Ask today about this ancient sea people and you will hear a false tale of drifters at the mercy of wind and wave – Kon Tiki. Thor Heyerdahl believed Polynesians floated into the Pacific from South America on crude rafts, pushed by prevailing winds and currents.
But the real story is far more interesting – they sailed against these winds and currents from Southeast Asia in sophisticated sailing craft, and they navigated vast distances without compass, charts or instruments of any kind, using instead a world of natural signs to guide them.
Anthropologist and filmmaker Sam Low’s film, The Navigators - Pathfinders of the Pacific, tells this story. To shoot the film, he traveled all over the Pacific. In Huahine, in the Society Islands, he filmed the excavation of the remains of an ancient sea-going canoe, in Fiji he joined archeologist Roger Green as he discovered pottery that traced the voyaging route of the first Polynesians from islands off the coast of New Guinea, “but the most interesting place I filmed,” Low says,” was on the tiny island of Satawal, in Micronesia.” Here - the last traditional navigators still practice an ancient art - one similar to those used by Polynesians - navigating their canoes without charts or instruments.
“Satawal is one of a few islands where native navigators still make extended voyages off shore without charts
or instruments,” Low says. “These navigators are descendants of the same ancient people as the Polynesians and probably use the same navigational techniques as they did.”
Low’s concept was to film traditional canoe building, fishing sailing and navigating on Satawal as a ‘window on the past’ - to illustrate what life must have been like during the days of the great Polynesian voyages.
A star of Low’s film is Satawalese navigator Mau Piailug. Low shows Mau teaching students to read the weather in sky and sea signs, to navigate by the stars, to build a canoe and to sail it.
Another star of The Navigators is a sailing vessel - Hokule’a - a replica of the kind of craft that ancient Polynesians once used. She is technically a “double hulled voyaging canoe” - or what sailors today might call a catamaran (most of us think these craft are modern, but they are actually an ancient design). Built in 1973 - Hokule’a was designed to show that such craft could endure long voyages, carry plenty of crew and provisions and sail at will in any kind of wind and sea. In 1975, Hokule’a first proved her seaworthiness by voyaging from Hawaii to Tahiti with Mau Piailug as navigator. Since then, Hokule’a has sailed 140,000 miles throughout the Pacific, following the ancient voyaging routes of the ancestral Polynesians.
Anyone wishing to learn what it was like to discover distant islands by the signs of direction in wind, wave and stars will enjoy Low’s film. It is truly a saga of one of the world’s great seafaring people - and a story that most of us have not heard.
The Navigators was first released in 1983, on PBS nationally. Since then, it has been shown on the BBC and television venues worldwide and has become a classic - recognized as the best film to tell the story of the great Polynesian diaspora. It continues to be shown at colleges, universities and other places of higher learning around the world. Just this year, Low has released a renewed high definition version of the film. This will be first time the renewed film will be screened in Maine.
The Navigators will be shown at the Apprentice Shop at 643 Main St. Rockland, on November 8th at 7PM. The Price of admission is $5.00 per person.
Filmmaker Low will be in attendance to answer questions and sign his new book, Hawaiki Rising - Hokule’a, Nainoa Thompson and the Hawaiian Renaissance. Sam Low, is a Harvard trained anthropologist, author, photographer and journalist. He has sailed aboard Hokule’a on three ocean voyages. The story of Polynesian voyaging has fascinated him most of his life. Just this year, he released his book on the subject, Hawaiki Rising - Hokule’a, Nainoa Thompson and the Hawaiian Renaissance. Demand has been so great that Hawaiki Rising is now in its second printing - after only five months after its release. Not yet available in Maine bookstores, Hawaiki Rising will be for sale at the Apprenticeshop after the screening.
For more information please contact Sam Low at (508) 693-0509, The Apprenticeshop at (207) 594-1800 or by email at info@apprenticeshop.org.
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