tahiti on its maiden voyage in 1976. Mau trained and mentored
Native Hawaiian navigator Nainoa Thompson
, who later would become a master navigator. David Henry Lewis
, a scholar of Polynesian navigation, documented Mau's work.
Mau's first-hand knowledge of traditional navigation had been accumulated in northern hemisphere study and sailings, but the voyage to Tahiti required Mau to familiarize himself with the geography and night sky of the southern hemisphere. Of this preparation, Finney writes,
Their collaboration proved successful when, on the thirtieth day at sea on the 1976 voyage, Mau stated soon they would see land, and the next day, Tahiti. A few hours later, they spotted land-based white terns
(Gygis alba) followed by a diminution of the trade-wind swell. That night they spotted Mataiva
. After a brief stopover, with little more than another day's sailing they made landfall at Tahiti where they were welcomed by 17,000 people—half the population of Tahiti.
Nainoa's ambition was to sail Hōkūle‘a to Tahiti as navigator using recreated traditional techniques. He spent years training on his own and with Mau. Mau's training and mentoring helped Nainoa achieve that goal in the 1980 Tahiti voyage. It marked the first time in over 500 years that a Native Hawaiian had mastered the stars, the seas, the birds, and the winds to guide a sailing canoe from Hawaii to Tahiti and back. The two men joined again for the 1985–1987 Voyage of Rediscovery to New Zealand, again with Nainoa as principal navigator and Mau as mentor. The voyage to New Zealand stoked Māori interest in cultural history, navigation techniques, and canoe building. It also brought to life for Māori the stories in their folklore of the great canoe voyages of migration
and settlement in Aotearoa
(New Zealand). Describing a ceremony held at Waitangi to commemorate the Hawaii–New Zealand voyage of Hōkūle‘a, Nainoa writes:
In 1995, Mau took part in the Nā ʻOhana Holo Moana voyage of Hōkūle‘a to Ra‘iātea
. Sailing with his son Sesario Sewralur, and Nainoa as sailing master, Mau watched as Nainoa's students Kaʻau McKenney and Keahi Omai served as navigators. Mau had seen Nainoa succeed in the 1980 and 1985–1987 voyages; finally, in this 1995 voyage, Mau saw proof that the knowledge was carried forward to the next generation. The canoe not only landed successfully at Rarotonga, but the voyage resulted in the lifting of a six-centuries-old taboo on voyaging from Ra‘iātea. Hōkūle‘a had sailed from Hawaii with sisterships Hawai‘iloa and Makali‘i; these canoes rendezvoused at Taputapuatea
with other voyaging canoes from across Oceania.
in 1992. Beginning in 1994, the two brothers helped construct Makali‘i, a 54-foot voyaging canoe, launching it in 1995. From February to May, 1999, "Shorty" Bertelmann navigated Makali‘i to Satawal in a voyage known as “E Mau – Sailing the Master Home.” This voyage was to pay homage to master navigator Mau Piailug and to thank him for his teachings. Mau sailed home aboard Makali‘i as their honored guest. Makali‘i continued her 1999 voyage through half the length of Micronesia. She was the first Hawaiian voyaging canoe to visit the far reaches of Micronesia and her appearance stimulated interest amongst Micronesians in their own cultural history.
—a gift for his key role in reviving traditional wayfinding
navigation in Hawaii. The canoe was built in Kawaihae, Hawaii under the nonprofit organization Nā Kalai Wa‘a Moku O Hawai‘i. The commitment to build this "gift" for Mau was made by Clay Bertelmann, captain of Makali‘i and Hōkūle‘a. Maisu was given to Mau on behalf of all the voyaging families and organizations that actively continue to sail and practice the traditions taught by Mau Piailug.
. On May 9, 2000, he was honored by the Smithsonian Institution
at the National Museum of Natural History
. At the ceremony, then-secretary Lawrence Small said, "The rebirth of non-instrument navigation came about largely due to this man, Mau Piailug." The Bishop Museum
presented Mau with the Robert J. Pfeiffer Medal on July 12, 2008, honoring him for "exceptional dedication to the advancement of maritime affairs and the perpetuation of maritime heritage in Hawaii and the Pacific." Mau also was honored for his "devotion and outstanding civic leadership" and for exemplifying "the spirit and purpose of the Museum's founder Charles Reed Bishop".
Two centuries before Mau and the Hōkūle‘a, Captain James Cook
, with the help of Tupaia
, gained knowledge that otherwise would have been closely held. Before his death in 1779, Cook hypothesized that Polynesians shared common ancestry; he even pinned their origin to Asia. However, Cook's theory did not prevent debate among scholars. Before the Hōkūle‘a voyage in 1976, academic debate about the settlement of Polynesia was divided between several schools of thought.
Norwegian ethnographer Thor Heyerdahl
hypothesized that the Pacific was settled by voyages from South America
and set out to prove this with his Kon-Tiki
expedition. Scholars did not take Heyerdahl's hypothesis seriously. New Zealander Andrew Sharp proposed the accidental voyaging hypothesis in 1957 which argued that Oceania was too vast to have been settled by intentional voyaging, so migrations must have happened by accidental drift voyages. Sharp granted that Polynesians did likely settle the Pacific from Asia, but held the opinion that their crude vessels and navigational tools were no match for intentional sailing from Tahiti to Hawaii or New Zealand. He stated that voyages of more than three hundred miles were likely accidental voyages, with landfall at the mercy of wind and current. A 1973 study and computer simulation by Levison, Ward, and Web investigated the probability of Sharp's hypothesis, but found it improbable.
Finney disagreed with the accidental voyaging portion of Sharp's hypothesis. To investigate the problem he founded the Polynesian Voyaging Society with Herb Kane and Tommy Holmes in 1973, intent on building a voyaging canoe to sail from Hawaii to Tahiti to test whether intentional two-way voyaging throughout Oceania could be replicated. With the help of Mau's navigational knowledge guiding Hōkūle‘a, the Polynesian Voyaging Society demonstrated that intentional voyaging was not only possible, but that the ancestors of the Polynesians could have settled the Pacific on similar voyages using non-instrument wayfinding techniques such as Mau's. Finally, linguistic and archaeological evidence suggests that the history of the Polynesian people does not originate in the east, but in the west. Recent developments in the field of DNA analysis
have unequivocally settled the debate of Polynesian origin. They prove Polynesians share common ancestry with indigenous Taiwanese
and East Asia
ns.
