NHCAP: The Voyaging Program

Voyaging with Our Ancestors

The discovery and colonization of Hawai‘i by ancient Polynesians is one of the more remarkable achievements of mankind. They controlled the vast Pacific Ocean with a highly accurate navigational system and successfully carried the essential elements of their South Pacific homeland to the far shores of Hawai‘i .

Bishop Museum Native Hawaiian Culture and Arts Program (NHCAP) devoted its first five-year program to recovering the `ike (knowledge) and hana no`eau (skills) that made these voyages of discovery and island colonization possible. More than 90 projects were supported, culminating in the construction, sailing, and provisioning of Hawai`iloa. On- going educational and loea-haum na (master-apprentice) programs insure perpetuation of the new knowledge.

E lawe i ke a`o a m lama, a e `oi mau ka na`auao.
He who takes his teachings and applies them increases his knowledge.
(`Olelo No`eau #328; Pukui 1983)
The Mauloa Canoe
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Revised on August 29, 1996 by mcb