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The
Building of Hawai'iloa
[Photo below:
Hawai'iloa]
 The
construction of a double-hulled canoe named Hawai'iloa was funded by
the National Parks Service. The plan was to build a Hawaiian
voyaging canoe, as much as possible, out of traditional native
materials. The purpose of the project was to recover knowledge and
skills associated with traditional Hawaiian canoe-building.
One of the first
problems in carrying out the plan to construct the canoe out of
native materials was the discovery that the forests of Hawai'i did
not contain koa trees large enough for the hulls of a voyaging
canoe. A search for logs in 1989-1990 was unsuccessful, for over the
years, the koa forests have been ruined by forestry and cattle
grazing. (For information about the current condition of Hawai'i's
native forests and trees, and Hawai'i forestry, see
"Hawai'i's Forestry Website".)
The search took the
builders to Alaska. When told about the unsuccessful search for
logs, the SeAlaska Corporation (owned by the Tlingit, Haida, and
Tshimshiam tribes of Southeast Alaska), offered to donate two Sitka
spruce logs. Byron Maillot, the CEO of SeAlaska, explained the
connection between the native peoples of Hawai'i and Alaska: "Both
the reality and the symbolism of the [Hawai'iloa] project breathe
hope and inspiration into all peoples seeking to maintain their
traditions, heritage and culture in a society that does not place a
high priority on such things except when they may touch a nerve or
help nurture shared values through an expression of such vision,
initiative and sheer innate beauty that all can feel ennobled by
it....You do it for the Hawaiian people, but it reaches far beyond.
In your canoe you carry all of us who share your vison and
aspiration for a people to live and prosper with their future firmly
built on the knowledge of their heritage and tradition."
That Hawaiians used
drift logs from Oregon to make canoes has been reported in several
sources. For example, Menzies, a surgeon and naturalist accompanying
Captain George Vancouver, described "the largest single canoe we had
seen amongst these islands, being about sixty feet long and made of
one piece of the trunk of a pine tree which had drifted on shore on
the east end of the island of Kaua'i a few years back. She had
sixteen men on her and was loaded on the outriggers with a large
quantity of cloth, spears, two muskets, and other articles, which
they were carrying up to Maui to Kaeo" (Tommy Holmes, The Hawaiian
Canoe 24). The ancient Hawaiians considered the drift logs as gifts
from their gods.
In 1990, SeAlaska
Forestry Manager Ernie Hillman located trees large enough for the
Hawaiian canoe on U.S. Forestry land on Shelikof Island in Soda Bay,
Prince of Wales Island, west of Ketchikan, Alaska. The 200 foot tall
trees, seven feet in diameter, were over 400 years old. After
traditional Hawaiian and Tlingit tree-cutting ceremonies were
performed (the forest gods were asked permission to take the trees
for a canoe), the trees were felled and the logs shipped to Hawai'i.
The construction of
Hawai'iloa began in 1991. The canoe hulls were designed by Rudy and
Barry Choy and Dick Rhodes. The rest of the canoe was designed by
project director Nainoa Thompson, kahuna kalai- wa'a (master canoe
carver) Wright Bowman, Jr,and Wally Froiseth. Canoe construction was
supervised by "Bow." Numerous volunteers worked on the
canoe--cutting, shaping, drilling, chiselling, sanding, painting,
lashing, etc.
Bow Leading Hawai'iloa Out of the Canoe Shed
Hawai'iloa's kuamo'o
(hulls) were carved from the two Sitka spruce logs donated. Native
koa was used for the manu (bow and stern pieces); mo'o (sideboards);
wae (braces to keep the hulls spread apart); mast step; steering
paddle; and two steering blades. 'Ohia logs were used to shape the
seven 'iako, or crossbeams; two kia, or masts; two spars; and two
booms. The railings are made from hau (hibiscus) logs. Sennit
(coconut husk fiber) was tested, but in the end, synthetic cordage
was used for the lashings and rigging, for strength and safety.
(They arts of making sennit and olona rope, traditional materials
for lashing and rigging canoes in Hawai'i, had been lost. Lauhala
sails were woven by Lily Jane Nunes, Elizabeth Akana, and others,
and tested, but canvas sails were used during the voyage. The lei
hulu (feather streamers) were made by Mary Lou Kekuewa.
Dimensions
Length: 57 feet
Beam: 19 feet
Sails (2): 240-420 sq. feet each
Keli'i Tau'a Blessing Hawai'iloa
The canoe was
completed and launched in July, 1993, sea-tested, then dry- docked
for modifications in October 1993. The modifications included
trimming 3 tons from the weight of the canoe to increase its
carrying capacity and speed, and reduce stress on the lashings. The
canoe was relaunched in July, 1994, for more sea trials before its
voyage to Nukuhiva via Ra'iatea and back.
The canoe was named
for the voyager Hawai'iloa, who according to one tradition, was the
first discoverer of Hawai'i. He is said to have found the islands on
a long fishing expedition from the south or west, from a land called
Ka-'aina-kai-melemele-a-Kane, "The land of the yellow sea of Kane."
He returned home and came back to Hawai'i with his wife and
followers, including eight navigators. Because only Hawai'iloa
brought his wife with him, all Hawaiians are said to be descended
from him. The island of Hawai'i was named for him, while Maui,
O'ahu, and Kaua'i were named after his children.
The 1995 recreation of
an early settlement voyage to Hawai'i will not only be a tribute to
this great mariner of ancient Polynesia, it will also deepen the
roots on which the Hawaiian community and culture continue to grow
and flourish.
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