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Hawaiian Archipelago Voyage of Rediscovery: Cultural Odyssey Through Polynesia by Ben Finney, In the summer of 1985, a mostly Hawaiian crew set out aboard Hokulea, a reconstruction of an ancient double canoe, to demonstrate what skeptics had steadfastly denied: that their ancestors, sailing in canoes and navigating solely by reading the stars, ocean swells, and other natural signs, could intentionally sail across the Pacific, exploring the vast oceanic realm of Polynesia and discovering and settling all the inhabitable islands there. Their odyssey from Hawaii to Aotearoa (New Zealand) and back, through seven archipelagos and across 12,000 nautical miles, dramatically refuted theorists who had declared that because of the unseaworthiness of their canoes and the inaccuracy of their navigational methods, the Polynesians could only have been pushed accidentally to their islands by the vagaries of wind and current. Voyage of Rediscovery recounts this remarkable journey through the Pacific, describing how the Hawaiian navigator, Nainoa Thompson, guided the canoe over thousands of miles of open ocean without compass, sextant, charts, or any other navigational aids. There are tales of a curiosity attack by sperm whales and of the crew's welcome to Aotearoa by Maori tribesmen who dubbed them their sixth tribe. The experimental approach developed by Ben Finney of reconstructing the ancient voyaging canoes, then testing the canoes and the traditional ways of navigating on long voyages, has transformed our ideas about Polynesian migration. It has also been embraced by Hawaiians and other Polynesians as a way to experience and celebrate their rich ancestral heritage as premier seafarers of the ancient world. By sailing in the wake of their ancestors, the Hawaiians and other Polynesians whocaptained, navigated, and crewed Hokulea made the long journey described in Voyage of Rediscovery a truly cultural as well as scientific odyssey of exploration into their ancestral past.
Sharks of Hawai'i: Their Biology and Cultural Significance by Leighton Taylor, This book offers a fascinating look at the species inhabiting waters around the Hawaiian archipelago. By combining modern knowledge of shark biology with details culled from oral tradition, legends, and artifacts, Dr. Taylor provides a scientific account of individual species and sheds light on their role and significance in Hawaiian culture.
Hawaiian Islands - The Hawaiian Islands, once known as the Sandwich Islands, form an archipelago of nineteen islands and atolls, numerous smaller islets, and undersea seamounts trending northwest by southeast in the North Pacific Ocean between latitudes 19° N and 29° N. The archipelago takes its name from the largest island in the group and extends some 1500 miles (2400 km) from the Island of Hawai‘i in the south to northernmost Kure Atoll. Endemism in the Hawaiian Islands - Located some 2,400 miles (4,000 km) from the nearest continental shore, the Hawaiian Islands are the most isolated group of islands on the globe. The plant and animal life of the Hawaiian archipelago is first the result of early, very infrequent colonizations by arriving species and the slow evolution of those species—in isolation from the rest of the world's flora and fauna—over a period of at least 70 million years. Hawaiian islands channels - In an archipelago like the Hawaiian Islands the water between islands is typically called a channel or passage. Described here are the channels between the islands of Hawaii, arranged from south to north. Midway Atoll - Midway Atoll (also known as Midway Island or Midway Islands, Hawaiian: Pihemanu) is a 6.2 square kilometer atoll located in the North Pacific Ocean (near the northwestern end of the Hawaiian archipelago) at , about one-third of the way between Honolulu and Tokyo. hawaiianarchipelago |
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