For a traditionally trained navigator, these inputs include physical signals from the sea, skies, and stars, memory signals from his knowledge of star, swell, and wind compasses; and cultural knowledge recorded in chants, dances, and stories. Examples of physical signals include the color, temperature, and taste (salinity) of seawater; floating plant debris; sightings of land-based seabirds flying out to fish; cloud type, color, and movement; wind direction, speed, and temperature; the direction and nature of ocean swells and waves; the position of stars in the sky, and his estimation of the speed, current set
, and leeway
of his sailing craft. The "compass" he carried was not magnetic, but a mental model of where islands are located, and the star points which one could use to navigate between them. This mental model would have taken years of study to build; dances, chants (rong), and stories help him to recall complex relationships of geography and location. The stars give him highly reliable position information when visible, but navigators such as Mau managed to keep their position and tracks in mind even when blocked by clouds, using other references such as wind and swell as proxies.
Mau's Carolinian star compass (pictured) is the basis for Nainoa's modern Hawaiian star compass. Apart from the bulk of training which happens at sea, historically boys were taught in the men's house with pebbles, shells, or pieces of coral, representing stars, laid on the sand in a circular pattern. Which bits of shell or coral are chosen to represent which star or constellation
is arbitrary, but generally, larger pieces are used for points of the compass
while smaller pieces represent important stars between those points. In Mau's star compass, these points are not necessarily equidistant. The outer circular formation represents the horizon, with the canoe its center point. The eastern half of the circle depicts reference stars' rising points on the horizon while the western half depicts their setting points. Swell
patterns of prevailing trade wind
s are represented by sticks (not depicted here) overlaying the star compass in the form of a square. All knowledge is retained by memory with the help of dances, chants, and stories, wherein the stars are enumerated as people or characters in the stories.
on inter-island sailings is to visualize the target island relative to a second reference island's alignment with a succession of selected stars, points of the star compass. This is a refined system of dead reckoning
whereby the navigator constantly synthesizes his position relative to the reference island's location in his mental model. The most remarkable thing about this is that the reference island (lu pongank) may be over the horizon, unseen, even imaginary.
In its simplest form the star compass describes thirty-two points at which key stars rise on the eastern horizon and set on the western horizon. North latitude
is fairly easy to determine because the North Pole
has a zenith
star easily seen with the naked eye, called Polaris
(Wuliwulifasmughet). Polaris' height above the horizon (declination
) indicates the viewer's southward displacement from Polaris' nadir
—the North Pole. Traveling further north, Polaris appears higher in the sky. Only at the true north
pole is Polaris directly overhead at nearly 90 degrees declination. Traveling south toward the equator, Polaris appears to descend toward the northern horizon. At 45 degrees north latitude, Polaris is 45 degrees above the northern horizon. Near the equator, Polaris' declination approaches zero degrees, but for the viewer just farther south, Polaris will have disappeared below the northern horizon.
Continuing south from the equator, though Polaris is no longer visible, Crux
(Luubw), the "Southern Cross," will have risen above the southern horizon. Traveling further southward, Crux rises higher in the sky. Through Crux's longest axis, an imaginary line bisecting
Gacrux and Acrux points southward toward the southern celestial pole. But the South Pole
has no true zenith
star from which direct readings of south latitude may be taken. As a proxy, the southern celestial pole lies at the end of that imaginary line extended southward through Gacrux and Acrux, at a distance about 4.5 times the distance between them. Nainoa Thompson notes that at Hawaii's latitude, the distance between Gacrux and the southerly Acrux is equal to Acrux's declination above the southern horizon.
To steer the canoe in mid-ocean on a consistent course, the navigator selects a star and keeps the canoe pointed toward it. Should it become cloud-blocked, or rise too high in the sky, he selects another star but offsets his reference to remain true to the first, or steers at the same relative angle to the swell as when steering toward the star.
Micronesia
Micronesia is a subregion of Oceania, comprising thousands of small islands in the western Pacific Ocean. It is distinct from Melanesia to the south, and Polynesia to the east. The Philippines lie to the west, and Indonesia to the southwest....
n navigator
Navigator
A navigator is the person on board a ship or aircraft responsible for its navigation. The navigator's primary responsibility is to be aware of ship or aircraft position at all times. Responsibilities include planning the journey, advising the Captain or aircraft Commander of estimated timing to...
from the Carolinian
Caroline Islands
The Caroline Islands are a widely scattered archipelago of tiny islands in the western Pacific Ocean, to the north of New Guinea. Politically they are divided between the Federated States of Micronesia in the eastern part of the group, and Palau at the extreme western end...
island of Satawal
Satawal
Satawal is a solitary coral atoll of one island located at in the Caroline Islands in the Pacific Ocean, and forms a legislative district in Yap State in the Federated States of Micronesia...
, best known as a teacher of traditional, non-instrument wayfinding
Wayfinding
Wayfinding encompasses all of the ways in which people and animals orient themselves in physical space and navigate from place to place.-Historical:...
methods for deep-sea voyaging. Mau's Carolinian navigation system—which relies on navigational clues using the sun and stars, winds and clouds, seas and swells, and birds and fish—was acquired through rote learning
Rote learning
Rote learning is a learning technique which focuses on memorization. The major practice involved in rote learning is learning by repetition by which students commit information to memory in a highly structured way. The idea is that one will be able to quickly recall the meaning of the material the...
passed down through teachings in the oral tradition
Oral tradition
Oral tradition and oral lore is cultural material and traditions transmitted orally from one generation to another. The messages or testimony are verbally transmitted in speech or song and may take the form, for example, of folktales, sayings, ballads, songs, or chants...
. He earned the title of master navigator (palu) by the age of eighteen, around the time the first American missionaries arrived in Satawal. As he neared middle age, Mau grew concerned that the practice of navigation in Satawal would disappear as his people became acculturated
Acculturation
Acculturation explains the process of cultural and psychological change that results following meeting between cultures. The effects of acculturation can be seen at multiple levels in both interacting cultures. At the group level, acculturation often results in changes to culture, customs, and...
to Western values. In the hope that the navigational tradition would be preserved for future generations, Mau shared his knowledge with the Polynesian Voyaging Society
Polynesian Voyaging Society
The Polynesian Voyaging Society is a non-profit research and educational corporation based in Honolulu, Hawaii. PVS was established to research and perpetuate traditional Polynesian voyaging methods...
