The ’s (PVS) two traditional Polynesian canoes returned to Oʻahu on May 27, after a two-week training voyage to prepare for its 2022 Moananuiākea Voyage, a circumnavigation of the Pacific. Hikianalia arrived at the University of �鶹��ý Marine Education Training Center at Sand Island at 4:30 a.m. followed by ��ō��ū����ʻ�� at 5:30 a.m.

The original sail plan was for the crew to sail to the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone (the doldrums), located approximately 5 degrees north of the equator. The canoes, however, were delayed for nine days off Lahaina, Maui due to dangerous conditions in the Alenuihaha Channel. Once the weather cleared and the canoes were able to cross the Alenuihaha Channel, which is considered the second roughest channel in the world, and head to Keauhou on �鶹��ý Island. From Keauhou, they sailed to Kalae (South Point) and then into Moananuiākea, about 100 nautical miles south of �鶹��ý Island.

“Although our intent was to take the crew into the storm of the doldrums, Mother Nature had other plans. We still had a robust training nonetheless and we still hit Moananuiākea,” said PVS President and Pwo navigator Nainoa Thompson. “There have been many gifts of learning that we never ever imagined, because we were forced to change. It’s been a spectacular training program,” he added.

The training voyage also provided an opportunity to test the newly-refurbished vessels in strong winds and rough waters. PVS’s goal is to have 120 new crew trained by the end of the summer in preparation for next year’s circumnavigation of the Pacific.

UH’s role in Moananuiākea Voyage

Several key partners including UH’s Office of Indigenous Innovation, UH ����ԴDz�’s (LAVA), , Arizona State University, Kamehameha Schools and the Omidyar ʻohana are contributing to the educational activities of the training sails and the upcoming Moananuiākea Voyage, launching the first phase of the virtual “Third Canoe.”

UH is developing initiatives that blend ancestral knowledge and contemporary innovation to support the educational goals of the “Third Canoe.” Currently, LAVA is working with and UH West Oʻahu’s to perform photogrammetric scans of ��ō��ū����ʻ�� to create the world’s first fully accurate digital archival model of the historic vessel for future crew training, and capturing events onboard ��ō��ū����ʻ�� and Hikianalia during the Doldrums Sail to provide viewers who may never have the opportunity to sail on a voyage to experience it through immersive virtual reality. These products will eventually be exhibited in the Create(x) emerging media space at UH West Oʻahuʻs new Academy for Creative Media Building.

.

The University of �鶹��ý community is mourning the loss of highly respected, deep-sea voyaging canoe ��ō��ū����ʻ�� captain Chad Kālepa Baybayan, who served as a navigator-in-residence at the .

On April 9, loved ones shared that 64-year-old Baybayan, a UH Hilo alumnus, died. They released a brief public statement:

“Mahalo nui loa to all of our ʻohana, immediate and extended, for your comforting thoughts of aloha, pule and support from places near and far. Thank you also for allowing us this time and space to deal with the passing of our beloved husband, father, grandfather, son, brother, cousin, uncle and friend to so many. Me ke aloha nui nō.”

Baybayan, a Pwo navigator, was one of the original ��ō��ū����ʻ�� crew members. He took part in the three-year Mālama Honua Worldwide Voyage, a 42,000 nautical mile journey which consisted of 150 ports in more than 20 countries. The headline-grabbing expedition earned Baybayan and the ��ō��ū����ʻ�� crew a National Geographic nomination.

“Kālepa dedicated his life to perpetuate the voyaging wisdom of his ancestors,” said UH President David Lassner who sailed with Baybayan on ��ō��ū����ʻ��. “I feel fortunate and honored to have been part of the crew for some of his journeys in recent years and to have been able to learn from him. Kālepa’s passing leaves a deep hole within the University and is an immense loss for all of �鶹��ý.”

The Maui native also served as captain on voyaging canoes �鶹��ýloa and Hōkūalakaʻi. Baybayan brought his ʻike (knowledge) of traditional Polynesian voyaging to ʻImiloa and developed wayfinding activities, curriculum and educational criteria, and coordinated outreach programs and projects. A champion of astronomy, the cherished waterman worked to fulfill ʻImiloa’s mission to merge science and discovery with Hawaiian culture.

“We were honored to know, and work alongside him here at ʻImiloa in his education and outreach endeavors as our navigator-in-residence,” said ʻImiloa Executive Director Kaʻiu Kimura. “But even more than that, we were blessed to have him as a friend and member of our ʻohana ʻImiloa. The impact of his life’s work is evidenced in so many ways all throughout the community and while he will be sorely missed, we are committed to continuing his work of educating future generations about the wealth and applicability of our ancestral knowledge of wayfinding to ongoing pursuit of new knowledge to the benefit of our community and our �鶹��ý.”

