Tahitian canoeists plan voyage to New Zealand

Press, 15 July 1976, Page 4

Tahitian canoeists plan voyage to New Zealand

PA ' Hamilton A group of Tahitians maysail a canoe to New Zealand to retrace the legendary voyages of their ancestors, according to an American anthropologist, Dr Ben Finney. Dr Finney spent a month in a small canoe in the middle of the Pacific Ocean to sail 4800 kilometres between Hawaii and Tahiti to study the craft’s performance and test Polynesian navigation methods.

The 42-year-old American anthropology professor at the University of Hawaii was one of a crew of 17 who completed the epic voyage last month, which was the first attempt by anyone to reconstruct the conditions under which Polynesians sailed under centuries ago. “We can now say the Polynesian design looks fairly well adapted to long-range voyaging,” Dr Finney said in an interview in Hamilton.

The 32-day voyage in the twin-hulled 20-metre replica canoe, Hoku-Le-A (Star of Gladness) was mounted by the Polynesian Voyaging Society, based in Hawaii. Dr Finney is president of the society.

“There is controversy in Polynesian history over how much control the Polynesians exercised over their movements throughout the Pacific. Were their voyages a hit or miss accidental proposition, or was there a degree of planning and seamanship involved so that they could find an island, go back to their homeland, and mount a colonising expedition and return to the island?” he said.

“The Polynesian design proved adequate for the task — we made it without any navigational aids.” Dr Finney, research associate with the East-West Tech-

nology and Development Institute in Hawaii, is in New Zealand to consult with research colleagues, and to visit his Tahitian navigator, who suffered a hernia and was admitted to Auckland Hospital.

As well as talking about the implications of the Hoku-Le-A’s trip with friends at Auckland, Massey, Victoria and Waikato Universities, he is following up research on the impact of tourism on Pacific Island communities. This is part of his work as a

researcher with the EastWest Institute.

The data on the voyage would prove useful to Professor Roger Green, of Auckland University, in his work on retracing the path of the Lapita people, who ranged between New Guinea and Fiji. It would also help other researchers.

“It’s an exciting little field — and one New Zealand is terribly involved in,” Dr Finney said. Members of the Tainui Association of Tahiti — a sister organisation of the

Polynesian Voyaging Societyin Hawaii — planned to build one or more canoes of traditional design to sail either back to Hawaii or to Rarotonga and New Zealand, or to both destinations. Dr

Finney said. “They aim to recreate the design of the old canoes and follow the legendary voyaging tracks. So don’t be surprised if, in a couple of years, you see a canoeful of half-frozen Tahitians off the coast,” he said.