(PVS). With Mau's help, PVS used experimental archaeology
Experimental archaeology
Experimental archaeology employs a number of different methods, techniques, analyses, and approaches in order to generate and test hypotheses, based upon archaeological source material, like ancient structures or artifacts. It should not be confused with primitive technology which is not concerned...
to recreate and test lost Hawaiian navigational techniques on the Hōkūle‘a
Hokulea
Hōkūlea is a performance-accurate full-scale replica of a waa kaulua, a Polynesian double-hulled voyaging canoe. Launched on 8 March 1975 by the Polynesian Voyaging Society, she is best known for her 1976 Hawaii to Tahiti voyage performed with Polynesian navigation techniques, without modern...
, a modern reconstruction of a double-hulled Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
an voyaging canoe
Canoe
A canoe or Canadian canoe is a small narrow boat, typically human-powered, though it may also be powered by sails or small electric or gas motors. Canoes are usually pointed at both bow and stern and are normally open on top, but can be decked over A canoe (North American English) or Canadian...
.
The successful, non-instrument sailing of Hōkūle‘a to Tahiti
Tahiti
Tahiti is the largest island in the Windward group of French Polynesia, located in the archipelago of the Society Islands in the southern Pacific Ocean. It is the economic, cultural and political centre of French Polynesia. The island was formed from volcanic activity and is high and mountainous...
in 1976, proved the efficacy of Mau's navigational system to the world. To academia, Mau's achievement provided evidence for intentional two-way voyaging throughout Oceania, supporting a hypothesis that explained the Asiatic origin of Polynesians. The success of the Micronesian-Polynesian cultural exchange, symbolized by Hōkūle‘a, had an impact throughout the Pacific. It contributed to the emergence of the second Hawaiian cultural renaissance
Hawaiian Renaissance
The First and Second Hawaiian Renaissance was the Hawaiian resurgence of a distinct cultural identity that draws upon traditional kānaka maoli culture, with a significant divergence from the tourism-based "culture" which Hawaii was previously known for worldwide .-First Hawaiian...
and to a revival of Polynesian navigation
Polynesian navigation
Polynesian navigation is a system of navigation used by Polynesians to make long voyages across thousands of miles of open ocean. Navigators travel to small inhabited islands using only their own senses and knowledge passed by oral tradition from navigator to apprentice, often in the form of song...
and canoe building in Hawaii, New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
, Rarotonga
Rarotonga
Rarotonga is the most populous island of the Cook Islands, with a population of 14,153 , out of the country's total population of 19,569.The Cook Islands' Parliament buildings and international airport are on Rarotonga...
and Tahiti. It also sparked interest in traditional wayfinding on Mau's home island of Satawal. Later in life, Mau was respectfully known as a grandmaster navigator, and he was called "Papa Mau" by his friends with great reverence and affection. He received an honorary degree from the University of Hawaii
University of Hawaii
The University of Hawaii System, formally the University of Hawaii and popularly known as UH, is a public, co-educational college and university system that confers associate, bachelor, master, and doctoral degrees through three university campuses, seven community college campuses, an employment...
, and he was honored by the Smithsonian Institution
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution is an educational and research institute and associated museum complex, administered and funded by the government of the United States and by funds from its endowment, contributions, and profits from its retail operations, concessions, licensing activities, and magazines...
and the Bishop Museum
Bishop Museum
The Bishop Museum , is a museum of history and science in the historic Kalihi district of Honolulu on the Hawaiian island of O'ahu...
for his contributions to maritime history
Maritime history
Maritime history is the study of human activity at sea. It covers a broad thematic element of history that often uses a global approach, although national and regional histories remain predominant...
. Mau's life and work was explored in several books and documentary films, and his legacy continues to be remembered and celebrated by the indigenous peoples of Oceania
Indigenous peoples of Oceania
The indigenous peoples of Oceania are those peoples identified as indigenous peoples, as per the modern global definition of the term.Many of the present-day Pacific Island nations in the Oceania region were originally populated by Polynesian, Melanesian and Micronesian peoples over the course of...
.
Satawal, Micronesia
Mau was born Pius Piailug in 1932, in the village of Weiso on the small coral island of SatawalSatawal
Satawal is a solitary coral atoll of one island located at in the Caroline Islands in the Pacific Ocean, and forms a legislative district in Yap State in the Federated States of Micronesia...
, in Yap
Yap
Yap, also known as Wa'ab by locals, is an island in the Caroline Islands of the western Pacific Ocean. It is a state of the Federated States of Micronesia. Yap's indigenous cultures and traditions are still strong compared to other neighboring islands. The island of Yap actually consists of four...
State of the Caroline Islands
Caroline Islands
The Caroline Islands are a widely scattered archipelago of tiny islands in the western Pacific Ocean, to the north of New Guinea. Politically they are divided between the Federated States of Micronesia in the eastern part of the group, and Palau at the extreme western end...
, a part of the Federated States of Micronesia
Federated States of Micronesia
The Federated States of Micronesia or FSM is an independent, sovereign island nation, made up of four states from west to east: Yap, Chuuk, Pohnpei and Kosrae. It comprises approximately 607 islands with c...
. Satawal is a wooded island with an area of 1.3 square kilometre (0.501932806170296 sq mi), located in the Western Pacific Ocean about 800 kilometres (497.1 mi) south of Guam
Guam
Guam is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States located in the western Pacific Ocean. It is one of five U.S. territories with an established civilian government. Guam is listed as one of 16 Non-Self-Governing Territories by the Special Committee on Decolonization of the United...
. Mau's personal connection to the sea began early in his life, when he was placed in tide pools in his infancy so he could feel the pull of the ocean. At the age of four or five, Mau was chosen by his grandfather Raangipi to study as an apprentice navigator. Mau initially protested his grandfather's teaching, preferring to spend his time playing on the beach with children his own age. Raangipi trained Mau as a young navigator for many years. Their day would begin at sunrise, when they would eat breakfast together and afterwards, take care of chores before going fishing. During the evening, Mau would join the men in the canoe house as they drank, listening to their stories about navigation and sailing. Raangipi told the young boy that if he chose to become a navigator, Mau could gain respect from his community, eat well, and maintain a position in Satawalese society higher than that of a chief. Encouraged, Mau learned basic navigational clues regarding the "stars, swells, and birds" from Raangipi, but his grandfather died sometime before Mau was fourteen.