In summer 2020, Baybayan co-published a UH study on the severe lack of documentation of Indigenous voyaging data. He found publications on non-instrument wayfinding and voyaging of Pacific Islanders were often ignored in widely used indexes such as the Dewey Decimal Classification in libraries, the Library of Congress and the Web of Science citation database. Baybayan advocated for a more complete database system to benefit those conducting research in traditional wayfinding and voyaging arts.

“Draw your own map, become the map maker…the cartographer for your own life,”
—Chad Kālepa Baybayan

In 2017, after wrapping up ��ō��ū����ʻ��’s historical three-year journey, he was selected to deliver the keynote address at UH Hilo’s fall commencement. Baybayan urged the graduates not to be observers, to get into the race and paddle and be like the oceanic mariners who sailed into the Pacific and discovered the stars.

During the address he noted, “Draw a big circle around where you want to end up and then throw the map away. Draw your own map, become the map maker…the cartographer for your own life. Don’t let anyone tell you what you should be. Donʻt let others define you. Be responsible for owning your own dream and vision of where you want to arrive at. Be persistent and relentless and working that sail plan so that you arrive at your destination.”

UH Hilo Chancellor Bonnie Irwin added “Kālepa personified the finest attributes of a UH Hilo alumnus and staff member, paying forward his education to inspire generations to seek out knowledge and preserve ancestral ways.”

Baybayan’s work through the and UH has helped shape a new generation of navigators, educators, scientists and community stewards.

“Bravo!” shouted the crowd in the Neal S. Blaisdell Centerʻs Concert Hall, as they applauded and rose to their feet.

They were the fortunate witnesses of the March 28, 2019 world premiere of Raise Hawaiki, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to experience a collaborative artistic interpretation of the , composed by the ’s award-winning Michael-Thomas Foumai.

The performed with the Oʻahu Choral society, joined by choirs from UH ����ԴDz� and with choral participation from Kapiʻolani Community College and UH West Oʻahu. Performers also joined from the �鶹��ý Youth Opera Chorus and community choirs. They sang the words of Polynesian voyaging greats Eddie Aikau, Nainoa Thompson, Mau Piailug, Sam Kaʻai and Sam Low.

Raise Hawaiki was composed by Foumai, a UH Mānoa music lecturer and winner of the 2017 American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers Foundation () young composer award.

Inspired by story of the voyaging canoe Hōkūleʻa, the large-scale symphonic work brought together �鶹��ý’s major institutions of performance, learning and voyaging, mirroring Hōkūleʻa’s voyages that bring communities together across the planet to embrace and care for their culture and natural environments.

The event featured a cast of a thousand, including 200 musicians and singers, hula choreographed by Lauren Kanoelani Chang Williams, with projection visuals from the Polynesian Voyaging Society and ʻŌiwiTV, historical photos by Sam Low and Ben Young, artwork by Herbert Kāne and voyager Hana Yoshihata, and a pre-show performance from IONA Contemporary Dance Theatre.

See what composer Michael-Thomas Foumai had to say about Raise Hawaiki.

—By Kelli Trifonovitch

The , composed by the award-winning Michael-Thomas Foumai, will be performed by the at the Neal S. Blaisdell Concert Hall on March 28 at 7:30 p.m.

This performance is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to experience the artistic interpretation of the .

A unique collaboration of �Ჹ�ɲ���ʻ��’s arts organizations and artists will perform this world premiere with the �鶹��ý Symphony Orchestra. Collaborators who created this amazing experience include the UH Mānoa Music Department; UH Foundation; the �鶹��ý Symphony Orchestra and the Polynesian Voyaging Society. Performers are from the Oʻahu Choral Society, UH Mānoa, Kapiʻolani Community College, UH West Oʻahu, the �鶹��ý Youth Opera Chorus, community choirs and IONA Contemporary Dance Theatre.

The dream

It was philanthropist Elizabeth Wong who dreamed of a symphony in honor of the Hōkūleʻa and its Mālama Honua Voyage around the world. Through her friend SaraLyn Smith at the UH Foundation, she sought out Foumai to compose it. Together the three of them built a collaborative team to bring the music and artistic communities together with the Polynesian Voyaging Society in a historic retelling of ��ō��ū����ʻ��’s story through symphony orchestra and chorus.

The chorus will be singing the words of Polynesian voyaging greats Eddie Aikau, Nainoa Thompson, Mau Piailug, Sam Kaai and Sam Low.

Composer Michael-Thomas Foumai

Foumai, the winner of the 2017 American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers Foundation young composer award, is a UH Mānoa lecturer.

“I would describe Raise Hawaiki as an epic of �鶹��ý,” says Foumai, who says the origins of both music and voyaging are connected through the ancient Greeks. Master Navigator Thompson told Foumai that, early on, when Polynesian voyaging traditions were deemed lost, he and his team studied ancient Greek navigation.

