A gauzy haze hung in the air on this windless morning.
Gathered on the Suquamish dock, just after sunrise Aug. 26, were the Hawaiian crew members of the Hōkūleʻa voyaging canoe and Suquamish tribal members who had recently participated in this summer’s intertribal canoe journey.
Filtered by the haze, the angled sunlight turned Puget Sound into a shimmering sheet of gold as the voyagers, in their respective native languages, recited prayers of thanks for safe voyages completed — and for safe journeys to come.
The Hōkūleʻa, or ‘Star of Gladness,’ has come to symbolize the revival of Polynesian navigation and the Hawaiian renaissance. It was conceived and built in 1976 to retrace the journey that brought the first inhabitants to Hawaii.
In 1978, after the Hōkūleʻa capsized in rough seas, leaving its crewmembers clinging to its swamped hulls, a member of the crew – a Hawaiian lifeguard and champion surfer named Eddie Aikau — grabbed his surfboard and paddled off to seek help. He was never seen again. “Eddie would go” has come to mean courageous service to others.
When all seemed lost, a passing jetliner miraculously spotted the swamped vessel some 12 to 15 miles southwest of Molokai. The crew was rescued, and the double-hulled canoe retrieved. The Hōkūleʻa has since embarked on many other voyages, even circumnavigating the globe, its crew members notably using ancient mariner sailing practices.
Each journey reinforces the importance of a harmonious global community and highlights the importance of caring for Mother Earth, especially her oceans.
This message was shared very effectively with visitors who took the time to board Hōkūleʻa on the Suquamish dock and at Seattle’s Pier 92, where it sailed to that Saturday morning. This all happened a few weeks after 92 canoes from tribes all across Puget Sound paddled to Suquamish — the home base of the annual intertribal Canoe Journey, which returned after a four-year hiatus.
We need the Hōkūleʻa. We need the intertribal Canoe Journey. There is much to be learned by reconnecting with ancestral skills, not the least of which is the beauty of learning to live harmoniously with nature.
Byron Acohido is a journalist and founder of The Last Watchdog on Privacy & Security. He has previously reported for The Seattle Times and USA Today.
