Over a thousand years ago, Pacific Islanders used their sophisticated navigation skills to find their way to the Hawaiian Islands across the ocean without maps, instruments or written texts.
The first Pacific Islander voyagers journeyed as far as 2,500 miles to the islands now called home to nearly 1.5 million people. They were able to travel back and forth to settle those islands using canoes and navigating by stars.
Dr. Doug Herman is returning to Hilo’s Lyman Museum next Monday and Tuesday to talk about the traditional oceanic navigation and land-finding that enabled the amazing feat.
Herman came to Hawaii in 1984 to study and teach geography at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. During that time, he learned about Hokule‘a and the Polynesian Voyaging Society, or PVS, and became interested in Polynesian migrations and navigation.
“The first time I heard a lecture on Hokule‘a from PVS founder Ben Finney, it blew my mind,” Herman said. “I fell into a deep interest with Hawaiian culture, particularly Hokule‘a and navigation.”
Herman, executive director of Pacific Worlds Institute, gave another talk on traditional canoe building at the Lyman Museum and is excited to return for a second part to his series.
“These are the kind of presentations I love to do,” Herman said. “The Pacific Worlds Institute works to educate people on traditional culture and Hawaiian knowledge, and I like to take any opportunity to do that.”
During his career, Herman has expanded his knowledge of traditional navigation by working closely with PVS crew, studying literature from scholars based in the Pacific, and interviewing navigators in Hawaii and Micronesia.
“Those trained on Hokule‘a navigation do not have a fraction of the knowledge that the navigators had over a thousand years ago,” Herman said. “It was something that was started very young, so it could become ingrained in their body. It’s not something you can learn in class.”
According to Herman, the 1976 voyage of Hokule‘a proved to many scholars that Pacific Islanders were not drifting voyagers, but were intentionally navigating and land-finding to settle these small islands across the ocean over a thousand years ago.
Herman’s two-part talk will explore the intricate arts behind oceanic navigation and the methods that were used by Polynesian settlers to find distant land.
“This is not just about stars; there are several pieces involved. There are a handful of methods, when combined effectively, can find land you can’t see,” Herman said. “Traditional navigation is my most popular talk, because it is so mind-blowing. It shows you an entirely different way of seeing the world.”
The presentation is this year’s first Patricia E. Saigo Public Program Series event, which brings educators and experts to the Lyman Museum to discuss Hawaii-centered topics covering history, science and conservation.
Herman will be presenting “The Art of Oceanic Navigation and Land Finding” at 7 p.m. Monday and 3 p.m. Tuesday at the museum.
Admission is free to museum members, and $3 for nonmembers. For more information, visit lymanmuseum.org