OceThe OfficiaaL MaganZineog of the Oceanographyra Spocietyhy CITATION Genz, J., J. Aucan, M. Merrifield, B. Finney, K. Joel, and A. Kelen. 2009. Wave navigation in the Marshall Islands: Comparing indigenous and Western scientific knowledge of the ocean. Oceanography 22(2):234–245, doi:10.5670/oceanog.2009.52. COPYRIGHT This article has been published inOceanography , Volume 22, Number 2, a quarterly journal of The Oceanography Society. Copyright 2009 by The Oceanography Society. All rights reserved. USAGE Permission is granted to copy this article for use in teaching and research. Republication, systematic reproduction, or collective redistribution of any portion of this article by photocopy machine, reposting, or other means is permitted only with the approval of The Oceanography Society. Send all correspondence to: [email protected] or The Oceanography Society, PO Box 1931, Rockville, MD 20849-1931, USA. downLoaded from www.tos.org/oceanography BREAKING WAVES WA VE NAVIGATION IN THE M ARSHALL ISLANDS COMPARING InDIGENOUS AND WESTERN SCIENTIFIC KnOWLEDGE OF THE OcEAN BY JOSEPH GENZ, JEROME AUCAN, MARK MERRIFIELD, BEN FINNEY, KORENT JOEL, AND ALSON KELEN AbSTRACT Pacific seafarers developed indigenous navigational techniques to voyage between of instruments or charts. Ethnographic islands. In the Marshall Islands, navigators remotely sense land by detecting how investigations among surviving voyaging islands disrupt swells. A recent project to revitalize Marshallese voyaging aimed communities have sought to describe to understand the science of wave navigation. Local wave concepts are described various indigenous solutions to the navi- based on anthropological fieldwork with surviving navigators, including interviews gational tasks of orientation, steering a and experience sailing with them. The wave transformation processes that give rise course, estimating position, and making to these patterns are examined using navigators’ demonstrations at sea, wave buoy landfall (Gladwin, 1970; Lewis, 1972; measurements, satellite imagery, and wave model simulations. The scientific data Thomas, 1987; Feinberg, 1988). They account for one signal used by navigators to remotely detect land. Crossing wave describe how navigators use elabo- trains extend tens of kilometers in the lees of islands, which can be simulated as rate mental representations of space, refraction of the easterly trade wind swell. Navigators identified a superposition of embodied knowledge of the ocean, and incident swells with reflected waves 40 km upstream of islands. These reflected waves voyaging strategies to move through a were too weak to be detected by the wave buoy, but they are conceptualized similarly seemingly undifferentiated environment. within indigenous and scientific frameworks. Navigators described another pattern as One of the least understood naviga- a wayfaring link between distant atolls. This pattern does not clearly relate to a wave tion traditions comes from the Marshall transformation process, suggesting that Marshallese navigators also use concepts of Islands of Micronesia, where navigators the ocean that do not easily translate into oceanographic terms. developed a comprehensive system of wave piloting based on a common In TRODUCTION 3500–4000 years ago (Kirch, 2000). They land-finding technique for detecting Pacific seafarers began to explore and developed navigational techniques to islands by how they disrupt ocean swells settle the previously uninhabited islands sail their deep-sea voyaging canoes over and currents (Davenport, 1960; Ascher, of Remote Oceania (Eastern Melanesia, hundreds, and in some cases thousands, 1995; Finney, 1998). The Marshallese Micronesia, and Polynesia) about of kilometers of ocean without the aid archipelago comprises 34 coral atolls and 234 Oceanography Vol.22, No.2 300 km 165 170 15 0.5 m/sec b Figure 1. The Marshall Islands (a) are located in eastern Micronesia. The current climatology (b) shows how opposing Mejit 10 equatorial currents flow through the archipelago (Lagerloef et al., 1999). Arno Majuro a Hawaii 5 Marshall Guam Is. area of B EQUATOR Solomon Islands Fiji Figure 2. Captain Korent Joel, one of the last traditional navigators in the Marshall Islands, explains the wave concepts modeled within indigenous 1000 km teaching devices and demonstrates how he detects the wave patterns by Australia (at the equator) feeling how they alter the motion of an outrigger sailing canoe. islands spread out in two parallel chains or intersections of opposing or nearly region of the Pacific. over 800 km along a southeast-northwest opposing swells (e.g., east and west Fortunately, a few Marshallese survive axis in the eastern part of Micronesia swells) (Winkler, 1898; Hambruch, today who learned traditional