Ke Alahou, Volume I, Number 4, 1 February 1980 — REVIEW HOKULE'A: The Way to Tahiti (a book by Ben R. Finney) [ARTICLE]

REVIEW

HOKULE'A: The Way to Tahiti (a book by Ben R. Finney)

Given time, we take even the most sophisticated of today $ s technological advances in stride. As a consequence, the wonder of accomplishments made with a relatively different technology without these modern advances is diminished, The voyage of the double eanoe Hokule'a from Hawai'i to Tahiti without the aid of modern navigational instruments may already be a dim memory to many of those around the world who have heard of it, but the legacy fo Hokule'a is still alive here in Hawai'i and in the rest of Polynesia, for, more than any other event in the twentieth century, her voyage served to unite the imagination of the Polynesian people. During that voyage in the spring of 1976, descendants of ancient voyagers long dead focused their attention on the journey of seventeen contemporaries attempting to reaffirm the navigational skills of the first. Polynesians, who settled the heart of the vast Pacific Oeean at a time when most of the rest of humanity contented theiiiselves tohug the shores of continents if they took to the sea at aIL In his book, Hokule'a: The Way to Tahiti, author Ben R, Finhey sets out to cover the voyage's experimental aspects as well as the cultural revival that the voyage spawiied. Finiiey is admirably well-suited to the task. Not only was the idea of the voyage largely his own, but Fimiey took pail in all phases of preparatio§ leading up to the actual voyage 4 when he also seryed as a crewman. Thus, he is uniquely quālifled to giye

the reader a full first-hand history of Hokule'a, Further, his long-time interest and experiece in sai}ing allows him to clearly explain the technology of the eanoe, whieh he accomplishes without swamping the reader in technicalities, thanks to hisprevious experience with writing. Finally, his training as an anthropologist has not only.exposed Finney to ancient legends and cultural practices of the Polynesians as well as to the work of modern theorists on Polynesian voyaging, but Finney benefits from it further in gaining some insight into events involving personalities eoncerped with Hokule'a before and during her voyage. The voyage of Hokule 4 a was one of high a.dventure, and as suc|i, the characters concerned form an important part of her stor>. Few readers acquainted wilh even ihe ouiline of that story will have forgotten the many problems that assailed Hokule r a. Some of these were necessary; designing an appropriate eanoe from scauty records, funding thebuilding of that eanoe and supporting her workers, and gathering and training a crew. Other problems were not foreseen, iucluding the many fighis among the utw members themselves. Finney believe,s that these problems arose from differing expecta|ions for the voyage among crew meinbers. Finne)- anA a few others savv the voyage as an expenii;ent|o validate the aucient legends of the legends whieh hold that tlie aiicients saijed |jurposefully betvv^en

Hawai'i and Tahiti. Others t including many of the Hawaiians on hoard, sav/ the Hokuie'a as a vehicle around whieh a Polynesian renaissance would form, Thus, these Hawaiians did not appreciate conditions necessary to make the voyage of Hokule'a a sound experiment, nor did they want the intrusion of non-Polynesians on board. Finney deals with problems on shore in the first section of the book before preceding into a diary-like account of the voyage in the book's second part. Tfus account makes up most of the rest of is particularly interesting. For the,first time in print, the perceptions of one crew member — Finney — are related in some deta.il. Natural events and their effects on the crew are described. Painful incidents involving the crevv are retold, and while Finney occasionally betrays ill-will toward certain crew members, the reader benefits from these by gaining a threedimensional picture of what it was like to be aboard Hokuie a, Finney mai\ages to strike a remarkabie haianee between an adventure novel .anda detailedreport; ..wlule using thebest of both approaches, he is careful to avoid both romanticmng ia novei style and writing a sterile scientlfic pieee. The result is an authoritaiive book destmed to becomt the definitive account of Hokuie a. mciudmg details that will surprise even tho«e closely connected with that voyage, D,W,