“That for me is what Hōkūleʻa is,” says Foumai. “It is the resurrection. It is the celebration of Hawaiian culture, which was almost lost, but now it is alive, and well and thriving.”

Cast of a thousand

The event features a cast of a thousand, including 200 musicians and singers, hula choreographed by Lauren Kanoelani Chang Williams, with projection visuals from the Polynesian Voyaging Society and ʻŌiwi TV, historical photos by Sam Low and Ben Young, artwork by Herbert Kāne and voyager Hana Yoshihata, and a pre-show performance from IONA Contemporary Dance Theatre.

The evening, including a performance of Brahm’s Requiem, is sponsored in part by the Wallace, Elizabeth and Isabella Wong Family Foundation.

Foumai says,”I hope the audience will take away from the experience of listening to this symphony, as if they were aboard Hōkūleʻa, as if they journeyed around the world.”

Tickets may be purchased at the .

—By Kelli Trifonovitch

Having traveled approximately 40,300 nautical miles, ��ō��ū����ʻ�� is home from traveling around the world, but not for long. This fall she will depart on a mahalo sail around the state. In anticipation of the public’s interest to learn more about navigation, and the (PVS) are offering Level I Basic Crew Member Training starting July 11. The course consists of 15 sessions over eight weeks.

Taught by Honolulu CC Associate Professor and PVS Captain Robert Perkins at the college’s (METC) at Sand Island, students will learn about the history of the Polynesian Voyaging Society, parts of a canoe, seamanship and navigation basics.

“It is amazing to think that the Polynesians, long before the Europeans had ever crossed any oceans, were discovering and settling the largest ocean on planet Earth,” says Perkins.

• Related UH News story: The partnership that gave ��ō��ū����ʻ�� a home, June 16, 2017

Becoming a crew member is an intense and extensive process. Although participants will not be going on a sail at this level, this course will introduce them to the first steps of understanding what it’s like to be a crew member of a canoe.

Honolulu CC student and ��ō��ū����ʻ�� crew member Maleko Lorenzo says, “Most people don’t know it’s pretty physical to sail these canoes, these big voyaging canoes.”

In alignment with the University of �鶹��ý‘s commitment to serving as a model indigenous institution of higher knowledge, Honolulu CC is promoting Hawaiian values and culture through these non-credit offerings and its Hawaiian studies degree program. Honolulu CC offers courses in Hawaiian astronomy and navigation through its Hoʻokele program at METC in which students receive hands on sailing practice on a 16-passenger canoe Kamauheheu, which was constructed by Honolulu CC students.

The Level I Basic Crew Member Training course is offered as a non-credit option at $60 per session. For more information about the course visit the or call (808) 845-9296.

—By Billie Lueder

On June 17, more than 135 years after King David Kalākaua returned to �鶹��ý after circumnavigating the world, faculty, staff and friends from repeated the spirit of welcome and homecoming for the ��ō��ū����ʻ�� and its escort canoe the Hikianalia upon their return from their worldwide voyage by lighting torches on the summit of Diamond Head, or ��ŧʻ����.

Meeting at 4:30 in the morning, greeters put on their kīhei and tī-leaf lei before they ascended the summit of ��ŧʻ����. The early morning was still and dark, but the members managed the trail, respectful of the Hawaiian flag and a pahu (drum) they carried. When they reached the summit, they were greeted by the sunrise and the break of dawn.

As the flotilla of vessels appeared, members chanted in unison with passion and vigor. Fire from the torches had already burned themselves out, but sounds from the pahu drum proved that one cannot change the sound of an echo. Chanting of the oli provided immutable resonance and repeated itself from energy of its own.

����ɲ�ʻ�� Napoleon, one of the coordinators of the event said, “There is an ʻōlelo noʻeau that sums up the homecoming of ��ō��ū����ʻ�� on June 17, 2017. ‘Umi ka hanu! Hoʻokahi ka umauma ke ��ī���ʻ�dz󾱷ɾ�.’” (Hold the breath! Walk abreast, shoulder to shoulder) Translation: Be of one accord, as in exerting every effort to lift a heavy weight to the shoulder and to keep together in carrying it along.

Kapiʻolani CC is proud of alumnus Nainoa Thompson and prouder still to have his legacy in the Hawaiian Star Compass on campus. It is the Polynesian Voyaging Society through fellow traveler and pwo navigator Bruce Blankenfeld, that helped Kapiʻolani Community College find the North Star, preserved and used in teaching and as a reminder to mind our own moral compass.