naviga- (Figure 1a). Strong, opposing equatorial 1912; Krämer and Nevermann, 1938; tion and voyaging in their youths. One currents (Lagerloef et al., 1999) make Davenport, 1960). However, a dramatic individual, a retired ship captain named navigation difficult (Figure 1b). In addi- decline in long-distance voyaging Korent Joel (Figure 2), recently called for tion, navigators may spend several days throughout the Marshalls in the latter a concerted effort to revive Marshallese out of sight of land because the tops of part of the twentieth century prevented navigation and voyaging before he and coconut palms on these low-lying atolls more detailed ethnographic investiga- others died without passing on their can only be seen 20 km offshore. The tions of the traditional wave concepts. knowledge to the younger genera- indigenous response to these naviga- In addition, previous studies have not tion. For assistance he turned to Waan tional challenges has been to remotely oceanographically validated the physical Aelo¯n¯ in Majel (Canoes of the Marshall sense land based on disruptions of inci- basis of the reported wave patterns or Islands), an organization that had previ- dent swells and currents. described the swell climatology in this ously documented the construction Exactly how Marshallese navigators find their way with reference to the Joseph Genz ([email protected]) is Lecturer, Department of Anthropology, University waves has remained unclear. Researchers of Hawai‘i-Manoa, Honolulu, HI, USA. Jerome Aucan is Research Scientist, Department in the late nineteenth century and early of Oceanography, University of Hawai‘i-Manoa, Honolulu, HI, USA. Mark Merrifield is twentieth century sailed with naviga- Professor, Department of Oceanography, University of Hawai‘i-Manoa, Honolulu, HI, USA. tors to understand their concepts of the Ben Finney is Professor Emeritus, Department of Anthropology, University of Hawai‘i- ocean, which center on either trans- Manoa, Honolulu, HI, USA. Korent Joel is Navigator, Waan Aelo¯n¯ in Majel (Canoes of the formations of the dominant easterly Marshall Islands), Republic of the Marshall Islands. Alson Kelen is Director, Waan Aelo¯n¯ in trade wind swell (Laubenfels, 1950) Majel (Canoes of the Marshall Islands), Republic of the Marshall Islands. Oceanography June 2009 235 techniques of traditional outrigger anthropological fieldwork, oceano- METHODS sailing canoes (Figure 3) and helped graphic modeling, and collaboration Anthropological Materials to revitalize the local sailing culture with local navigators and research coun- and Methods (Alessio and Kelen, 2004). To success- terparts has led to a detailed description Ethnographic data-collection methods fully transfer the navigational knowledge of the cultural revival of Marshallese were used to understand and describe to the next generation, leaders of Waan wave navigation (Genz, 2008). the indigenous concepts of the ocean. Aelo¯n¯ in Majel recognized the impor- In this paper, we describe the science Anthropological fieldwork took place tance of understanding the traditional of traditional Marshallese wave naviga- for 16 months between June 2005 wave concepts from a scientific perspec- tion. We examine indigenous knowl- and September 2006 on several atolls, tive and creating innovative pedagogical edge of the ocean through the lens of including Majuro, Rongelap, Namu, tools, such as computer simulations of anthropology and compare it to the Ujae, and Ailuk, where authors Genz and the waves. They requested the assis- oceanographic findings. Specific wave Kelen learned about traditional naviga- tance of University of Hawai‘i anthro- patterns used in Marshallese naviga- tion from Captain Korent Joel and other pologist Ben Finney, whose research in tion are described based on interviews navigation experts. The research was reconstructing and sailing Polynesian with surviving navigators and observa- conducted in the Marshallese language. voyaging canoes (Finney, 1977, 1979) tions made during their traditionally On land, Genz and Kelen learned by promoted the cultural renaissance of navigated voyages. The wave trans- explicit instruction through demonstra- Pacific voyaging (Finney, 1994, 2003, formation processes that give rise to tions, diagrams, and models. We also 2007). In response to Captain Korent’s these patterns are examined through conducted a variety of interviews and request, we developed a collaborative navigators’ demonstrations at sea, wave documented navigation stories, legends, and interdisciplinary project called buoy measurements, satellite imagery, chants, and songs. The ethnographic Kapeel in Meto (Indigenous Knowledge and wave model simulations. Through data were transcribed and translated for of the Ocean) that aimed to synergisti-