Hōkūleʻa and her crew were in Vancouver, British Columbia when the devastating wildfires swept through Lāhainā.
Hōkūleʻa has been sailing from Southeast Alaska since the Polynesian Voyaging Society launched its four-year Moananuiākea Voyage on June 15. The voyage is a global educational campaign aimed at amplifying the importance of oceans and indigenous knowledge through port engagements.
Hōkūleʻa Crew Member Daniel Kinzer said the ʻohana waʻa is more committed than ever to Moananuiākea because of what’s going on back home in Hawaiʻi.
“If we’re going to keep our ocean healthy, if we’re going to take care of our communities, if we’re going to keep our islands healthy, and all of the Earth, if we’re going to protect it, which is what this voyage is about,” Kinzer said. “We need that deep connection to nature that the ancestors had maintained so diligently.
“Even in the face of wildfires, all the effects of climate change, all the effects of extractive economies, we see the resilience that people bring to that, and it shines so brightly in the Lāhainā community,” he said. “We all know there’s so much hurt there is right now, but we’re so inspired by how much strength there is also working through that hurt.”
Hōkūleʻa’s voyage to the Pacific Northwest has been a success, but the Lāhainā wildfire is making PVS rethink its sail plan.
PVS is focused right now on the ʻohana waʻa and all ʻohana across Hawaiʻi.
Hōkūleʻa Departs Vancouver, Arrives in Victoria
Connections to Hawaiʻi continued to deepen as Hōkūleʻa arrived on Salt Spring Island, B.C. In the 1800s, Native Hawaiians working for the Hudson Bay Company settled the area, including William Naukana who lived on Portland Island, B.C. in 1875. Kinzer says crew members spent a lot of time with the Roland ʻOhana, who are descendants of Naukana.
“We visited their old family home in Fulford Harbor where they eventually settled a few generations ago. We passed this morning what they call 'Kanaka Bluff' cliffs falling into the water there,” Kinzer said. “It was really incredible to be on the ʻāina so far away from the Hawaiian Islands, but still ʻāina — home to so many Hawaiian families over the last 150 years.”
As Hōkūleʻa departed, Kinzer said crew members observe a very special tradition where they bring stones or pōhaku from home and place them as markers in places that they have a deep connection to.
“As we crossed through past Kanaka Bluff and Portland Island, in between there and Fulford Harbor, we were able to send our pōhaku down to act as a marker there and just a reminder of our connection to this place on the voyage,” says Kinzer.
Hōkūleʻa and her crew arrived in Victoria, British Columbia, Tuesday, and will sail back into U.S. waters to Suquamish, Washington, and on to Seattle this Saturday, Aug. 26.