Interim Chancellor Louise Pagotto shared her thoughts: “We honored Nainoa, the navigators and crew of the ��ō��ū����ʻ�� by greeting them on their voyage home. We honored their ancestors by chanting the words from long ago. The energies and dedication of Kapulani Landgraf and ����ɲ�ʻ�� Napoleon guided and supported us throughout the planning, preparation and realization of the event. We participated in marking an historic event and I’ve never felt more proud to be of Kapiʻolani Community College.”

Read more UH News on Mālama Honua.

—By Louise Yamamoto

Amid the blowing of pū and the cheering of thousands gathered at Magic Island, the sailed home in June 2017 after .

It was an event of deep significance to the University of �鶹��ý ʻohana. Countless UH students, faculty, staff and alumni served the voyage in myriad ways, as volunteers, navigators, captains and scientific researchers.

At the homecoming, Polynesian Voyaging Society President Nainoa Thompson reiterated his assertion that UH is “hands down” the most important institution in the region.

“The University of �鶹��ý is the most important navigator we have in the Pacific,” Thompson said in an earlier interview. “It’s the most important navigator and it’s the most important waʻa. It’s the most important canoe that we have. It’s what can help us find our destinations that are worthy of our children that the other big institutions cannot.”

“The university has been instrumental in every part of this voyage,” said UH President who also served as a crewmember. “Most obviously we are the homeport for the ��ō��ū����ʻ��, Hikianalia, �鶹��ý Loa the Polynesian Voyaging Society. They are our partners and residents at our Marine Education Training Center at Sand Island, part of .”

• Related UH News: The partnership that gave ��ō��ū����ʻ�� a home, June 16, 2017

Honolulu CC instructor Kaʻiulani Murphy served as lead navigator during ��ō��ū����ʻ��’s sail home from Tahiti. UH Hilo Navigator in Residence Chad Kālepa Baybayan has also captained numerous legs of the voyage.

Prior to undertaking the worldwide voyage, Thompson consulted with UH scientists from the , , and more. “There were enormous amounts of research, …we knew who to call,” he said.

Doctors at the made sure the crew was healthy enough to voyage and helped to keep them that way. During the voyage, UH held systemwide gatherings at College Hill and to share information and commitments to Mālama Honua or “care for our Earth.” One key commitment came from the UH ����ԴDz� : teach the values of Mālama Honua to the future teachers studying in the college.

The University of �鶹��ý is one of more than a hundred educational partners who have signed the Promise to the Children, which says, in part, “…we promise to create, sustain and navigate a movement dedicated to future generations, one that is imbued with the goodness of ��ō��ū����ʻ�� and the wisdom born of her legacy.”

Thompson said, “Twenty years from now, sustainability, I promise you, will be figured out. We will be on alternative energy 20 years from now. We will have figured out issues of food sovereignty to get off the 95 percent that we import. Itʻs a very dangerous situation that we have in �鶹��ý and there’s no other institution that has the mandate and the mission and the power to do that.”

Read more UH News on Mālama Honua.

—By Kelli Trifonovitch

Since 2002, the (PVS) and Honolulu Community College’s (METC) have been working together to develop a learning center that combines the voyaging and cultural expertise of PVS and the educational background of the University of �鶹��ý into a new, experience-driven format of training for future students.

The partnership actually saved the venerable . After returning to Oʻahu from a historic trip to Tahiti in 1976, ��ō��ū����ʻ�� had no permanent home and bounced around for a few years. PVS was looking for new berthing, and Honolulu CC stepped up. The vision was not only a home for ��ō��ū����ʻ��, but a venue for integrating traditional and cultural skills and values with a community based educational institution.

“We are just so fortunate, so lucky, that there was a Marine Education Training Center and that there was a place to finally take care of ��ō��ū����ʻ��,” says PVS President Nainoa Thompson. “[The METC] was a place that we could conduct the kinds of education that are tied to our values and contribute to the strengthening of Hawaiian culture.”

Restoring ��ō��ū����ʻ��

Honolulu CC would step up again in 2010, when tens of thousands of volunteer hours were donated at METC to repair and refurbish ��ō��ū����ʻ�� in preparation for the . The college is continuing its commitment to further develop navigation curriculum by offering . Participants will learn about the history of the Polynesian Voyaging Society, parts of a canoe, seamanship and navigation basics.

The 10-campus UH System has been an educational partner in the Mālama Honua Worldwide Voyage, with hundreds of students, faculty and staff participating in multiple ways.

Thompson often cites the late astronaut Lacy Veach when explaining the purpose of the worldwide voyage. Veach once said, “When we figure out how to live well on our islands, we will have the most important gift we can give to the earth, and that is hope.”

Thompson says, “We are going to work towards that dream, and the key is the university. It’s the University of �鶹��ý helping us shine the way.”

