Bishop Museum Gifts
Hōkūle’a to Polynesian Voyaging Society
HMC
Open Free to Public 1-5 p.m. on August 22
to view Famous Canoe
MEDIA ALERT : Special Ownership Transfer Ceremony to be held at Hawaii Maritime Center. Reporters, Film Crews, and Photographers welcome.
Wednesday, Aug. 22, 10 a.m.
On March 8, 1975 when Hōkūle’a slid down a coconut log ramp and floated calmly into the sea below the peak of Kānehoalani and the broad cliffs of Mo’o Kapu O Hāloa, a legend was born--one that would revive pride in Hawaiian maritime traditions and prove new theories about the discovery and settlement of Polynesia and the Hawaiian islands. The legendary Hawaiian voyaging canoe Hōkūle’a, will be returned by Bishop Museum and Hawaii Maritime Center to the Polynesian Voyaging Society (PVS) in a special historic ownership transfer ceremony, ʻ Ālana Aloha, to be held at the Hawaii Maritime Center dock on August 22, 2007, at 10:00 a.m. Because of limited space, attendance at the ceremony will be by invitation and is not open to the public. However, the public will be admitted to HMC free of charge from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. on August 22 so that residents and visitors may view the famous canoe from pier side. (Visitors may not board the canoe.)
Accepting the gift on behalf of the Polynesian Voyaging Society will be its President, Nainoa Thompson.
“This famed canoe, perhaps more than any other contemporary cultural object, symbolizes the ingenuity and courage of the Hawaiian people. We have been honored to be her caretaker over the years and are delighted to return the ownership of this historic vessel to those who dreamed it, built it, and revived ancient voyaging practices. Hōkūle‘a and those who have sailed aboard her have dispelled myths about the settlement of Polynesia, and revitalized cultural pride and achievement in Hawai‘i’s indigenous peoples,” says Michael Chinaka, Interim President of Bishop Museum.
Bishop Museum acquired the canoe with the acquisition of the Hawaii Maritime Center (HMC) in 1995. HMC purchased the canoe for $250,000 from PVS in 1990 through funding provided by the National Park Service. Bishop Museum worked with PVA to continue to develop to education programs with the Hōkūle’a through its Native Hawaiian Culture and Arts Program funded through a cooperative agreement with the National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior. In 2002, Bishop Museum directed $100,000 from a NASA grant to PVS to prepare the canoe for a statewide educational sail as part of the Navigating Change program funded by NASA.
The ‘Ālana Aloha ceremony will include an Oli Welina (greeting chant) and response followed by a Pule Wehe (opening up prayer). Interim President Michael Chinaka will offer a welcome and make the ceremonial transfer of ownership to Nainoa Thompson, President of the Polynesian Voyaging Society. Thompson will accept the gift and offer remarks. The ceremony will conclude with a special blessing and a Pule Ho’oku’u (closing prayer).
The voyaging canoe has two 62-foot hulls; eight ‘iako, or crossbeams, joining the two hulls; pola, or decking, lashing to the crossbeams between the two hulls; rails along the decking; and two masts. Having just returned from another history-making voyage to Japan, the canoe was originally launched on its maiden voyage with the following blessing, “let the canoe ride over the depths of the sea, till it is worn out, overgrown with limu, and aged.”
The canoe is currently being maintained by hundreds of volunteers and is often docked and dry-docked at the Marine Education and Training Center, a University of Hawai‘i facility on Sand Island, between voyages. PVS has maintained its offices with the support of Bishop Museum at HMC located at Pier 7 next to Aloha Tower Marketplace since 2000.
For more information about Bishop Museum’s return of Hōkūle’a to the Polynesian Voyaging Society, call (808) 847-3511 or visit www.bishopmuseum.org. For more information about the Polynesian Voyaging Society visit http://pvs.kcc.hawaii.edu/ or phone (808) 536-8405; or email pvshawaii@hawaiiantel.net.
-pau-