After his grandfather died, Mau began training with his father, Orranipui. Mau learned more about navigating by stars (wofanu) from his father, and how to fish and build canoes. When his father died before he turned fifteen, Mau was adopted by his aunt and uncle. Sometime around the age of eighteen, Mau's aunt and uncle sent him to study with Angora, an acclaimed navigator. His studies culminated in his initiation as a master navigator (palu) in the Weriyeng
Weriyeng
Weriyeng, is one of the last two schools of traditional navigation found in Central Caroline Islands in Micronesia, the other being Fanur. By tradition these two schools were considered to be the most high of all the schools of navigation that once dotted the islands of Central Caroline Islands...
school of navigation during the revered pwo
Pwo
Pwo is a sacred initiation ritual, in which students of traditional navigation in the Caroline Islands in Micronesia become master navigators and are initiated in the associated secrets. Many islanders in the area indicate that this ceremony originated on the island of Pollap, or nearby islands.The...
ceremony presided over by Angora. It was to be the last pwo held on Satawal for the next fifty years. After the ceremony, Mau lived for a month in the canoe house where he received rigorous lessons from three navigators. When the final training was complete, Mau made his first solo voyage of about 92 kilometres (57.2 mi). Because he had a tendency to sail in all weather conditions, he was given the nickname "Mau", from the Satawalese word maumau, meaning "strong". After becoming a navigator, Mau married Nemwaeito with whom he raised ten boys and six girls.
Daily life in Mau's village on Satawal involved harvesting taro and gathering breadfruit and coconut. The Satawalese people also raised chicken and pork and caught fish, their primary source of protein. A freshwater pond served as bathing facilities. Local materials were used to construct outrigger canoes called proa
Proa
A proa, also seen as prau, perahu, and prahu, is a type of multihull sailing vessel.While the word perahu and proa are generic terms meaning boat their native language, proa in Western languages has come to describe a vessel consisting of two unequal length parallel hulls...
. The island's isolation helped preserve the lifestyle of the Satawalese people and Mau's role as a navigator. Even with the arrival of the Germans (1890) and the Japanese (1914) in Micronesia, Satawalese culture remained intact. American missionaries who arrived after World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
built the first church and school on Satawal.
In the late 1960s, Mau attempted to verify his navigational knowledge of the wider Pacific by working as a seaman on an inter-island ship run by the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands
Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands
The Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands was a United Nations trust territory in Micronesia administered by the United States from 1947 to 1986.-History:...
. From 1969–1973, Mau became friends with Mike McCoy, a Peace Corps
Peace Corps
The Peace Corps is an American volunteer program run by the United States Government, as well as a government agency of the same name. The mission of the Peace Corps includes three goals: providing technical assistance, helping people outside the United States to understand US culture, and helping...
volunteer stationed on Satawal. As well as marrying Mau's niece, McCoy sailed with Mau and they worked together on a project tagging turtles. McCoy became interested in Satawalese navigation, published several articles on the topic and kept in touch with the anthropologist Ben Finney
Ben Finney
Ben Rudolph Finney is an American anthropologist known for his expertise in the history and cultural and social anthropology of surfing, Polynesian navigation and canoe sailing, and in the cultural and social anthropology of human space colonization...
, who was researching Polynesian navigation. When McCoy's assignment on Satawal ended, he asked Pialug if he wanted to come to Hawaii with him.
Honolulu, Hawaii
Mau first visited Hawaii in 1973, and McCoy introduced him to Ben Finney. Later, Finney suggested to the Polynesian Voyaging Society that they should try to recruit Mau for their Hōkūle‘a project, since no Hawaiian traditional navigators remained. The project goal was to test the hypothesis that Polynesians made intentional non-instrument voyages across the Pacific. Tevake, a renowned Polynesian navigator, had died in 1970 and only six others were known. Navigators were reluctant to release their sacred knowledge to "outsiders." At the time, Mau was just forty-one years old, and the youngest navigator out of the group. Mau feared that traditional navigation would die in his own culture, just as it had in Hawaii. He had tried to teach the young men of Satawal the skills passed on to him, but he was not optimistic. The members of the younger generation were too busy with school and too attracted to Western culture to undertake the rigorous course of study and apprenticeship. Further, Mau's people did not seem to care that traditional navigation was dying, and could be lost forever.Hōkūle‘a
With Finney's help, Mau was awarded a special fellowship at the East-West CenterEast-West Center
The East–West Center , headquartered in Honolulu, Hawaii, is an education and research organization established by the U.S. Congress in 1960 to strengthen relations and understanding among the peoples and nations of Asia, the Pacific and the United States....
. Mau returned to Honolulu in April 1975 to begin work with the Hawaii-based Polynesian Voyaging Society, eventually navigating the double-hulled canoe, Hōkūle‘a, from Hawaii to Tahiti on its maiden voyage in 1976. Mau trained and mentored
Mentorship
Mentorship refers to a personal developmental relationship in which a more experienced or more knowledgeable person helps a less experienced or less knowledgeable person....
Native Hawaiian navigator Nainoa Thompson
Nainoa Thompson
Charles Nainoa Thompson is a Native Hawaiian navigator and the executive director of the Polynesian Voyaging Society...
, who later would become a master navigator. David Henry Lewis
David Henry Lewis
David Henry Lewis, DCNZM was a sailor, adventurer, doctor, and Polynesian scholar. He is best known for his studies on the traditional systems of navigation used by the Pacific Islanders...
, a scholar of Polynesian navigation, documented Mau's work.
| Mau Piailug's Voyages on Hōkūle‘a Hōkūle‘a Hokulea Hōkūlea is a performance-accurate full-scale replica of a waa kaulua, a Polynesian double-hulled voyaging canoe. Launched on 8 March 1975 by the Polynesian Voyaging Society, she is best known for her 1976 Hawaii to Tahiti voyage performed with Polynesian navigation techniques, without modern... |
||
|---|---|---|
| Year | Voyage | Ports |
| |
Inaugural Voyage | Hawaii–Tahiti |
| |
Tahiti Voyage | Hawaii–Tahiti–Hawaii |
| 1987 |
Voyage of Rediscovery | Hawaii–Tahiti–Rarotonga; Waitangi–Nuku‘alofa–Pago Pago–Tutuila–Aitutaki–Rarotonga–Tautira |
| |
Nā ʻOhana Holo Moana | Hilo–Pape‘ete; Nuku Hiva–Hilo |
Mau's first-hand knowledge of traditional navigation had been accumulated in northern hemisphere study and sailings, but the voyage to Tahiti required Mau to familiarize himself with the geography and night sky of the southern hemisphere. Of this preparation, Finney writes,
...To prepare Mau Piailug for the voyage, David Lewis briefed him on the geography of the islands in this part of the Pacific and the winds and currents that could be expected along the way, all information that an early Polynesian navigator acquainted with this route would have carried in his head. In addition, to alert Mau of how the elevation of stars above the northern and southern horizons would change as the canoe sailed farther and farther south, we held training sessions in Honolulu's Bishop Museum planetarium to graphically show how, for example, as one sailed toward Tahiti[,] Polaris sank lower and lower on the northern horizon until it disappeared at the equator while the Southern Cross curved higher and higher in the sky. During his first few days of the voyage, Mau received further coaching on the pattern of winds and currents from Rodo Williams, a veteran Tahitian seaman on the crew who the year before had sailed a yacht from Tahiti to Hawaii and could therefore provide Mau with a firsthand account of what he could expect to encounter.
