What you can learn crossing the ocean in a canoe | Lehua Kamalu

0:06You're listening to TED Talks Daily, where we bring you new ideas to spark your curiosity every day. I'm your host, Elise Hu. Today's talk is from our brand new batch of 2024 TED Fellows films, adapted for podcasts just for our TED Talks Daily listeners. TED's fellowship supports a network of global innovators, and we're so excited to share their work with you. Today, we'd like you to meet a Hawaiian ocean voyaging navigator, Lehua Kamalu. Lehua learned the ancient practice of Polynesian sailing when she was young. Today, she captains historic double-hulled canoes and navigates long-distance voyages across the ocean.

0:44She shares what you learn when you sail around the world without GPS guided only by nature. It's incredible. And even if we aren't going to try that kind of feat ourselves, her lessons about ocean navigation are surprisingly universal. After we hear from Lehua, stick around for her conversation with TED Fellows Program Director Lily James Olds. That's coming up.

1:09Being on a voyage forces you to unplug. It is emotionally challenging for some people to disconnect in that way. All you really need in that moment on a canoe is to know your job right there, right then. We are all just there to get this canoe from the beginning to the end as safely and quickly as we can. And absolutely everything else falls away. My name is Lehua Kamalu. I'm a captain and navigator of traditional Hawaiian voyaging canoes, and I work at the Polynesian Voyaging Society. In our chants, in our songs, we hear about this place that we all came from when our ancestors first came to Hawaii.

1:54The way they did that was on the voyaging canoe. This was the thing that connected these very distant islands. But over the years, the need for that deep ocean travel sort of faded away. And also the customs and the traditions changed as more people came into the Pacific. And in Polynesia and in Hawaii, there were no navigators left. They had all died off, as did much of the population with the influx of colonization. This is a common tale in many places, but all of that information and knowledge and skill is lost over time. And so while the stories were there that this must have happened, the canoes were no longer being built.

2:39Their navigators were no more. And so even though you heard about it, you couldn't really see it. You could even doubt maybe that those abilities were there. And the prevailing science at the time, and we're talking about the 50s, the 60s, the 70s, was really teaching a story that there's no way that Hawaiians or Polynesians had the skills to build the canoes or had the ability to navigate the canoes, even if they could build them. And that the only way they could have populated these distant islands was by chance adrift on prevailing winds and currents. Needless to say, this isn't a very complimentary idea to indigenous peoples, but a team came together to say, these are what the stories say, this is what the histories are like, and we're going to put together a plan, and we are going to rebuild this canoe and figure out how to navigate it in the traditional way.

3:43like the ancestors did. We were very blessed for teachers, and one in particular named Maupi Ailug, to come to Hawaii and teach them how to navigate this brand new canoe that was just pulled out of the past and take it to Tahiti on its maiden voyage. This actually represents the first generation of these modern voyagers that launched this canoe in 1976. and that really restarted what is navigation today in Polynesia and in Hawaii. I was part of the third generation and the first woman to solo navigate the historic Hokule 'a. The first Hawaiian canoe navigated traditionally in over 300 years. There is no GPS, no fancy carbon fiber rig.

4:32We use only observations from nature. You are relying on and looking towards patterns. Your job is to find them in things that you can see or feel or even smell sometimes. Some islands have the scent of coconut on them. The heavens move in cycles. The weather moves in cycles. The waves move in cycles. And you are comparing these different things to one another. The signs of nature don't rest. They're there all day, every day, 24 hours. You'll be startled awake just making sure there's something that is just about to set or rise that is going to be the information I need to keep us on a safe course.

5:10It is a very different way, I think, to look at how we travel and move through the world when we're extremely conscious of where we go, who's already there, what role we step into when we show up in a place and how we show up there. Realizing that going anywhere has an impact on place, has an impact on people. and we always want that at the end of our experience, as we leave, we're all better for it. I think these are things that we think about as we try to answer that question of how do we earn this voyage so that it's not just us having this beautiful sail out on the middle of the ocean. It's us hopefully bringing and sharing knowledge and an experience that we all learn from and grow from towards a better future.