—By Kelli Trifonovitch

The iconic voyaging canoe is scheduled to return from the Mālama Honua Worldwide Voyage to the Hawaiian Islands in June 2017. On June 17, the Polynesian Voyaging Society and its crew members, including many from the ʻohana, will conclude the three-year sail around the globe and make an historic arrival at Oʻahu’s Magic Island after sailing nearly 40,000 nautical miles since departing Hawaiian waters on May 30, 2014. Themed Lei Kaʻapuni Honua, meaning “A Lei Around The World,” Hōkūleʻa’s homecoming celebration will include the following events:

• June 17, Arrival Ceremony and Celebration, Magic Island
  Join thousands of Hōkūleʻa’s ʻohana at Magic Island, including families, students, educators, sustainability organizations, ocean conservationists, voyaging waʻa groups, community residents and visitors.
• June 18–20, Mālama Honua Fair and Summit and Hōkūleʻaa Canoe Tours, �鶹��ý Convention Center
  In celebration of Hōkūleʻa’s homecoming after voyaging around Island Earth, the Polynesian Voyaging Society invites the community to gather for a three-day summit to discuss mālama honua stories of hope inspired by the Worldwide Voyage and to develop sail plans for the future of �鶹��ý and our planet.
• June 17–25, World Youth Summit Reconnecting to Our Ancestral Roots to Build Sustainable Communities, �鶹��ý Convention Center
  In celebration of Hōkūleʻa’s homecoming after voyaging around Island Earth, youth leaders from around the world will join members of the Student Sustainability Coalition of �鶹��ý, a �鶹��ýstudent organization, for a three-day summit to discuss sail plans for the global 2030 sustainable development goals. The World Youth Congress theme is Reconnecting to Our Ancestral Roots to Build Sustainable Communities. It will run synergistically with the Mālama Honua Fair and Summit, will address many of the issues discussed at the 2016 IUCN World Conservation Congress, and is hosted by Peace Child International �鶹��ý.
• June 19, Polynesian Voyaging Society Benefit Dinner, �鶹��ý Convention Center
  Themed Lei Kaʻapuni Honua, A Lei Around the World, this fundraiser is a celebration of Hōkūleʻa’s return benefiting the Polynesian Voyaging Society’s efforts to advance the Mālama Honua mission with activities that enrich our communities and build a sustainable future.

Registration and additional information about these Hōkūleʻa homecoming events can be found at the .

Voting is open to support members of the University of �鶹��ý ʻohana as . The recognition is for extraordinary achievements in exploration, adventure sports, conservation or humanitarianism.

Among this year’s nominees is The , comprised of celestial circumnavigators such as the Polynesian Voyaging Society’s , a former University of �鶹��ý regent, and UH Hilo’s Navigator-in-Residence . The team is currently on a four-year journey across large swaths of oceans in the famed Hōkūleʻa voyaging canoe guided only by the stars and the belief that Polynesian culture should not be lost to the wake of modernization. In the process, they ignited a cultural restoration in �鶹��ý and taught a new generation of adventurers how to navigate by the stars. Thompson was also a 2016 recipient of the National Geographic Society’s most prestigious award, the Hubbard medal.

• Related:

The Mālama Honua Worldwide Voyage began in 2013 and will continue through 2017 when a new generation of navigators take the helm and guide the voyaging canoes Hōkūleʻa and Hikianalia back to Polynesia after circumnavigating the globe.

Vote now!

Online voting for the People’s Choice Adventurer of the Year is now open and will run through December 16, 2016. for their favorite honoree. The adventurer with the most votes at the end of the voting period will be announced in January as the 2017 People’s Choice Adventurer of the Year.

Besides The Hōkūleʻa Team, this year’s nominees include a cave diver who discovered the world’s deepest underwater cave, a pair of journalists who embarked on a full-length hike through the Grand Canyon, a kayaker who completed the first solo descent of the 5,464-kilometer Yellow River in China and a teenage rock climber who became the first female (and youngest person) to complete some of the hardest-rated boulder routes on Earth.

“This is the 12^th year that National Geographic has searched around the world for individuals who personify the adventurous spirit in unique ways,” said Mary Anne Potts, National Geographic Adventure editorial director. “This year’s honorees are extraordinary and inspiring people who push the boundaries of exploration.”

Connect online

More on the 2017 People’s Choice Adventurer of the Year is also available at on Instagram or on Twitter using #advofyear.

—By Kelli Trifonovitch

Hundreds of young leaders from around the globe will gather at the for the June 24–July 1, 2017. The delegates will address many of the issues discussed at the 2016 . The 2017 congress is being hosted by the , a UH student organization, and �鶹��ý.

“Youth voices play an important role in international dialogue not only to introduce fresh ideas today, but also to empower the stewards of tomorrow to sustain future conversations,” said Jessica Sevilla, a University of �鶹��ý at Mānoa Sustainability Fellow.