Their collaboration proved successful when, on the thirtieth day at sea on the 1976 voyage, Mau stated soon they would see land, and the next day, Tahiti. A few hours later, they spotted land-based white terns
White Tern
The White Tern is a small seabird found across the tropical oceans of the world. It is sometimes known as the Fairy Tern although this name is potentially confusing as it is the common name of the Fairy Tern Sternula nereis...
(Gygis alba) followed by a diminution of the trade-wind swell. That night they spotted Mataiva
Mataiva
Mataiva or Tepoetiriura is a coral atoll in the Tuamotu Archipelago. It is located in the Palliser group, and is the westernmost of the Tuamotus. The nearest atoll, Tikehau, is located 35 km to the east...
. After a brief stopover, with little more than another day's sailing they made landfall at Tahiti where they were welcomed by 17,000 people—half the population of Tahiti.
Nainoa's ambition was to sail Hōkūle‘a to Tahiti as navigator using recreated traditional techniques. He spent years training on his own and with Mau. Mau's training and mentoring helped Nainoa achieve that goal in the 1980 Tahiti voyage. It marked the first time in over 500 years that a Native Hawaiian had mastered the stars, the seas, the birds, and the winds to guide a sailing canoe from Hawaii to Tahiti and back. The two men joined again for the 1985–1987 Voyage of Rediscovery to New Zealand, again with Nainoa as principal navigator and Mau as mentor. The voyage to New Zealand stoked Māori interest in cultural history, navigation techniques, and canoe building. It also brought to life for Māori the stories in their folklore of the great canoe voyages of migration
Maori migration canoes
Various Māori traditions recount how their ancestors set out from their homeland in great ocean-going canoes . Some of these traditions name a mythical homeland called Hawaiki....
and settlement in Aotearoa
Aotearoa
Aotearoa is the most widely known and accepted Māori name for New Zealand. It is used by both Māori and non-Māori, and is becoming increasingly widespread in the bilingual names of national organisations, such as the National Library of New Zealand / Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa.-Translation:The...
(New Zealand). Describing a ceremony held at Waitangi to commemorate the Hawaii–New Zealand voyage of Hōkūle‘a, Nainoa writes:
Sir James Henare, the most revered of the elders of Tai Tokerau, got up and said, "You've proven that it could be done. And you've also proven that our ancestors did it. ... because the five tribes of Tai Tokerau trace their ancestry from the names of the canoes they arrived in, and because you people from Hawai'i came by canoe, therefore by our traditions, you must be the sixth tribe of Tai Tokerau.
In 1995, Mau took part in the Nā ʻOhana Holo Moana voyage of Hōkūle‘a to Ra‘iātea
Raiatea
Raiatea , is the second largest of the Society Islands, after Tahiti, in French Polynesia. The island is widely regarded as the 'center' of the eastern islands in ancient Polynesia and it is likely that the organised migrations to Hawaii, Aotearoa and other parts of East Polynesia started at...
. Sailing with his son Sesario Sewralur, and Nainoa as sailing master, Mau watched as Nainoa's students Kaʻau McKenney and Keahi Omai served as navigators. Mau had seen Nainoa succeed in the 1980 and 1985–1987 voyages; finally, in this 1995 voyage, Mau saw proof that the knowledge was carried forward to the next generation. The canoe not only landed successfully at Rarotonga, but the voyage resulted in the lifting of a six-centuries-old taboo on voyaging from Ra‘iātea. Hōkūle‘a had sailed from Hawaii with sisterships Hawai‘iloa and Makali‘i; these canoes rendezvoused at Taputapuatea
Taputapuatea marae
Marae Taputapuatea is a large marae complex at Opoa in Taputapuatea, on the south eastern coast of Raiatea. The site features a number of marae and other stone structures and was once considered the central temple and religious center of Eastern Polynesia....
with other voyaging canoes from across Oceania.
Makali‘i
To help preserve Hawaiian culture, Milton "Shorty" Bertelmann and his brother Clay established the nonprofit organization, Nā Kalai Wa‘a Moku o Hawai‘i on the island of HawaiiHawaii (island)
The Island of Hawaii, also called the Big Island or Hawaii Island , is a volcanic island in the North Pacific Ocean...
in 1992. Beginning in 1994, the two brothers helped construct Makali‘i, a 54-foot voyaging canoe, launching it in 1995. From February to May, 1999, "Shorty" Bertelmann navigated Makali‘i to Satawal in a voyage known as “E Mau – Sailing the Master Home.” This voyage was to pay homage to master navigator Mau Piailug and to thank him for his teachings. Mau sailed home aboard Makali‘i as their honored guest. Makali‘i continued her 1999 voyage through half the length of Micronesia. She was the first Hawaiian voyaging canoe to visit the far reaches of Micronesia and her appearance stimulated interest amongst Micronesians in their own cultural history.
Alingano Maisu
On March 18, 2007 Mau presided over the first pwo ceremony for navigators in fifty-six years on the island of Satawal. Five Native Hawaiians and eleven other people were inducted into pwo as master navigators, including Nainoa Thompson and Mau's son Sesario Sewralur. The Polynesian Voyaging Society, as part of the 2007 Hōkūle‘a "One Ocean, One People" voyage named "Kū Holo Mau," presented Mau with a canoe named the Alingano MaisuAlingano Maisu
Alingano Maisu, also known simply as Maisu, is a double-hulled voyaging canoe built in Kawaihae, Hawaii by members of Na Kalai Waa Moku o Hawaii and Ohana Wa'a members from throughout the Pacific and abroad as a gift and tribute to Satawalese navigator Mau Piailug, who navigated the voyaging canoe...
—a gift for his key role in reviving traditional wayfinding
Wayfinding
Wayfinding encompasses all of the ways in which people and animals orient themselves in physical space and navigate from place to place.-Historical:...
navigation in Hawaii. The canoe was built in Kawaihae, Hawaii under the nonprofit organization Nā Kalai Wa‘a Moku O Hawai‘i. The commitment to build this "gift" for Mau was made by Clay Bertelmann, captain of Makali‘i and Hōkūle‘a. Maisu was given to Mau on behalf of all the voyaging families and organizations that actively continue to sail and practice the traditions taught by Mau Piailug.
