The Mauloa Canoe
Ka Wa`a Mauloa

Reclaiming the Past

Mauloa was carved with traditional adzes from a single koa timber, caulked with breadfruit sap, lashed with coconut cordage and fitted with a lau hala sail. Mauloa means "perpetuation", a name befitting both its purpose and its maker.

Building a large long-distance voyaging canoe entirely of traditional raw materials was no longer possible. But the century-old hana no`eau (skills) of canoe building might be applied to a smaller project. Micronesian navigator Mau Piailug led the Hawaiian team in relearning the old Hawaiian ways and building the 26 ft long Mauloa, a wa`a kaukahi (coastal canoe).
Mauloa under sail (44K)
(Photo by Anne Landgraf, Bishop Museum)

Mai kapae i ke a`o a ka makua, aia he ola malaila.
Do not set aside the teachings of one's parents for there is life there.
(`Olelo No`eau #2065; Pukui 1983)
The Vision of Hawai`iloa
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Revised on August 29, 1996 by mcb