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THE PACIFIC TRADITIONS SOCIETY NEWSLETTER
August 1999

The Vaka Taumako Project Newsletter "Thank You, Now I Can See To Teach Others" The last active Polynesian navigator, Koloso Kaveia, became blind after a long voyage in 1980. This summer he was given his sight back on the island of Kaua'i. Dr. Larry Sherrer, assisted by five doctors, ten nurses and technicians, the Wilcox Memorial Hospital, and Alcon Corp. land other manufacturers of optical equipment and medicines), removed cataracts from both eyes of the 85 year old Paramount Chief. Over $13,000 in costs were donated to aid Kaveia in his bid to share traditional navigation skills with a new generation. The result was no less than perfect -- 20/20 vision in both eyes. When the bandage came off, Kaveia stared In wonder. "The colors are so bright" he exclaimed! His "new baby eyes" began to roam and a wide smile lit up his face constantly. He took every opportunity to point out stars and star groups to his companions. He began to study the sky again...this time from 21 degrees north of the equator (Taumako is near 10 degrees south), and with a view toward navigating from Hawaii to Taumako. Two gifts by Kaua'i residents, totaling $30,000, paid for air and shipfares, food and accommodations for Kaveia, his wife, Cecila Teikhala, his translator, Mostyn Vane, and for guides (Mimi and Meph) to assist the novice travelers each way through the bureaucratic nightmare and six airports necessary for them to come to Hawaii and return home. Thanks to the generosity of all involved, an authentic master of Polynesian voyaging skills has been enabled to pass on that knowledge. Taumakoans Start Building A Vaka On Kaua'i Taking advantage of the opportunity to make Kaveia's visit here into a full cultural exchange, the Vaka Taumako Project used existing program funds ,and credit cards, to bring four additional persons from Taumako. They included a video documentarian, Jennifer Vailau, who could assist P/C Kaveia's wife in sail- weaving, and three tribal Chiefs, Moses Memuana, Jonas Holani, and Barnabas Bolami, who are skilled carvers. In between surgeries and appointments, P/C Kaveia led his crew in building a voyaging canoe of the type called tealolili. This vaka is being built for educational use. The home-base of this vaka will be Kaua'i. The Vaka Taumako Project is responsible for the tealolili. Once the vaka is launched we intend to initiate a sail-training and maintenance program. We are presently looking for a safe place for the vaka to be sheltered when not sailing. Paramount Chief (P/C) Kaveia came to Hawaii last year to meet the mokopuna of Lata, the first person to build a vaka. According to Taumakoans, Lata was born at Taumako, but eventually sailed away and visited many islands. When P/C Kaveia saw Hawaiian petroglyphs of the 'crab-claw' shape of Lata's sail, he knew that Lata had been to Hawaii. Kaveia then decided he would like to come back to help people of Hawaii to relearn some of what Lata knew about building and navigating canoes. In Taumakoan terms, Lata returned to Kaua'i for seven weeks this summer. There was magic in every chip that flew with every stroke of the sennit lashed adzes. There was joy in every voice that sang the chants when the rough-cut vaka hull was hauled from one side of the river to the other. There were steps to take and challenges to meet that were the same ones that Lata faced when he built the first vaka. Proper materials, permissions, appropriate communication, how everyone could and should work together were the issues that were met. The atmosphere at the worksite was captivating. People came and found it hard to leave. Again and again, children who were known as hyperactive and troubled became calm and focused. "Chicken skin," laughter, and tears were happening moment by moment. "I feel like I am meeting my ancestors" was a common comment by visitors. "We feel at home, like we are with our relatives again" was what the Taumakoans often said. A lot of time and energy was spent sourcing materials for the vaka. The tree John Pia generously offered for the main hull turned out to be too young and too small. Grove Farm donated a fine albizia and a tractor, and thanks to Stan's trucking, Alan Nonaka, Rick Wa'alani, Bill Cowern, Wayne Jacinto, Leland Nishek, and Juni and Puanani Carvalho, that albizia and another silver oak found their way to the worksite. The main hull is about 28 feet long, and the crossbeams are over 17 feet long and two feet high where they fit over the hull. Dave Boynton and Gunnar Wichman helped acquire timber for steering blades . Eventually we located and acquired permissions to harvest the right type of hala (pandanas) for making the sail. It is the broad leafed, whitish edged, thorned variety that has no trunk, and is not used in weaving today in Hawaii. We are researching the derivation and mapping location of these plants on Kaua'i. We did not find enough of the main type of "lumu" seaweed that is used on Taumako for making a paint that prevents insect and rot damage to the vaka. We did find a small amount of a secondary type and must look for more. In Taumako it grows in abundance on the reef. For now, the hull is being treated with chemicals to keep pinhole borers at bay while it dries. We have yet to gather and process large, green (spoonmeat) coconuts husks for making sennit cordage (for lashing). To prepare fibers for next year, volunteers will be sourcing and processing the husks once a month beginning in September. We did learn some of how to make hau cordage for the running rigging and how to weave the sails. Prior to the arrival of the Taumakoans next year, we will harvest and process the inner bark of the hau and the lauhala. Over six hundred people visited the vaka building site at the Anahola Tare Patch, most of them coming back several times. Groups of children and young adults came from Anahola Ancient Hawaiian Culture Center, Na Pua Noeau, Anahola Job Training Program, Punana Leo, the Boys and Girls Clubs, Na Kuilima o Anahola, K.C.C. Seamanship Program, Hawaiian Immersion School, Kaua'i Correctional Center inmates, and various Kupuna groups, weavers, Hawaiian sovereignty activists, the Hui Na Aoau o Hawaii Nei, Guru Deva and the Hindu temple devotees, woodworkers, botanists, canoe paddlers, sailors, musicians, bodyworkers, and canoe-builders and voyagers from other Pacific Islands, and visitors from around the world. The Taumakoans participated in many cultural events away from the worksite, including the Canoe Festival on Maul (where they demonstrated carving with adzes and weaving lauhala for the sail), a Hawaiian Games Day (where they taught how to use a sling shot and bow and arrows), a research forum on canoe plants at Koke'e Museum, a graduation of Punana Leo students, surfing canoes at Kalapaki, paddling land finishing first!) in a Sr. Masters race on the Wailua, . joining tapa makers at Anini Beach, singing with kupuna at Anahola Clubhouse, joining the Ka Lahui Kaua'l legislative session members in their closing pa'ina, and attending church services.., just to name a few!. How Did We Do It? In addition to the $30,000 donated to bring the P/C to Kaua'I for surgeries, another $13,000 from existing project funds was spent on: five months of traveling expenses tit took that long, to get the group to and fro between Taumako and Kaua'l, and it can easily take longer!), canoe building program expenses, telephone, fax, copies, postage, travel documents, clothes, and equipment, office supplies and expenses, bookkeeping, computer maintenance, video equipment and dupes, and ground transport. Members of the Kaua'i community contributed over $7,000 in food and in-kind services, including timber, ground transport, health care, tents and adze blades, and generous hospitality at many events that the Taumako group attended as honored guests. Meph Wyeth housed and fed the group for two months. John and Suzanne Pia, and their partner Mike Rhodes, welcomed the use of the Tare Patch as a work and storage site. To help meet additional expenses, Micheal Vanderveer and the North Shore Lion's Club gathered cash donations in excess of $3,000. Kaua'i Veterans Memorial Hospital helped out wt7en three Taumakoans had minor health problems. The Hui o Kalama Ola and Anahola Homesteaders Council helped do planning in a hurry, provided generous hospitality, and scrambled to fill in many of the worst gaps. The Garden Island Canoe Racing Association and Durgh and Pomai Kane solved some tough insurance and transport problems. Dozens of people worked hard every day that the group was on Kaua'l, and some are still working. Plans for Next Year There will be a lot to do during a seven week visit of 6 to 8 more Taumakoans. The vaka hull and canoe parts that were rough cut this year will be dry. The parts that must be worked with green will be cut when the Taumakoans return to Kaua'i, then all will be fitted and smoothed. Lashing the massive outrigger could take a few weeks. Then the trial sails!. An interisland voyage is envisioned. Organizational planning has begun for next year. The best time for the Taumakoans to begin their roughly 4 to 8 week journey to Hawaii appears to be late May or early June. We are tentatively