Death
After a long struggle with diabetes, Mau died on his home island of Satawal at 6:30 p.m. Micronesia time, Monday, July 12, 2010. As is the tradition on Satawal, travel between the islands was temporarily suspended in Mau's honor. Because there is no morgue on the island Mau was buried the following day, and a nightly rosary was held until the memorial service on July 21 at Santa Soledad Church. Mau's son Henry Yarofalpiy will continue teaching students about their culture, preserving the legacy of his father.Awards
Mau was awarded an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters in 1987 by the University of HawaiiUniversity of Hawaii
The University of Hawaii System, formally the University of Hawaii and popularly known as UH, is a public, co-educational college and university system that confers associate, bachelor, master, and doctoral degrees through three university campuses, seven community college campuses, an employment...
. On May 9, 2000, he was honored by the Smithsonian Institution
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution is an educational and research institute and associated museum complex, administered and funded by the government of the United States and by funds from its endowment, contributions, and profits from its retail operations, concessions, licensing activities, and magazines...
at the National Museum of Natural History
National Museum of Natural History
The National Museum of Natural History is a natural history museum administered by the Smithsonian Institution, located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., United States. Admission is free and the museum is open 364 days a year....
. At the ceremony, then-secretary Lawrence Small said, "The rebirth of non-instrument navigation came about largely due to this man, Mau Piailug." The Bishop Museum
Bishop Museum
The Bishop Museum , is a museum of history and science in the historic Kalihi district of Honolulu on the Hawaiian island of O'ahu...
presented Mau with the Robert J. Pfeiffer Medal on July 12, 2008, honoring him for "exceptional dedication to the advancement of maritime affairs and the perpetuation of maritime heritage in Hawaii and the Pacific." Mau also was honored for his "devotion and outstanding civic leadership" and for exemplifying "the spirit and purpose of the Museum's founder Charles Reed Bishop".
Legacy
The success of Mau's navigational feats sparked cultural pride in Tahitians, Māori and Hawaiians and connected all Polynesians to stories their forebears told of similar voyages of generations past. The voyage of Hōkūle‘a attracted the interest of young students such as Milton "Shorty" Bertelmann and later Nainoa Thompson. Mau not only led Hōkūle‘a to Tahiti, but reconnected the people of the Pacific to their cultural roots. Revived interest in preserving traditional culture and navigation methods reinvigorated the art of canoe building and cultural studies in Hawaii, New Zealand, Rarotonga, and Tahiti, as well as Mau's homeland of Satawal.Two centuries before Mau and the Hōkūle‘a, Captain James Cook
James Cook
Captain James Cook, FRS, RN was a British explorer, navigator and cartographer who ultimately rose to the rank of captain in the Royal Navy...
, with the help of Tupaia
Tupaia (navigator)
Tupaia was a Polynesian navigator and arioi , originally from the island of Ra'iatea in the Pacific Islands group known to Europeans as the Society Islands. His remarkable navigational skills and Pacific geographical knowledge were to be utilised by Lt. James Cook, R.N...
, gained knowledge that otherwise would have been closely held. Before his death in 1779, Cook hypothesized that Polynesians shared common ancestry; he even pinned their origin to Asia. However, Cook's theory did not prevent debate among scholars. Before the Hōkūle‘a voyage in 1976, academic debate about the settlement of Polynesia was divided between several schools of thought.
Norwegian ethnographer Thor Heyerdahl
Thor Heyerdahl
Thor Heyerdahl was a Norwegian ethnographer and adventurer with a background in zoology and geography. He became notable for his Kon-Tiki expedition, in which he sailed by raft from South America to the Tuamotu Islands...
hypothesized that the Pacific was settled by voyages from South America
South America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
and set out to prove this with his Kon-Tiki
Kon-Tiki
Kon-Tiki was the raft used by Norwegian explorer and writer Thor Heyerdahl in his 1947 expedition across the Pacific Ocean from South America to the Polynesian islands. It was named after the Inca sun god, Viracocha, for whom "Kon-Tiki" was said to be an old name...
expedition. Scholars did not take Heyerdahl's hypothesis seriously. New Zealander Andrew Sharp proposed the accidental voyaging hypothesis in 1957 which argued that Oceania was too vast to have been settled by intentional voyaging, so migrations must have happened by accidental drift voyages. Sharp granted that Polynesians did likely settle the Pacific from Asia, but held the opinion that their crude vessels and navigational tools were no match for intentional sailing from Tahiti to Hawaii or New Zealand. He stated that voyages of more than three hundred miles were likely accidental voyages, with landfall at the mercy of wind and current. A 1973 study and computer simulation by Levison, Ward, and Web investigated the probability of Sharp's hypothesis, but found it improbable.
Finney disagreed with the accidental voyaging portion of Sharp's hypothesis. To investigate the problem he founded the Polynesian Voyaging Society with Herb Kane and Tommy Holmes in 1973, intent on building a voyaging canoe to sail from Hawaii to Tahiti to test whether intentional two-way voyaging throughout Oceania could be replicated. With the help of Mau's navigational knowledge guiding Hōkūle‘a, the Polynesian Voyaging Society demonstrated that intentional voyaging was not only possible, but that the ancestors of the Polynesians could have settled the Pacific on similar voyages using non-instrument wayfinding techniques such as Mau's. Finally, linguistic and archaeological evidence suggests that the history of the Polynesian people does not originate in the east, but in the west. Recent developments in the field of DNA analysis
Genetic fingerprinting
DNA profiling is a technique employed by forensic scientists to assist in the identification of individuals by their respective DNA profiles. DNA profiles are encrypted sets of numbers that reflect a person's DNA makeup, which can also be used as the person's identifier...
have unequivocally settled the debate of Polynesian origin. They prove Polynesians share common ancestry with indigenous Taiwanese
Taiwanese aborigines
Taiwanese aborigines is the term commonly applied in reference to the indigenous peoples of Taiwan. Although Taiwanese indigenous groups hold a variety of creation myths, recent research suggests their ancestors may have been living on the islands for approximately 8,000 years before major Han...
and East Asia
East Asia
East Asia or Eastern Asia is a subregion of Asia that can be defined in either geographical or cultural terms...
ns.
