Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 33, Number 6, 1 Iune 2016 — BEHIND THE SCENES OF MĀLAMA HONUA WORLDWIDE VOYAGE Part III: Educational Outreach [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

BEHIND THE SCENES OF MĀLAMA HONUA WORLDWIDE VOYAGE Part III: Educational Outreach

By Lurline Wailana McGregor Every deep sea voyage on Hōkūle'a has a speeifie purpose. The first sail in 1976 from Hawai'i to Tahiti, led by Pwo (master) navigator Mau Piailug of Satawal, was to validate that Polynesian-designed sailing eanoes were not only sturdy enough to sail long distanees, but that the route eould be navigated using a non-Western system of wayfinding. In 1980, Nainoa Thompson heeame the first Hawaiian in over six hundred years to successfully guide Hōkūle'a from Hawai'i to Tahiti, whieh not only restored lost pride to our people and our culture, but created new bonds with our Polynesian cousins. In 1985, Hōkūle'a went on a "Voyage of Rediscovery," a two-year trip to Aotearoa, with stops throughout Polynesia to deepen our new cultural relationships. Five years later Hōkūle'a set out on "No Nā Mamo: For the Children," a voyage to train a new generation of navigators who successfully sailed to Tahiti and Rarotonga. In 1999, Hōkūle'a sailed west to Rapa Nui, completing the Polynesian Triangle while disproving Thor Heyerdahl's theory that migration into the Pacific could only have eome east tfom South America. Other major voyages, eaeh with their own distinct goals, have been through the Hawaiian Islands, the Northwestem Hawaiian Islands, to Seattle and the Pacific Northwest coast, to Japan and Micronesia and to Palmyra Atoll. The mission of the current "Mālama Honua Worldwide Voyage," whieh set sail in 2013, is to share stories about how bridging traditional and new technologies will enahle us to better care for the environment, whieh will lead to living sustainably and assuring that there will be resources for future generations. In circumnavigating the globe, Hōkūle'a is carrying this message beyond Hawai'i and the Pacific to new destinations around Island Earth that are intended to bring us closer together. Some of the new technologies being used on the Mālama Honua voyage are social media and Google tracking, whieh weren't available on previous voyages. The satellite equipment aboard Hōkūle'a allows the entire world to follow the voyage through live tracking that is updated every fifteen minutes. In the past, crewmembers have used satellite phones while at sea to eall classrooms to speak with students and answer their questions. This has been replaced by "Google hangouts," where one or two classrooms have video chats with crewmembers from wherever they are while the rest of the world ean go online to watch the live discussion. There have even been underwater hangouts. Jenna Ishii, an apprentice navigator, Polynesian Voyaging Society (PVS) Education Coordinator

and Executive Assistant to PVS President Nainoa Thompson, started working on the educational component of the Mālama Honua voyage in 2008. "There's the sailing aspect of the voyage whieh is on the oeean, and the education mission that takes plaee on land," Ishii says. "Our challenge in developing an education plan was to figure out how to make a deep impact on our children at home while reaching out broadly to include the rest of the world. In the past, PVS created a curriculum package for teachers to use in their classrooms. For this voyage, we invited all the teachers who have been teaching voyaging to eome and tell us what they want." One component of educational outreach has been for eaeh Hawai'i crewmember to adopt a classroom before their leg of the voyage begins. Some crewmembers have gone so far as to adopt an entire school. They visit the students before they leave, they have Google hangouts with their classes while they are on the voyage and they are committed to continuing their relationship with the students even after the Mālama Honua voyage ends. To date, over 200 schools have adopted the voyage. "The relationships between crewmembers, the teachers and schoolchildren have created heroes that the kids are proud of, and it makes themproud to be from Hawai'i," says Ishii. The heart of the larger mission of the voyage is in finding "stories of hope" in communities around the world that Hōkūle'a visits that relate to Mālama Honua. Every Thursday for the past two years, a port planning outreach team has met to plan eaeh upcoming leg of the trip. When a decision is finalized to stop at a particular port, the team starts working on an education outreach plan for that area, whieh extends from the port to inland. "Our primary connection is always with the first peoples, or indigenous tribes of the area, to recognize and honor them," says Ishii. "Welcoming ceremonies take plaee, some are private, others have been puhlie events. The other important connections that the committee makes are with loeal community and government leaders. After protocol and ceremonies at the port are

finished, the crew heads inland on planned excursions to learn about cultural and environmental activities taking plaee in that area. "For example, when Hōkūle'a sailed to Bali, the group researched what kinds of environmental, educational and cultural activities were going on that related to sustainability," Ishii explains. "From the list that the committee put together, Nainoa made the final selection of what land activities the crew would undertake." The crew on the Bali leg, among other activities, visited the Green School, where students from all over the world eome to learn sustainability. Before departing for Mauritius, the crew also traveled inland to the Borobudur īemple, built in the eighth century. They learned about how the stone carvings of boats in the temple walls were the inspiration to recreate a replica of an ancient double outrigger sailing vessel. In 2003, Indonesians sailed the completed vessel across the Indian Oeean to Madagascar and Africa on the same route taken in ancient times, proving that their ancestors could travel long distances on these ships. Hōkūle'a crewmembers found this story strikingly similar to the story of their own wa'a, whieh they in turn shared with the rest of the world through social media, including a video and a blog that National Geographic Explorers posted on its website. In Australia, the crew met the Indigenous Rangers of Yuku Baja Muliku (Archer Point) in North Queensland. These Aboriginal people, or traditional landowners of the area, are being paid by the Australian government to be stewards of their land, including the oeean resources that extend to the Great Barrier Reef. Such recognition of the traditional landowners of Australia has been a long time in coming from the Australian government. These stories of hope exemplify the deep connections that are being made between cultures and how they are fulfilling their own Mālama Honua missions. As Hōkūle'a travels up the East Coast of the United States, there is so mueh loeal interest in sharing stories of community-based initiatives that are transforming the environment that there are now crews traveling on both land and sea. The Polynesian Voyaging Society is already starting to think about next steps for sharing these stories of hope. "Even after this voyage is over, Hōkūle'a's mission will be to continue to explore, inspire and convene," says Ishii. "Ultimately, the goal is to create change by motivating communities to steward their resources and protect the environment. As Nainoa says, we have to start with ourselves and our own community." For more Stories of Hope, see http://www. hokulea.com/category/malamahonua/malama-honua-selects/. ■ Lwīine Waūana McGregor is a writer, television producer and author of "Between the Deep BIue Sea and Me."

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The Washington Monumenlin the background as the Hōkūle'a arrives in Washington DC. - Photos: Courtesy 'Oiwi /V