The Hokule’a is a Polynesian voyaging canoe circumnavigating the globe on a voyage with goals both scientific and educational.
In March, Hōkūleʻa touched the continental US for the first time in the Everglades of Florida. She will be sailing up the East Coast over the next several months connecting with schools, Native American peoples, maritime communities and more. Hōkūleʻa will engage in ports from the Everglades to Manhattan to collect and share stories. The crew expects to encounter a depth and diversity of backgrounds in these communities and will strive to hear them all.
“How do we enter somebody else’s home, somebody else’s land, from very different diverse cultures and histories that are all relevant, that are all meaningful, that are all powerful, and simply come in and make sure that we have permission, and make sure that we are going to be decent, and make sure to thank and honor and pay respect to all people?” asked Thompson.
To start, Hōkūleʻa engaged with the Seminole people of South Florida. “We believe that the first people we should see is first peoples. Out of respect. So coming into Florida, in the Key West area, knowing that this is the land of the Seminoles, we’re working with them to trust us that we’re coming for the right reasons.” After visiting with the first people of South Florida, Hōkūleʻa will voyage to Cape Kennedy where crew will visit the NASA Space Center to honor Hawai‘i astronaut Lieutenant Colonel Lacy Veach.
“The country needs to know that Lacy was the one that planted the idea as a seed into us in 1992 to take Hōkūleʻa around the world.” said Thompson, “Florida becomes foundational for us to articulate and communicate to this country that that’s why we’re coming – out of respect, and out of honoring and making sure that they know that Lacy’s legacy counts. I don’t think we can go up the coast until we establish that.”
Following Florida, the crew will travel up the east coast making several stops (see schedule below) including South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia, where PVS will celebrate Earth Day with the Mariner’s Museum in Newport News, offering canoe tours and dockside outreach to the public. Additional engagement stops in Virginia include Yorktown and Tangier Island, where the crew will focus on many of the environmental issues affecting the Chesapeake Bay and the efforts to protect the country’s largest watershed. From there, the iconic canoe will arrive at the nation’s capital by sailing down the Potomac River and docking at the Washington Canoe Club.
After spending about a week in Washington DC, Hōkūleʻa will sail to New York City, where she will be a focal point at World Oceans Day events hosted by the United Nations on June 8, 2016. The theme of this year’s World Oceans Day is Healthy Oceans, Healthy Planet. While in New York City, Hōkūleʻa will also participate in the Hawaiian Airlines Liberty Challenge, which is the east coast’s largest Pacific Islands festival and one of the world’s most competitive outrigger races. Hōkūleʻa is expected to depart New York City on June 18, for several engagements in the New England area.
Tentative East Coast Port Stops*
Visit www.hokulea.com for more details.
