Polynesian canoe returning home after three years at sea By Scientific American, adapted by Newsela staff on 06.16.17 Word Count 475 Level 540L

The Hokule'a vessel is set to finish its first circumnavigation on June 17, 2017, in Honolulu, Hawaii. Thousands of families, students, educators, sustainability organizations, ocean conservationists, voyaging groups, community residents and visitors are expected to attend the celebration. Photo by: Scott Kanda/Polynesian Voyaging Society.

A 62-foot-long canoe is set to arrive in Honolulu, Hawaii. It will end the first trip around the world by a kind of old Polynesian boat. The boat is made like boats that used to cross the seas.

The trip began in May 2014. The boat sailed from Hilo, Hawaii. Since then, it has traveled five oceans and visited 19 countries.

The name of the boat is the Hōkūleʻa. The word is Hawaiian for Arcturus, the name of a star.

Voyage Paid Tribute To Ancient Polynesian Sailors

Nainoa Thompson is the leader of the Polynesian Voyaging Society. The group planned the long journey.

This article is available at 5 reading levels at https://newsela.com. 1 The trip was planned to honor Polynesia’s traditional navigation. It was a way to know directions. The ancient Polynesians did not have Google Maps. They did not even have a compass. Their navigation was far ahead of other ways at the time.

Wade Davis wrote a book about life years ago. Many sailors did not want to go far from land. Pacific sailors were crossing huge seas, though, he said.

Thompson was trained in “wayfinding” by Mau Piailug. "Wayfinding" is the old way of navigation. Piailug died in 2010.

The Hōkūleʻa has followed Piailug’s rules. The people on the boat used the old ways of navigation. They looked at where stars and planets were. It was important to see where waves came from. To travel at night, they had to learn even more. They studied the courses of more than 200 stars.

The boat first went out in 1975. It has made many trips since then.

Hokule'a's Crew Used Nature To Navigate

The Hōkūleʻa looks old but is made from newer things. On the old boats, the sails were made of leaves.

Several people took turns staying on the boat for a month.

The people on the boat learned the habits of birds. They could use them to see how far they were from land. A white tern bird meant land was within 100 miles. Booby seabirds usually are even closer to land. The sailors also checked clouds and sunset colors. They wanted to see what they might tell about the weather.

The Polynesians were great ocean scientists, Thompson says.

Bringing Back Traditional Ways Of Life

Many people are interested in the journeys of the Hōkūleʻa. Sam ‘Ohu Gon used to go on the boat. He believes the trips have helped to bring back some Polynesian ways of life.

The Polynesians have not always had the freedom to do things their way. For example, their language was banned for years. The language is being taught again, though. Gon says the boat trips help. They have become a sign of Hawaiian ways, he says.

Gon says the journeys are also to get people to protect Earth. The latest trip is called “Mālama Honua.” In Hawaiian it means “to care for our island Earth.”

This article is available at 5 reading levels at https://newsela.com. 2 Quiz

1 Which statement BEST explains the main idea of the article?

(A) The Hokule'a's journey around the world was very dangerous because the journey was very long.

(B) The Hokule'a's journey around the world honors and celebrates Polynesian ways of life such as "wayfinding."

(C) Polynesian culture was banned because the boats they produced were unsafe and hard to navigate.

(D) Polynesians navigated the ocean using technology that was more advanced than that of other groups of people.

2 Which of the following BEST summarizes the the article?

(A) Polynesian culture was banned for many years. Recently many sailors traveling around the world have begun using Polynesian techniques to sail across the ocean.

(B) Polynesian culture is famous for "wayfinding," a way of using nature to navigate the ocean. Polynesian sailors often had to study hard to learn how to sail.

(C) The Hokule'a is the first Polynesian canoe to complete a trip around the world. This boat was navigated using traditional Polynesian "wayfinding" techniques that use only stars and nature to find the way.

(D) The Hokule'a is a famous Polynesian canoe that was built using leaves for sails. This boat successfully travelled all of the way across the ocean.

3 Read the paragraph from the section "Voyage Paid Tribute To Ancient Polynesian Sailors."

The trip was planned to honor Polynesia’s traditional navigation. It was a way to know directions. The ancient Polynesians did not have Google Maps. They did not even have a compass. Their navigation was far ahead of other ways at the time.

What is the BEST definition of the word "ancient" based on the information in the paragraph?

(A) something that is not real

(B) something used to travel on the ocean

(C) something very old

(D) something that uses new technology

This article is available at 5 reading levels at https://newsela.com. 3 4 Read the sentences from the section "Bringing Back Traditional Ways Of Life."

The Polynesians have not always had the freedom to do things their way. For example, their language was banned for years. The language is being taught again, though.

Which of the following could be used instead of "banned" in the second sentence?

(A) illegal

(B) made fun of

(C) celebrated

(D) taught

This article is available at 5 reading levels at https://newsela.com. 4