Training
Navigator training was historically interwoven with culture and ritual. Great discretion had to be shown in candidate selection so that the knowledge preserved through oral tradition would have the greatest chance of survival. A master navigator's rank was equal or superior to a village chief's rank. Prudent navigation relies on no single technique, but instead synthesizes position from multiple inputs. Underway, this constant synthesis makes it easy to spot the navigator—he's the one with red eyes from sleep deprivation.| Mau Piailug's Star Compass | ||
|---|---|---|
| Used only to train navigators, the star compass is not carried aboard boats. Shown North up. |
||
| Legend | ||
| Satawalese name | Traditional name | Astronomical name |
| Tupul | Setting | n/a |
| Tan | Rising | n/a |
| Wuliwulifasmughet | North star | Polaris Polaris Polaris |Alpha]] Ursae Minoris, commonly North Star or Pole Star, also Lodestar) is the brightest star in the constellation Ursa Minor. It is very close to the north celestial pole, making it the current northern pole star.... |
| Mailapailefung | Little Dipper | Ursa Minor Ursa Minor Ursa Minor , also known as the Little Bear, is a constellation in the northern sky. Like the Great Bear, the tail of the Little Bear may also be seen as the handle of a ladle, whence the name Little Dipper... |
| Wylur | Big Dipper Big Dipper The Plough, also known as the Big Dipper or the Saptarishi , is an asterism of seven stars that has been recognized as a distinct grouping in many cultures from time immemorial... |
Ursa Major Ursa Major Ursa Major , also known as the Great Bear, is a constellation visible throughout the year in most of the northern hemisphere. It can best be seen in April... |
| Igulig ("Whale") | 1) Cassiopeia (head of whale) 2a) Almach & 2b) Mirach (body of whale) 3a) Hamal & 3b) Sharatan (whale's tail) |
1) Cassiopeia Cassiopeia (constellation) Cassiopeia is a constellation in the northern sky, named after the vain queen Cassiopeia in Greek mythology, who boasted about her unrivalled beauty. Cassiopea was one of the 48 constellations listed by the 2nd century Greek astronomer Ptolemy, and it remains one of the 88 modern constellations today... 2a) Gamma Andromedae Gamma Andromedae Gamma Andromedae is the third brightest star in the constellation of Andromeda. It is also known by the traditional name Almach , from the Arabic العناق الأرض al-‘anāq al-’arđ̧ "the caracal" .Another term for this star used by medieval astronomers... & 2b) Beta Andromedae Beta Andromedae Beta Andromedae is a red giant star in the constellation of Andromeda. It has the traditional name Mirach . It has spectral class M0, and is approximately 200 light years away... 3a) Alpha Arietis & 3b) Beta Arietis Beta Arietis Beta Arietis is a star in the constellation Aries, marking the Ram's second horn. It has the traditional name Sheratan , and the Flamsteed designation 6 Arietis... |
| Murn | Vega | Vega Vega Vega is the brightest star in the constellation Lyra, the fifth brightest star in the night sky and the second brightest star in the northern celestial hemisphere, after Arcturus... |
| Marigaht | Seven Sisters | Pleiades Pleiades (star cluster) In astronomy, the Pleiades, or Seven Sisters , is an open star cluster containing middle-aged hot B-type stars located in the constellation of Taurus. It is among the nearest star clusters to Earth and is the cluster most obvious to the naked eye in the night sky... |
| Uul | Aldebaran | Alpha Tauri Aldebaran Aldebaran is a red giant star located about 65 light years away in the zodiac constellation of Taurus. With an average apparent magnitude of 0.87 it is the brightest star in the constellation and is one of the brightest stars in the nighttime sky... |
| Paiifung | Tarazed | Gamma Aquilae |
| Mailap | Altair | Alpha Aquilae |
| Paiyur | Alshain | Beta Aquilae |
| Earlier | Orion | Orion Orion (constellation) Orion, often referred to as The Hunter, is a prominent constellation located on the celestial equator and visible throughout the world. It is one of the most conspicuous, and most recognizable constellations in the night sky... |
| Sarapool | Corvus | Corvus Corvus (constellation) Corvus is a small constellation in the southern sky. Its name is Latin for raven or crow. It includes only 11 stars visible to the naked eye... |
| Tumur | Scorpius (Top 6 stars) | Scorpius Scorpius Scorpius, sometimes known as Scorpio, is one of the constellations of the zodiac. Its name is Latin for scorpion, and its symbol is . It lies between Libra to the west and Sagittarius to the east... |
| Mesario | 1a) Shaula & 1b) Antares |
1a) Lambda Scorpii Lambda Scorpii Lambda Scorpii is the second brightest star system in the constellation Scorpius, and one of the brightest stars in the nighttime sky. It has the Bayer designation λ despite being the second brightest in its constellation... & 1b) Alpha Scorpii Antares Antares is a red supergiant star in the Milky Way galaxy and the sixteenth brightest star in the nighttime sky . Along with Aldebaran, Spica, and Regulus it is one of the four brightest stars near the ecliptic... |
| Luubw | Southern Cross (rising or setting) |
Crux Crux Crux is the smallest of the 88 modern constellations, but is one of the most distinctive. Its name is Latin for cross, and it is dominated by a cross-shaped asterism that is commonly known as the Southern Cross.-Visibility:... |
| Machemeias | Southern Cross (at 45° over SE horizon) |
Crux |
| Wuliwuliluubw | Southern Cross (upright) |
Crux |
| Machemelito | Southern Cross (at 45° over SW horizon) |
Crux |
For a traditionally trained navigator, these inputs include physical signals from the sea, skies, and stars, memory signals from his knowledge of star, swell, and wind compasses; and cultural knowledge recorded in chants, dances, and stories. Examples of physical signals include the color, temperature, and taste (salinity) of seawater; floating plant debris; sightings of land-based seabirds flying out to fish; cloud type, color, and movement; wind direction, speed, and temperature; the direction and nature of ocean swells and waves; the position of stars in the sky, and his estimation of the speed, current set
Set and drift
In navigation set and drift are characteristics of the current or the velocity of water over the ground in which a ship is sailing.Drift is the magnitude, or speed of the current and set is the bearing in the direction the current is flowing. Bearing is measured in degrees clockwise from either...
, and leeway
Leeway
Leeway is the motion of an object that is floating in the water to leeward due to the component of the wind vector perpendicular to the object’s. The National Search and Rescue Supplement to the International Aeronautical and Maritime Search and Rescue Manual defines leeway as "the movement of a...
of his sailing craft. The "compass" he carried was not magnetic, but a mental model of where islands are located, and the star points which one could use to navigate between them. This mental model would have taken years of study to build; dances, chants (rong), and stories help him to recall complex relationships of geography and location. The stars give him highly reliable position information when visible, but navigators such as Mau managed to keep their position and tracks in mind even when blocked by clouds, using other references such as wind and swell as proxies.
