By Tino Ramirez
Advertiser North Shore Bureau
LA‘IE — Inspired by Hawaiian sailing canoes such as Hokule‘a and Makali‘i, Brigham Young University-Hawai‘i is building a 50-foot double-hulled canoe that will serve as a floating classroom for students and a gathering place for the community.
Logs arrived from Fiji last week and now rest at the corner of Naniloa Loop and Iosepa Street in La‘ie, where construction will be led by master carvers Tuione Pulotu and Kawika Eskaran.
Watching the huge dakua wood logs being delivered was a moving experience, said William Wallace, director of BYUH’s Center for Hawaiian Language and Cultural Studies.
"I didn't really know the mana of the logs until they arrived here," said Wallace. "When the trucks were pull-
ing off the highway, I stood there with tears rushing down my face. Then, after the (welcoming ceremony), the lightning, the thunder, the rain — there were all those omens that come as signs of a chief’s birth."
The canoe is the final phase of curriculum development at the Hawaiian studies center, covered by a $619,000 grant from the W.H. Kellogg Foundation. In consultation with elders from the community, the center has developed a program that focuses on Hawaiian language and cultural values, Wallace said.
"We felt that it was very important to give our students not only theoretical and historical studies in the classroom, but also practical hands-on experience," said Wallace. "We felt that students should connect with the land and sea and with the heavens."
With that goal in mind, the center is caring for Nioi Heiau, an ancient temple in La‘ie, and its land preservation program (malama ‘aina) has students growing taro and learning how Hawaiians used medicinal plants. The canoe will launch the center’s its ocean preservation program (malama kai), Wallace said.
"All of what we’re teaching comes into play with both agriculture and navigation. It’s not a separation, but a way to tie them together."
Ever since Hokule‘a first sailed to Tahiti and back in 1976 without modern navigational instruments, there has been a resurgence of open ocean voyaging throughout Polynesia. Hawaiians have been inspired by their ancestors’ knowledge, technology and cooperation needed to build large sailing canoes and complete long voyages.
"The last 25 years have been very stimulating and exciting for us and has brought back that sense of identity," said Wallace. Hokule‘a’s visit to Kahana in 1997 and the welcoming ceremony at Kualoa in 2000 after its voyage to Rapa Nui and Tahiti brought together the people of Ko‘olau Loa — northern windward O‘ahu. The center hopes the new canoe will provide the same opportunity.
The canoe should be completed by early August and will be launched at Hukilau Beach to coincide with the community’s annual La‘ie Days celebration. A halau wa‘a, or canoe house, will be built at the beach, plus a house for fishing nets. The site will be used to teach students in area schools and to encourage participation in water sports, said Wallace.
"We’re looking at the canoe to be a point of reference and unification for all of us, for us to share such an important aspect of who we are," said Wallace.
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