Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 34, Number 7, 1 July 2017 — A HISTORIC HOMECOMING [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

A HISTORIC HOMECOMING

BY LURLINE MCCREC0R Adouble rainbow appeared off the end of Magic lsland as Namahoe, the first wa'a to arrive, turned into Ala Moana ehannel. A a fine mist and light rain followed. Manu-o-kū, or fairy terns, encircled the harbor entrance. These are special birds for navigators because they signal that land is near. These hō'ailona started the day that marked the successful eomplehon of Hōkūle'a's 42,000 nauheal mile voyage around the world. It was a proud and certainlv an emotional moment

for many, and not only Native Hawaiians Hawai'i community. The homecoming of

was streamed live around the world so the munity, all those whose lives Hōkūle'a her Mālama Honua journey, could momentous occasion. The event million online hits and 150 news j

around the world covered it

and the Hōkūle 'a global eomtouched on share in this received 10 crews from live.

Yet, there were those outside Hawai'i who were so deeply moved by Hōkūle'a and her journey and mission that they wanted to personally witness the homecoming. They eame from around the world to stand on the banks of Magic

Island with thousands of others to cheer and to honor the wa'a as she sailed by. 'Ohana wa'a (voyaging eanoe family) members from different Paeihe Island nations eame for the celebration, as did their families and others who have heeome close friends of Hōkūle'a's crewmembers over the years. Tahitians eame in force to the homecoming, comprising the largest group of all the visitors who traveled to Hawai'i. Tahiti is the nation with the most longstanding history with Hōkūle'a, starting in 1976, when over half the island's population eame to Papa'ete Harbor to celebrate the arrival of the first Polynesian double-hulled sailing

eanoe to travel to Tahiti from Hawai'i in over 600 years. The community members of Tautira have been the caretakers of Hōkūle'a since her first voyage, a kuleana that has since been passed down the next generation. On every leg home from the South Paeihe, including the Mālama Honua Worldwide Voyage, Hōkūle'a crew members have stayed with Tautira families while they await favorable conditions for their return sail to Hawai'i. Māori from Aotearoa and the Cook Islands and Palauans 'eame as well, representing other Paeihe Islands. FromNatal, Brazil, one of the Hōkūle'a's stops after crossing the Atlantic

Oeean, a news crew eame to film the event. From the continental Unites States, people from Florida and on up the East Coast to Massachusetts eame to celebrate.

A Youth Summit, inspired by the worldwide voyage and hosted by the Polynesian Voyaging Society, was held in eonjunction with a World Youth Congress at UH Mānoa. The conference brought loeal youth and students from around the world, ages 5 to 25, to celebrate mālama honua stories and create a collective eall to action for the future stewardship of Island Earth. Students from around the world traveled to Hawai'i to witness the homecoming and participate in the Summit [see page 18 sidebar].

I was so struck by the indigenous skill and knowledge and wisdom that brought the eanoe that far on the journey and would bring it home again. — Tutu van Furth, daughter of Nohel Peaee Prize laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu

MAPPINC 0UT THE J0URNEY

A brief īimeline of Hōkūle'a's locations worldwide voyage.

FACTS AND FIGURES: • Hōkūle'a - Approximately 40,300 nautical miles traveled • Hōkūle'a and Hikianalia will have covered a combined 60,000 nautical miles • More than 150 ports visited • 23 countries and territories visited

• Eight UNESC0 World Heritage Marine sites visited • 245 participating crew members • Over 200 formal and informal educators participated as crew members on the Worldwide Voyage and Statewide Sail

2014 Mālama Honua Tahiti Sāmoa Aotearoa Worldwide Voyage begins

2015 Australia Bali Mauritius South Afrioa

2016 Brazil Caribbean East Coast South Afrioa Panama of the U.S.

MO'OLELO NUI C0VER FEATURE ,

0'ahu's eanoe paddling community |were the first to greet Hōkūle'a out on the open oeean. - Photo : Kaleena Kwe Mpho Tutu van Furth from Cape Town was among those who greeted Hōkūle'a when the wa'a arrived in South Africa, the midway point of the voyage, and who traveled to Hawai'i for the homecoming arrival. "I was surprised seeing the eanoe eome into Cape Town at how moved I was by the size of the eanoe, by the idea of this tiny vessel that has been navigating by the stars for a year and a half to eome to us and would be going on another year and a half to get home," said Tutu van Furth, daughter of Nohel Peaee Prize laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu. "I was so struck by the indigenous skill and knowledge and wisdom that brought the eanoe that far on the journey and would bring it home again. I think as mueh as people here in Hawai'i have swelled with pride at what has been accomplished on this voyage, I can't begin to tell you because I don't really know how far the seeds of pride have been scattered in indigenous communities around the world and the idea of reclaiming the knowledge, wit, the wisdom of the elders. It is that wit and wisdom that we're going to have to harness in order to eontinue to have a planet that is livable." ■

2017 Galapagos Rapa Nui Tahiti Hawai'i lslands Flomecoming

Lurline Wai.lana McGregor is a writer, televisi.on producer, author of "Between the Deep Blue Sea and Me " and a Hōkūle 'a Mālama Honua crew member.