The stories of ten master navigators intertwined with the rebirth of Pacific wayfinding.
This book features interviews with ten master navigators who trained with Mau Piailug (1932-2010), the legendary teacher of traditional, non-instrument wayfinding methods for open-ocean voyaging across the Pacific Ocean. They were given the status of master navigator by Mau through the Pwo ceremony, and went on to become an integral part of the renaissance of knowledge and traditions around voyaging.
The ten navigators includes three from Aotearoa, New Zealand, Hec Busby, Piripi Evans and Jack Thatcher; two from the Cook Islands, Peia Patai (Pe'ae Tua'iti), Teuatakairi Tearutua Arthur (Tua) Pittman; and five from Hawai'i, Nainoa Thompson, Chad Kalepa Baybayan, Shorty Bertelmann, Bruce Blankenfeld and Chad 'Onohi Paishon.
Their stories are intertwined with the movement that proved the exploration and settlement of the eastern Pacific was deliberate, and one of the greatest feats of navigation in human history. Each of the profiles includes a specific aspect of the contemporary voyaging story, and describes how these remarkable men learnt to navigate canoes across thousands of miles of open ocean.