“�鶹��ý is thrilled to host the 2017 World Youth Congress (WYC), particularly after being the host for the first WYC in 1999,” said Jessica Worchel, board chair of Peace Child International �鶹��ý. “Youth across the globe are actively engaged in exploring how communities are tackling international challenges by reconnecting to indigenous wisdom and identifying contemporary solutions and �鶹��ý is an ideal location to demonstrate how the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals can be owned and advanced at local levels. We also look forward to welcoming back the Hōkūleʻa and celebrating a new generation of youth voices”

Inspired by the and its global call to Mālama Honua, international delegates attending the 2017 World Youth Congress will explore the theme “Reconnecting to our Ancestral Roots to build Sustainable Communities” and work on the following questions:

• How do we repair, restore and regenerate our natural environment?
• What kind of livelihoods do we want to create to ensure that our communities and planet thrive?
• How can young leaders engage with and influence global decision makers?
• How can young leaders contextualize the United Nations Sustainable?
• Development Goals and work with member states to achieve them by 2030?

“We are kind of a microcosm of the world,” said Student Sustainability Coalition of �鶹��ý member and Kapiʻolani CC student Jeff Kim. “If we can make sustainability work here, we know that there’s a lot of hope for the rest of the world as a whole.”

“The 2017 World Youth Congress reinforces next generation leadership on the Aloha+ Challenge, �鶹��ý’s statewide sustainability initiative to achieve the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development at a local level,” said Celeste Connors, executive director of . “This is an extremely exciting opportunity for �鶹��ý’s youth, especially as it will be timed with return of Hōkūleʻa from the Worldwide Voyage and the launch of the Aloha+ Green Workforce and Education 2030 goal.”

The World Youth Congress series began as the Millennium Young People’s Congress in �鶹��ý in 1999 under the chairmanship of Senator Daniel K. Inouye and leadership of State Senator Suzanne Chun-Oakland, Mae Mendelson and Joanne Tachibana of the United Nations Association-�鶹��ý.

For more information on the World Youth Congress including how to apply or volunteer, email hawaii@peacechild.org.

Crewmembers aboard the Hōkūleʻa, including University of �鶹��ý President David Lassner, continued their community outreach through the New York Education and Environment Summit on June 6. The crew was joined by educators and community members from �鶹��ý and New York.

The summit was held on Governors Island, where the delegation was received by the Trust for Governors Island, the National Park Service, New York Harbor School and the . The �鶹��ý delegation included Lassner, Kanu o Ka ʻĀina and Ka Waihona o Ka Naʻauao charter schools’ administrators and students and representatives and students from Kamehameha Schools. Honolulu City and County Mayor Kirk Caldwell was also present for the discussions that centered on sustainability and protection of the environment.

Nainoa Thompson, president of the , spoke on the and its connections with the Billion Oyster Project—a STEM-based initiative aimed at restoring one billion live oysters in the New York Harbor. After the morning’s presentations and discussions, the New York Harbor School conducted tours of the facilities.

The outreach continued June 7 with a presentation by master navigator on behalf of the UH Hilo at Hayden Planetarium at the .

Babayan is one of many educators taking the science of navigation around the world and returning to �鶹��ý with a wealth of new experiences. He told ʻŌiwi TV, “It’s about building the depth of experience so that I can continue to tell the great stories and inspire all people, not just the generations to come, but to inspire all people.”

• Learn more about Babayan:

—From a Polynesian Voyaging Society news release

University of �鶹��ý President David Lassner as a crew member aboard the Hōkūleʻa. The president is spending part of his vacation sailing with the from Washington D.C. headed to New York as part of Hōkūleʻa’s East Coast Voyage.

• Related UH News:

The Washington D.C. outreach at the capitol included a lei draping of the King Kamehameha statue and St. Damien, as well as events at prominent D.C. locations before setting sail for New York.

Lassner will continue to share Hōkūleʻa’s message in New York at various events including at the United Nations.

As a longtime partner of the , many University of �鶹��ý students, faculty and staff actively participate in the robust education and community engagement efforts of Hōkūleʻa’s Worldwide Voyage, and the leg up the East Coast of the United States is no exception.

Master navigator , navigator in residence at the University of �鶹��ý’s , served as captain for the Hōkūleʻa’s historic sail to Washington >D.C. Baybayan also participated in various presentations and exchanges and given talks about celestial navigation at ports along the East Coast.

“Navigation has taught me to be an educator and a mentor so all I am doing is fulfilling my role and just presenting material in different venues,” said Baybayan. “So I am serving as a traditional navigator but also at multiple venues.”

of the University of �鶹��ý at Mānoa’s and Mark Kimura of Honolulu Community College’s have also served as crew members aboard Hōkūleʻa, helping to spread the message of mālama honua, or caring for Island Earth. University of �鶹��ý President David Lassner was one of the select crewmembers sailing from Washington D.C. to New York.