setting for a start date of 15 July, and end date of 7 Sept. The main worksite will be on the beachfront by the Anahola River. The Taumakoans will be accommodated in a home near the site. Adequate funds are required to bring the Taumakoans back and to get better organized so that their visit goes smoothly and happily. Fundraising has already begun. Volunteers in this efforts are invited to call Healani at 245-7133. This year the Taumakoans were overwhelmed with hospitality and loved every minute of it. However, they want to be sure to finish the vaka during their next visit. So they have requested that next year there be no other commitments of any type until after the vaka is launched. The launching will be a very special and traditional celebration which all will be welcome to participate in. Unlike this year, we have 11 months to plan and prepare for this event. Those who could not find time to participate this year can plan ahead too! Crew To Sail the Vaka Taumako Home From Nifiloli In early October P/C Kaveia and crew plan to return to Nifiloli. There they will repair the cyclone and exposure damage to Vaka Taumako. There was no canoe house (halevaka) on Nifiloli. Then they will sail Vaka Taumako home as soon as the west wind blows. This usually happens in November or December, but last year was a freak. The wind did not blow from the west until it came as a cyclone! There are likely to be one or two Outer Reef Islanders aboard for the return voyage. Building A HaleVaka at Taumako When the Vaka Taumako is back at home again, the community will begin to cut large posts of insect and rotproof mbo wood for the foundation of a hale to shelter the vaka. This hale is not just to keep the rain off the Vaka Taumako, it can also shelter the small tealolili that they built last year, and it will house an SSB radio, a solar light system, and an archive of Vaka Taumako Project videotapes, books, artwork, artifacts, and teaching and maintenance materials for students of voyaging. There will also be simple accommodations for students and guests. The roof will be made of 60 sheets of extra duty "roofing tin" (steel), painted and covered over with a traditional leaf roof. The halevaka will provide a badly needed community resource building and emergency shelter. The Vaka Taumako and the tealolili at Taumako are rapidly deteriorating. The halevaka will insure that there will still be vaka in a few years, and that students from Taumako and visitors and students from the outside can be accommodated with least disruption to the Taumako residents. $10,000 is required for the roofing tin ($6,000), freight for all listed items ($1,700), solar light and SSB radio battery system ($1,300), video and book archive containers ($1,500), and simple accommodations such as sleeping mats and cooking utensils for guests ($500). Archival Video Program Continues Jennifer Vailau, the Taumakoan video documentarian, shot about 10 hours of videotape and planned the editing of a new archival product that is scheduled to be edited by Jennifer's instructor, Larry Williamson. Larry will use the editing equipment at Ho'ike community access T/ on Kaua'i. In addition to Jennifer's tape, she selected cuts from over 15 hours of tape shot by volunteers Rangi Steed, Curtis Cosmo, and Mike Rhodes, and another 5 hours shot for an Ameritech commercial by professionals Tony and Susan Lehoven. All videotape and photos were taken in accordance with agreements required by the Taumako community and the Solomon Islands government. $8,000 is required if the 1996-98 videotapes are to be digitized and properly logged for future use. Those tapes are deteriorating fast. Amazing new types of high quality editing and transfer equipment can be purchased for almost the same cost as paying for studio equipment and operator time. Funds Needed Now The hard costs of bringing the Taumakoans back and finishing the vaka will be about $100,000.US. About $60,000 of that will go for airfares and other hard travel costs! It is important to remember that these people know what they know, and are who they are, because they live in a very remote, traditional, and self- sufficient way. They sacrifice several months of their lives and livelihoods to come to Hawaii for even the shortest time. We cannot get them here for less. Grants and funding proposals are being sketched now, but to do this work we need funds for office space and office supplies, telephones, contract labor such as bookkeeping, production of reports and papers, and other administration costs. For good planning to be possible, the program funds must be secured by January, 2000. Please help now.