By Philamer Felicitas
Fifty years ago, there was only one waʻa kaulua across the pae ʻāina.
That canoe, Hōkūleʻa, was built for a single purpose: to sail from Hawaiʻi to Tahiti and back, proving that Polynesians did not aimlessly drift across the vast seas. Guided by the knowledge of Satawalese master navigator Mau Piailug, that historic 1976 voyage helped reignite traditional voyaging across Hawaiʻi and the Pacific.
Today voyaging looks very different.
What began as a single waʻa has grown into many sailing waʻa across our pae ʻāina. Today, more than 20 waʻa travel Hawaiʻi’s waters: some large double-hulled voyaging canoes capable of crossing the Pacific and other, smaller canoes, that sail between our islands, train new voyagers and navigators, and reconnect communities to the ocean. Some cross the channels between our islands, while others have sailed the ancestral routes across Moananuiākea more than once.
Visitors to Bishop Museum can now experience that story in an immersive way through a new, interactive exhibit housed within the museum’s planetarium, Wayfinders: He Waʻa He Moku, He Moku He Waʻa, We Are One and the Same. The grand opening of the exhibit coincided with Hōkūleʻa’s 50th Birthday | E Ola Mau celebration during Bishop Museum’s “After Hours” event on March 14, 2025.
The exhibition celebrates the resurgence of wayfinding, the ancient practice of navigating vast oceanic distances using the stars, winds, and waves.
Created in partnership with ʻOhana Waʻa, Arizona State University, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and other voyaging organizations, the exhibit takes visitors on a huakaʻi to the past while inviting them to imagine the future of voyaging.
The exhibit is especially meaningful for Bishop Museum, as it shares the history of Nainoa Thompson’s early training in celestial navigation inside the museum’s planetarium under the guidance of Will Kyselka, a former lecturer at the planetarium, which helped shape the revival of traditional navigation in Hawaiʻi.
Inside the planetarium lobby, the exhibit surrounds visitors with the sights, sounds, and moʻolelo of captains, navigators, and voyagers whose journeys would not have been possible without the ʻike of their kumu and ancestors.
Several interactive experiences in the circular space bring the practice of wayfinding to life. Visitors can explore the “Hall of Teachers,” which shares the stories of key figures who helped revive traditional navigation; steer a digital Hōkūleʻa using a star compass through Kilo Hōkū; or recreate the calls of seabirds used by navigators through Kani Nā Manu.
Guests are also invited to kilo the ocean: observing how waves move across open water, browsing a curated library on navigation, and watching interviews with cultural practitioners and crew members who share their journeys and explain how they mālama our waters. Through these activities, visitors will gain a deeper understanding of the awareness, observation, and discipline required to guide a waʻa across the Pacific.
The Wayfinders Exhibit was created by Bishop Museum exhibit designer Michael Wilson who is also a Polynesian Voyaging Society (PVS) crew member. Wilson worked closely with his PVS mentors, navigators Kaʻiulani Murphy and Bonnie Kahapea- Tanner, both of whom helped curate the exhibit and have sailed Moananuiākea aboard Hōkūleʻa and Hikianalia.
Together, the team translated the rich history and complex knowledge of voyaging into an interactive experience that blends science, storytelling, and ʻike Hawaiʻi to demonstrate how Pacific voyagers navigated Earth’s largest ocean.
The exhibit emphasizes the vast repository of ʻike that lives within the practice of wayfinding; it is science, it is observation, but above all, it is pilina to our environment.
Those who guide waʻa must build intimate relationships with the natural world, learning to understand the language of the ocean, the songs of the wind, and the writings in the skies. That knowledge cannot be rushed. It develops over years of mentorship, practice, and time spent at sea. Those journeys are never taken alone.
The exhibit also honors the elders and kumu who helped revive these voyaging traditions including Mau Piailug, Herb Kāne, and Ben Finney, along with the many kumu who sailed unfamiliar waters so that others could follow. And it highlights inspirational captains such as Chad Paishon, Billy Richards, and Bruce Blankenfield whose leadership continues to guide crews at sea and inspire the next generation of voyagers.
Today, as more voyaging canoes sail throughout Hawaiʻi and across the Pacific, this tradition continues to evolve.
Communities across the islands are building waʻa, training new voyagers and navigators, and reacquainting themselves with the ocean pathways that once linked the island nations of Moananuiākea.
The Wayfinders Exhibit captures the spirit of our voyaging renaissance – a reminder that our culture is alive – not something frozen in the past.
As our islands and people sail toward destinations both familiar and unknown, the challenge is to ensure that our stories, culture, and knowledge continue to live on so that future generations – like the generations of navigators who crossed Moananuiākea before us – will continue to find their way, guided by the stars, the ocean and the ʻike of those who came before.
“Wayfinders: He Waʻa He Moku, He Moku He Waʻa, We Are One and the Same” is at the Bishop Museum planetarium and admission is included with general museum admission. More information about exhibit hours, tickets, and showtimes can be found at bishopmuseum.org.