“I know from many other experiences I have had in life that you can’t learn unless you participate,” said Lassner. “And I believe this voyage is really important to �鶹��ý and that makes it important to the university and our role in �鶹��ý.”

Lassner added, “To me, that’s what the World Wide Voyage and mālama honua stand for—sustainability, indigenous serving, education, research and our service to the community. So I ask, ‘Why wouldn’t we be involved?’ It’s an incredible opportunity to do exactly what the University of �鶹��ý is supposed to be doing.”

The Mālama Honua Woldwide Voyage circumnavigating the globe began in 2013 and is scheduled to continue through 2017 when a new generation of navigators will take the helm.

About 55 participants from all 10 campuses worked on ways to synergize the work of UH with the at the University of �Ჹ�ɲ���ʻ�� at Hilo’s �Ჹ����ʻō������� in February.

It was the second UH Mālama Honua Worldwide Voyage gathering, following .

This meeting had three objectives:

• Acknowledge the importance of the University of �Ჹ�ɲ���ʻ�� System’s understanding, appreciation and respect for ʻ����� �Ჹ�ɲ���ʻ��i in teaching, research and service.
• Refine focus areas and develop action plans for the University of �Ჹ�ɲ���ʻ�� System ideas and projects that surfaced through brainstorming at the last gathering on December 4, 2015.
• Connect the Mālama Honua Worldwide Voyage to current to strengthen ongoing work in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM), sustainability and becoming a model indigenous serving institution.

The Polynesian Voyaging Society’s Nainoa Thompson told the gathering he wanted to humbly impress upon them how important this meeting was, “to create the conversations to take care of �Ჹ�ɲ���ʻ�� for the Earth.”

“�Ჹ�ɲ���ʻ�� is the best place,” said Thompson. “It needs its navigators, and many are sitting in this room.”

For more on the meeting, read from UH Hilo Stories.

For more photos of the second UH Mālama Honua Worldwide Voyage meeting, go to the .

More from the December 2015 meeting

UH News story:

—By Kelli Trifonovitch

Furuto joined the College of Education in 2013 after serving as associate professor of mathematics at where she gained notoriety for building the mathematics program and her Ethnomathematics Institute. The institute addresses issues of equitable and quality education through the exploration of culturally responsive, place-based STEM.

Furuto has incorporated the into the institute’s P–20 curriculum. An integral part of the voyage, Furuto served on the first international leg from �鶹��ý to Tahiti as apprentice navigator and education specialist while liaising with the college’s students and faculty. She has since voyaged on subsequent legs to American Sāmoa, Sāmoa, Olohega (Swain’s Island) and Aotearoa (New Zealand). She will voyage to South Africa in November.

More about PBS Hawaii’s Long Story Short segment

During the PBS segment, Furuto focused on themes, including the importance of ʻohana and values; servant leadership and being stewards of the land; engaging in lifelong learning and teaching; embracing changing winds; and navigating past, present and future visions.

“One of the most important lessons I have learned is about reciprocity,” Furuto stated. “We would not be here without the people and land that raised us to embrace this generation and time. It is our inherited privilege, gift and responsibility to give back to Island Earth for those to come.”

—By Jennifer Parks

Sailing halfway around the world from �鶹��ý to South Africa and multiple ports and countries in between, the University of �鶹��ý has been an integral part of the voyaging canoe ��ō��ū����ʻ��s worldwide voyage, also known as Mālama Honua, or “to care for our earth.”

The University of �鶹��ý is the higher education partner in the Worldwide Voyage. About 50 University of �鶹��ý students, faculty and staff from across are already directly involved with the voyage. Some of these participants met recently to discuss UH’s next steps.

President and Master Navigator Nainoa Thompson said that the University of �鶹��ý is the key to shaping a better world for our children.

“The university is in an amazing moment in time. And in this room, I think you have the navigators,” Thompson told the gathering. “I think if you added up all of your experience, all the things that you’ve been through, all the challenges that you’ve been through, all the things that you fought for and added it all up, that’s extraordinarily powerful.”

Meeting participants included Chad Kālepa Baybayan who is both a master navigator and navigator-in-residence at UH Hilo’s . He says a lot of people don’t know the extent of UH’s involvement in Mālama Honua.

“We’re probably the lead institution, most heavily engaged in providing active participation, actually providing the manpower and resources to execute the voyage,” Baybayan said.