6:08And now a special conversation between TED Fellow Lehua Kamalu and TED Fellows Program Director Lily James Olds. Lehua, welcome. Hello, aloha. It is truly amazing to me how you sail these traditional voyaging canoes across the ocean without GPS or modern technology. I'm curious what first inspired you to take these journeys? Wow. First inspiration. I'm trying to not overthink where the beginning of all of this begins. Yeah. Where was your life obsession born? Go. Yes. See, I like to think I have no particular life obsession, that everything is just equally fascinating and captivating. But then again, there's these voyaging canoes.

7:02And I don't know if it was an obsession right off the bat, but it was certainly, I would say, it was a captivation. And I never liked to think it was unique to me. I think it's something that touches everyone that sees these canoes. And for myself in particular, it was a specific canoe named Hokulea. And the story of what this canoe is, where it came from, why it was built, was something that I learned as a very young child in elementary school. I went to school here in Hawaii where I was really fortunate to be able to attend a Hawaiian language immersion school. This is a school that's taught completely in the Hawaiian language.

7:47And I would say a lot of the support around these schools even being developed came from a time when Hokulea, this canoe, had been built and launched during a time in Hawaii's history where there were a lot of, I'd say, traditions and practices and certainly the language itself of Hawaii slowly being lost over time. And so it was impossible to have a curriculum that was disconnected from this place where the language was rooted, where so many of these words and ideas were born out of. And one part of that was understanding the history of this place and how people came to settle and live on these islands.

8:31So we would learn about Okulea and it had been sailing for about 15 years at that point and had completed these, you know, trans-oceanic voyages to Tahiti and to New Zealand and back home again to Hawaii. and we would learn about where did the canoes that carried our ancestors to Hawaii come from and when did they come and how did it happen that they traveled so far across the ocean. And the maiden voyage of this canoe happened in 1976. And something incredible was that it was constructed as authentic and true to the performance of a traditional voyaging canoe as it could have been and was also sailed by a navigator who still practiced the old way of navigation prior to timepieces and sextants and GPSs and compasses who came over from Sadowal in Micronesia to conduct the voyage.

9:35And so in that voyage, you had this demonstration of the technology and the navigational skill of these people to actually intentionally find islands. It's hard to express how impactful that voyage was in changing the nature and the understanding and identity of people who shared that canoe heritage. That's so fascinating. And what an incredible foundational experience from a school perspective. I'm so fascinated really by how you as a navigator rely solely on nature signs and patterns as your guide on these journeys, you know, the stars, the currents, the scents you talk about. Can you explain more specifically how you do this?

10:22Absolutely. Obviously, we live in a time where there is a lot of reliance on technology and GPSs. And, you know, I think we can reflect our own childhoods where you did just have to remember how to get from point A to point B without tapping into your phone, occasionally, you know, stopping at the gas station and getting a map. And I think the same overall concept applies to the ocean. But instead of saying, hey, you know, you're going to turn left at this tree, you're now looking at what you have available to you when you're in the middle of the ocean and there is really no land in sight. You have to start to see the ocean for the complexity that it is.

11:02You know, it's not just waves of water and sky on the top, right? There's no day that ever looks the same. No sunset's the same. No sunrise is the same. But you start to see patterns. So as a navigator, you're really going out there on the ocean with a bit of a mental map of where you're trying to go and how you're going to do it. You are very intentionally, you know, keeping track of each day, what the conditions were as you sailed through them, how you were sailing, how fast you were going, what direction you were in. And you were compiling all of this and adding it up each day to understand where exactly you are on your journey.

11:40So we start with the ocean. And actually, as you kind of lift your gaze up right above the ocean, you're going to see the wind. Well, I guess you won't see the wind aside from the effect it has on the ocean, but you will feel it. And you will feel it certainly on your face, on your body. And you'll see the effect it has on the canoe as it blows onto the sails. You'll see it interact with, you know, flags or trees or whatever it is. And so above the wind, you have clouds and clouds are, you know, they come in so many colors and shapes and sizes and patterns. Are they low clouds, high clouds? Are they lightning clouds?

12:20What color are they? All these things will tell you more about what kind of weather you're approaching, how you actually need to change what direction you might be sailing in or what sails you might be using or how you're using them. And then I guess finally, of course, the sky itself where you have the most consistent patterns with the stars and the sun and the moon and the planets. And all of these things are things that you've studied long before you've actually gone onto the ocean so that they are, I think, hopefully the most familiar to you and really good friends that help you figure out which way you're going.

