Summit + Kualoa Ranch // Advertorial

March 2015

ON A SUNNY MORNING in March of 1975, a group gathers at Kualoa Regional Park to perform a launching ceremony for the first traditional Hawaiian sailing canoe to have been built in multiple generations. The result of years of study and work toward rediscovering traditional canoe building and navigating techniques, the canoe is named Hōkūleʻa (Star of Gladness) after Arcturus, the brightest star in the northern sky, and a zenith star of Hawaiʻi.

Below the peak of Mount Kānehoalani and the broad cliffs of Moʻo Kapu o Hāloa at the north end of Kāneʻohe Bay, Hōkūleʻa rests on its lona (blocks), decorated with maile, ʻieʻie and Tahitian ti. After securing a feather pennant and wooden image to the canoe, it is ready to launch.

Kamehameha Schools students blow conch shells, and paddlers from the newly formed Polynesian Voyaging Society (PVS) assemble to sit in two rows between the double-hulled voyaging canoe and an imu (oven) dug into the ground. PVS founders Herb Kane, Ben Finney and Kenneth Emory climb to the pola (deck) of the canoe as kahuna (religious expert) Kaupena Wong leads the blessing ceremony. ʻUmeke (bowl) of water in hand, Wong sprinkles the sides of the canoe and conducts a chant of offering and dedication for the new canoe.

Wong is assisted by kahuna Kalena Silva and Keliʻi Tauʻa, who uncover the imu to reveal a puaʻa (pig) and other foods slowly cooking within. From the imu, they remove meat from the snout, tail, feet and body of the puaʻa, along with a small redfish and a peeled, cooked banana, which they place on a coconut, banana and ʻawa leaf platter. This platter is handed to Wong, who waits as two additional platters are filled and given to a paddler in each row, who passes it to the man on his left until each man has been served. Wong climbs up onto the pola with the first platter, which is left on board.

“Eia ka waʻa i kālai ʻia; e kapa ʻia ka inoa ʻo Hōkūleʻa. Ke ui aku nei nā alakaʻi o ka pō, nā alaka‘i o ke ao, nā alakaʻi o luna, nā alakaʻi o lalo (This is the canoe which has been built; its name is to be Hōkūleʻa. Ask our gods of darkness and of light, from above and from below, to bless it),” says Kane.

“E hoʻomākaukau (make ready)!” says Wong. The paddlers move to their positions along the sides of the canoe. “E alulike (let us work together)!” he calls, and the paddlers begin to haul the canoe into the water as Wong chants “Kīauau, kīauau (haul, haul)!” As the canoe slides gracefully into the water, the crew climb aboard and those on the shore begin to whoop and shout with joy.

Wong chants as Kane guides the canoe through the water, its hulls gracefully skirting over the waves with ease. Once they are a good ways out, Kane gives the signal for the canoe to be turned back toward shore. The platter of food that was left on board is tossed over as an offering to the sea, and Wong calls out “E hoʻi kākou (let us return)!”

The members of PVS who gathered to bless and dedicate Hōkūleʻa on that day chose Kualoa as the launching point because of its importance to voyaging traditions of Hawaiʻi. Kualoa was the home of the voyaging chief Laʻamaikahiki, and Hakipuʻu was the home of the voyaging chief Kahaʻi. These two famous chiefs are descendants of a long line of voyaging chiefs which included Moʻikeha and his son Kila. Other famous voyaging chiefs such as Paumakua lived in the lands around Kāneʻohe Bay. Even Laʻa, whose story is told throughout Polynesia, found a home there. He is said to have ruled over Koʻolau Poko, the windward district of Oʻahu, living in Waikāne and dying in Kualoa.

Hōkūleʻa's inaugural dip into the ocean at Kualoa on March 8, 1975 signaled more than just a revival of traditional Polynesian voyaging techniques. Originally planned as a scientific experiment to test a theory of Polynesian migration, Hōkūleʻa's 1976 voyage the following year became part of a revival that extended to language, art, ceremony, religion, farming techniques, wood-carving, martial arts, chant, hula and more. These traditional arts have begun a process of reestablishing a healthy relationship between the people, the land and the sea, revealing the wisdom and strength of the Hawaiian culture. Hōkūleʻa’s worldwide voyage is an emissary to the rest of the planet, spreading this message of mālama honua, or taking care of the Earth, everywhere it sails.

“Kualoa Ranch is proud to be a part of this epic journey of cultural rejuvenation and rediscovery. Nestled in 4,000 acres at the intersection of Koʻolau Loa and Koʻolau Poko, we offer a wide range of activities that help us to honor the culture and preserve the ʻāina, including narrated tours, a zipline, ATVs and horseback rides. — John Morgan, President