Small group discussions led by �鶹��ýstakeholders on how to mālama honua included:

• Student Support and Academic Programs (Haunani Kane, UH Mānoa, and Auliʻi Silva, Leeward Community College)
• Research Inquiry (Ruth Gates, UH Mānoa, and Kaʻiu Kimura, UH Hilo)
• Institutional Change (Hokulani Aikau, UH Mānoa, and Pualani Lincoln, �鶹��ý Community College)
• Campus/Community Partnerships (Dennis Chun, Kauaʻi Community College and Leimomi Dierks, Windward Community College/UH Mānoa)

UH President David Lassner said, “This is a day for all of us to learn from each other and then chart the path forward for our university for �鶹��ý’s university and sail toward a better future.”

The crew of ��ō��ū����ʻ�� has reached the climax of the most ambitious leg—the final stop on the South African leg of her historic journey. South Africa marks the halfway point of the Worldwide Voyage and the furthest point from �鶹��ý for ��ō��ū����ʻ�� and her crew. ��ō��ū����ʻ�� arrived into Cape Town on Thursday, November 12.

Three members of the University of �鶹��ý ʻohana are participating in the South Africa leg of the World Wide Voyage. They are Chad Kalepa Baybayan, navigator-in-residence for the at UH Hilo; Linda Furuto, associate professor of curriculum studies at UH Mānoa and Honolulu Community College Associate Professor and Director of Marine Maintenance and Repair Robert Perkins.

The ��ō��ū����ʻ�� and her crew are expected to spend one week in Cape Town. They will be joined by a 60 person delegation of �鶹��ý educators, students and families. Together, they will support the Mālama Honua mission of the voyage by engaging with the local community through various activities to be held throughout the week including a ceremony of friendship, a service project at Table Mountain National Park, a cultural exchange and a surf session with The Surfer Kids, canoe tours, school visits and more.

The University of �鶹��ý is an education partner in ��ō��ū����ʻ��’s Mālama Honua Worldwide Voyage. More than 50 University of �鶹��ý faculty, staff and students from , , , , , , , Kauaʻi Community College and are actively participating in the Mālama Honua Worldwide Voyage.

—Story includes excerts from a Polynesian Voyaging Society news release

graduate student and apprentice navigator Haunani Kane is featured in ’s Voyaging for the Future: Great Barrier Reef. In the episode, Kane shares her experience exploring the Great Barrier Reef alongside UH coral researcher Ruth Gates and navigator Nainoa Thompson, fulfilling a lifelong dream while continuing her research on island environments and the impact of climate change on coastal zones.

“It has been an amazing experience so far exploring the Great Barrier Reef and meeting all the people passionate about protecting it,” said Kane. “Although we’re all from different parts of the globe, the underlying theme of taking care of our natural resources genuinely connects us all.”

About the Mālama Honua Worldwide Voyage

The Polynesian Voyaging Society’s is an ongoing, 47,000-mile voyage in which two polynesian voyaging canoes, the ��ō��ū����ʻ�� and the Hikianalia, are sailing around the world in an effort to promote a more sustainable future.

Kane is part of a new generation of navigators that are helping to preserve the ancient Hawaiian art of navigation through hands-on experience and outreach in communities across the globe.

As of 2015 the ��ō��ū����ʻ�� and Hikianalia have made port in French Polynesia, Sāmoa, the Cook Islands, Tonga, Aotearoa and Australia. The voyage began in 2013 and is expected to continue through 2017.

For more Polynesian Voyaging Society stories, visit the .

—By Kapiʻolani Ching

Three key staff contributed to Hawaiian voyaging canoe ’s exploration and research at Australia’s Great Barrier Reef in June.

• Chad Kalepa Baybayan is a master navigator and serves as astronomer in residence at UH’s ʻImiloa Astronomy Center on the Big Island.
• UH graduate assistant Haunani Kane is serving as ��ō��ū����ʻ��’s assistant navigator.
• UH researcher Ruth Gates, an expert on corals, joined the dive of the Great Barrier Reef.

Gates calls Hokulea’s worldwide voyage the single greatest study ever undertaken of the interaction between human beings and the ocean.

“In �鶹��ý we have fantastic reefs, but there are fewer species of corals and few species of fish,” said Gates. “When we were out on the Great Barrier Reef, the coral has so many different forms and shapes. The colors are incredible, there’s just an incredible visual diversity as you look out.”

While in Australia, the crew also visited the world’s largest living reef aquarium in the in Townsville. It inspired discussions about potential collaborations for the future.

“The fact that they could raise something like 70 different species of coral in a single fish tank and have it be thriving with fish and limu, it was just remarkable,” said Kane.

The University of �鶹��ý is an education partner in ��ō��ū����ʻ��’s Mālama Hōnua Worldwide Voyage, which will cover 27 nations through June 2017. The Great Barrier Reef meetings and dives were designed to futher the Mālama Hōnua mission: taking care of our island Earth.