Mau's Carolinian star compass (pictured) is the basis for Nainoa's modern Hawaiian star compass. Apart from the bulk of training which happens at sea, historically boys were taught in the men's house with pebbles, shells, or pieces of coral, representing stars, laid on the sand in a circular pattern. Which bits of shell or coral are chosen to represent which star or constellation
Constellation
In modern astronomy, a constellation is an internationally defined area of the celestial sphere. These areas are grouped around asterisms, patterns formed by prominent stars within apparent proximity to one another on Earth's night sky....
is arbitrary, but generally, larger pieces are used for points of the compass
Boxing the compass
Boxing the compass is the action of naming all thirty-two points of the compass in clockwise order. Such names are formed by the initials of the cardinal directions and their intermediate ordinal directions, and are very handy to refer to a heading in a general or colloquial fashion, without...
while smaller pieces represent important stars between those points. In Mau's star compass, these points are not necessarily equidistant. The outer circular formation represents the horizon, with the canoe its center point. The eastern half of the circle depicts reference stars' rising points on the horizon while the western half depicts their setting points. Swell
Swell (ocean)
A swell, in the context of an ocean, sea or lake, is a series surface gravity waves that is not generated by the local wind. Swell waves often have a long wavelength but this varies with the size of the water body, e.g. rarely more than 150 m in the Mediterranean, and from event to event, with...
patterns of prevailing trade wind
Trade wind
The trade winds are the prevailing pattern of easterly surface winds found in the tropics, within the lower portion of the Earth's atmosphere, in the lower section of the troposphere near the Earth's equator...
s are represented by sticks (not depicted here) overlaying the star compass in the form of a square. All knowledge is retained by memory with the help of dances, chants, and stories, wherein the stars are enumerated as people or characters in the stories.
Technique
One aspect of the Carolinian method of estimating longitudeLongitude
Longitude is a geographic coordinate that specifies the east-west position of a point on the Earth's surface. It is an angular measurement, usually expressed in degrees, minutes and seconds, and denoted by the Greek letter lambda ....
on inter-island sailings is to visualize the target island relative to a second reference island's alignment with a succession of selected stars, points of the star compass. This is a refined system of dead reckoning
Dead reckoning
In navigation, dead reckoning is the process of calculating one's current position by using a previously determined position, or fix, and advancing that position based upon known or estimated speeds over elapsed time, and course...
whereby the navigator constantly synthesizes his position relative to the reference island's location in his mental model. The most remarkable thing about this is that the reference island (lu pongank) may be over the horizon, unseen, even imaginary.
In its simplest form the star compass describes thirty-two points at which key stars rise on the eastern horizon and set on the western horizon. North latitude
Latitude
In geography, the latitude of a location on the Earth is the angular distance of that location south or north of the Equator. The latitude is an angle, and is usually measured in degrees . The equator has a latitude of 0°, the North pole has a latitude of 90° north , and the South pole has a...
is fairly easy to determine because the North Pole
North Pole
The North Pole, also known as the Geographic North Pole or Terrestrial North Pole, is, subject to the caveats explained below, defined as the point in the northern hemisphere where the Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface...
has a zenith
Zenith
The zenith is an imaginary point directly "above" a particular location, on the imaginary celestial sphere. "Above" means in the vertical direction opposite to the apparent gravitational force at that location. The opposite direction, i.e...
star easily seen with the naked eye, called Polaris
Polaris
Polaris |Alpha]] Ursae Minoris, commonly North Star or Pole Star, also Lodestar) is the brightest star in the constellation Ursa Minor. It is very close to the north celestial pole, making it the current northern pole star....
(Wuliwulifasmughet). Polaris' height above the horizon (declination
Declination
In astronomy, declination is one of the two coordinates of the equatorial coordinate system, the other being either right ascension or hour angle. Declination in astronomy is comparable to geographic latitude, but projected onto the celestial sphere. Declination is measured in degrees north and...
) indicates the viewer's southward displacement from Polaris' nadir
Nadir
The nadir is the direction pointing directly below a particular location; that is, it is one of two vertical directions at a specified location, orthogonal to a horizontal flat surface there. Since the concept of being below is itself somewhat vague, scientists define the nadir in more rigorous...
—the North Pole. Traveling further north, Polaris appears higher in the sky. Only at the true north
True north
True north is the direction along the earth's surface towards the geographic North Pole.True geodetic north usually differs from magnetic north , and from grid north...
pole is Polaris directly overhead at nearly 90 degrees declination. Traveling south toward the equator, Polaris appears to descend toward the northern horizon. At 45 degrees north latitude, Polaris is 45 degrees above the northern horizon. Near the equator, Polaris' declination approaches zero degrees, but for the viewer just farther south, Polaris will have disappeared below the northern horizon.
Continuing south from the equator, though Polaris is no longer visible, Crux
Crux
Crux is the smallest of the 88 modern constellations, but is one of the most distinctive. Its name is Latin for cross, and it is dominated by a cross-shaped asterism that is commonly known as the Southern Cross.-Visibility:...
(Luubw), the "Southern Cross," will have risen above the southern horizon. Traveling further southward, Crux rises higher in the sky. Through Crux's longest axis, an imaginary line bisecting
Bisection
In geometry, bisection is the division of something into two equal or congruent parts, usually by a line, which is then called a bisector. The most often considered types of bisectors are the segment bisector and the angle bisector In geometry, bisection is the division of something into two equal...
Gacrux and Acrux points southward toward the southern celestial pole. But the South Pole
South Pole
The South Pole, also known as the Geographic South Pole or Terrestrial South Pole, is one of the two points where the Earth's axis of rotation intersects its surface. It is the southernmost point on the surface of the Earth and lies on the opposite side of the Earth from the North Pole...
has no true zenith
Zenith
The zenith is an imaginary point directly "above" a particular location, on the imaginary celestial sphere. "Above" means in the vertical direction opposite to the apparent gravitational force at that location. The opposite direction, i.e...
star from which direct readings of south latitude may be taken. As a proxy, the southern celestial pole lies at the end of that imaginary line extended southward through Gacrux and Acrux, at a distance about 4.5 times the distance between them. Nainoa Thompson notes that at Hawaii's latitude, the distance between Gacrux and the southerly Acrux is equal to Acrux's declination above the southern horizon.
To steer the canoe in mid-ocean on a consistent course, the navigator selects a star and keeps the canoe pointed toward it. Should it become cloud-blocked, or rise too high in the sky, he selects another star but offsets his reference to remain true to the first, or steers at the same relative angle to the swell as when steering toward the star.