12:59I think what's so fascinating hearing you talk about all that Lihua is that, of course, for all of us who have put down our phones to go for a walk outside, know you actually are more connected, right? We use the word disconnected when you leave your phone at home or something, but you're actually so much more, obviously, connected to all these, everything happening around you all of life than you would be in a way. I think it's so moving to hear you mention also when we've talked before how you and your team are very mindful of your presence in places, really recognizing that we all leave an impact, right?

13:38Everywhere we travel, both on the environment and the people. Can you share a bit more about how this influences the work you do and maybe even the relationships you build in your life? How does this sense of awareness change how you move through the world? Awareness is a good way to put it, this awareness of where we are and how we do affect the world around us. And, you know, you can interpret that so many ways on voyaging canoes. And as we take ourselves into other countries, other nations, other communities, and perhaps some of it is a sensitivity to the way that, you know, ocean voyages have certainly reshaped the landscape of our own home here in Hawaii over the last few centuries, it's an understanding that there was a very lasting impact, whether that's good or bad, you know, is really going to come down to the way that you choose to approach that journey because not all of them in history have been extremely positive.

14:37A lot of them have left a lot of challenging situations that, you know, 300, 400, 500 years later, we're still sorting through. Everything we do is going to make an impact. A lot of people say, how do you pick your crew? And obviously, there's some very technical requirements. We want to make sure you can swim. And of course, we make sure you're trained in how to operate the canoe and tie knots and all the basics and fundamentals. But one of the highest priorities, of course, is going to be how you choose to interact with the people around you and how you are mindful of that experience. Because, you know, a lesson I think that we're taught and we certainly experience as we continue our work is that there is a feeling, there's an impact after you leave, and you always want to ensure that there is going to be another invitation to return, that this was positive, that you left hopefully something that is seen as a gift and not something that was extracted from the experience.

15:43And so when we think about the very first voyage of Hokelea in 1976, the same families, the same community, the same warm reception that was there has not faded over all this time. And I think that is hopefully a testament to the way that we've truly recognize the importance of the work that we do, that we have learned, I think, over the years or maybe relearned the right way to go about certainly understanding our world and staying connected to our world. And it's in those moments that I think we find, I would say, almost the most pride. You know, isn't it great when you find a place without relying on your phone and realize that you actually had the skills all just contained in your own, you know, mind and your own muscle memory, if you will, to find it.

16:36Right. I love that and feel so applicable to all the ways of moving through the world. Even if it's just going down the block, you know, we don't need the GPS or the AI to get to the grocery store. Yeah, exactly. You can do it. I like that as a takeaway from this conversation. The power of humans. It's incredible. My last question is just if someone wants to dive deeper into some of the things that you mentioned in terms of these voyages or ways to understand navigation in this way, what are some resources that you might share that they should check out? Sure. So I actually work at the Polynesian Voyaging Society, which was started back in 1973.

17:18And it was actually only designed to launch the Hokulea for a single voyage. And certainly what we learned is the power that this canoe and this symbol had in education and helping our children, not just here in Hawaii, but anywhere to understand this amazing part of the human experience in human history. So we actually do have a website called Hokulea.com and it follows the voyages to this day. The same Hokulea from 1976 continues to sail throughout the Pacific and even around the world. And there have been so many resources developed to help understand what early ancient voyagers would have done and how they came to explore the Pacific.

18:03And we have a number of educational partners as well that you can connect to through there for resources, whether you're just, you know, a student at home, a teacher that's trying to find a way to connect to this really just obviously very special part of the world and this very special history that we hope to share. Well, thank you so much, Lihua. It's always a treat to talk and learn more about the amazing work that you do. So thanks for joining us today. Thank you so much, Lili. It was a pleasure and a privilege.

18:34That was Lehua Kamalu, a 2024 TED Fellow. To learn more about the TED Fellows program and watch all the TED Fellows films, go to fellows.ted.com. And that's it for today's show. TED Talks Daily is part of the TED Audio Collective. This episode was produced and edited by our team, Martha Estefanos, Oliver Friedman, Brian Green, Lucy Little, Alejandra Salazar, and Tonsika Sarmanivon. It was mixed by Christopher Faze-Bogan. Additional support from Emma Taubner and Daniela Ballarezzo. I'm Elise Hu. I'll be back tomorrow with a fresh idea for your feed. Thanks for listening.