A Pan-Pacific Vaka Network: Institutionalizing Modern Polynesian Sailing Boats The Okeanos Project © 2016
For the last eight years, the dedicated work of the Okeanos Foundation has fostered a renaissance in traditional Polynesian boat construction, sailing and navigational training that has inspired innovative, culturally based solutions to the challenges Pacific islands are facing.
I. Building Upon the Past to Prepare for the Future The Okeanos vision for the Pacific is based on the fundamentally holistic principle that the solutions to the urgent problems islanders are facing require respecting and building upon traditional knowledge to prepare for the future. We have witnessed again and again how embracing the almost lost art of Polynesian wayfinding, deeply rooted in traditional ocean stewardship, has consistently motivated and inspired community led innovation.
Ocean Transportation: The Lifeblood of the Pacific Okeanos understands that regular and healthy transportation between the islands is the lifeblood of the region’s circulation system; it fuels Pacific history and culture, unity and economy. Building upon the genius of traditional Pacific engineering and knowledge, Okeanos has constructed, in partnership with Pacific experts across the region, more than a dozen Vaka Okeanos: traditionally designed sailing canoes, built with modern materials and propelled by fossil-fuel free technologies. Simultaneously, Okeanos has supported the training of hundreds of Pacific islanders from more than ten nations in traditional sailing and navigation. Now. A critical moment in history. Pacific islands’ vulnerability to climate change has never been more visible. In 2015, Kiribati President Anote Tong brought his country’s plight to the world stage announcing preparations for climate induced migration while simultaneously five Samoan islands were disappearing under rising sea levels. In June 2016, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon honored the worldwide voyage of Polynesian Voyaging Society’s Hōkūleʻa drawing international attention to the threats the Pacific ocean and its peoples are facing. Today, the global community, and the Pacific region as a whole, are searching for best practices and evidence-based plans to prepare small island nations for environmental threats while protecting culture, providing tools for sustainable development and economic independence from foreign aid, goods and fossil fuels.
II. Okeanos History and Impact: Eight Years of Evidence Okeanos’ efforts and ethos stand on the shoulders of Pacific island heroes who revived the almost lost Polynesian art of wayfinding, the students of Mau Piailug and the brave men and women who brought Hōkūleʻa to life in 1976 and continue her courageous voyage today. Okeanos’ developing modern sailing canoes and supporting vaka-based initiatives provides visible evidence of the effectiveness of modernized Polynesian sustainable sea transportation to be fully embraced at the local level for a variety of purposes. Today, the real world use and implementation of Okeanos Vakas in seven Pacific countries, Cook Islands, Fiji, New Zealand, Samoa, Tahiti, Tonga, Vanuatu, is proof of concept, a realization of the potential and need for a pan-Pacific vaka network.
International Voyage, Cultural Revival, Capacity Building In 2008, Okeanos began working with voyaging societies across the Pacific to develop and build a fleet of seven traditionally designed, fossil fuel free double masted Vaka Moanas, representing 10 island nations. Our international voyage Te Mana O Te Moana (The Spirit of the Ocean) began April 2011. Over the course of two years, hundreds of sailors were trained as they navigated across the Pacific twice, carrying the message of respect for culture and ocean and visiting 15 nations along the way. Collectively we safely sailed 210,000 nautical miles of open ocean.
Map of Te Mana O Te Moana International Voyage 2011-2012 The Gifting of Vakas: Voyaging Societies and a Renaissance in Wayfinding Culture In 2012, Okeanos gifted four vakas from the Te Mana O Te Moana fleet to the voyaging societies of Cook Islands, Fiji, Samoa, and Tahiti. The significant impact of the Okeanos gifted vakas can be seen throughout the Pacific as iconic symbols of cultural pride and hope for the future featured on agency and government issued currency, stamps, tourism and Policy materials.
Okeanos Vaka Gaualofa gifted to Samoan Voyaging Society is featured on the cover of Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environmental Programme (SPREP) strategic plan as well as within “A Framework for a Pacific Oceanscape” endorsed by Pacific Island Forum leaders.
Okeanos Vaka Uto-Ni-Yalo gifted to Fiji Voyaging Society featured on Fiji national stamp series.
Left, Center: Okeanos Vaka Marumaru Atua gifted to Cook Island Voyaging Society featured on Cook Island five dollar coin and Bank of Cook Island Mastercard.
Right: Okeanos Vaka Faafaite gifted to French Polynesian Voyaging Society featured on cover of AirTahiti’s Revatahiti magazine.
Right: IUCN World Congress 2016 website and promotional materials feature Okeanos Vaka Moanas from Te Mana O Te Moana fleet.
Left: IUCN World Congress 2016 website and promotional materials feature Okeanos Vakas Moanas from Te Mana O Te Moana fleet.