Discover the four constellations early navigators use to guide their way across the seas
According to Hawaiian Voyaging Tradition, wayfinders memorize and use the positions of the stars to give them directional clues. The website says Nainoa Thompson [CEO of the Polynesian Voyaging Society and a pwo navigator, a student navigator who became master], has “organized the sky into four-star lines, each line taking up about the fourth of the celestial sphere.”
According to ‘Imiloa’s website, these four-star lines are called “Nā ʻOhana Hōkū ʻEhā” or the Four Star Families. On the Polynesian Voyaging Society’s website, Thompson said, “You cannot look up at the stars and tell where you are… It all has to be done in your head.” He said the principle is easy, but it is difficult to do.
According to Ka’ahele Hawai’i, the navigator can see where they are on the ocean “by knowing the angles of the Star Lines compared to the celestial equator. The North Star, or Hokupa’a in Hawaiian, will always be in the North, said Mark Ellis, director of the voyaging experiences at the PCC. “If it is behind you, you’re heading south. If you look at Hokupa’a and stick out your right hand, to the right of your hand will always be east, and the left will always be west,” he added.
To remember or to memorize the Four Star Families, Kaimana Barcarse, an apprentice navigator at PVS created a chant:
Ka Ipu Ho’okele
Ka Ipu Ho’okele
Kāhea: E ’ ohi’ohiināpono!…
Pane: He kā, he iwi, he makau, he lupe!…
Kākou: Ualako ka ipu a ka ho’okele!…
The Navigator’s Gourd
Call: Gather up your tools!
Reply: A bailer, a bone, a fishhook, a kite!
All: The gourd of the navigator is provisioned!
(chant from ‘Imiloa’s website)
Ke Kā O Makali’i
(The Bailer of Makali’i)
Formed by five stars across the sky from the north to the south, Ke Ka o Makali‘i is in the shape of a bailer, says the HVT website. The site says it rises in the east and sets in the west. The website also says similar to a cup, a pour is made from the contents of the cup to the North Horizon.
Kaiwikuamo’o
(The Backbone)
The HVT website says Kaiwikuamo’o runs from the north celestial pole to the south celestial pole. Metaphorically, the stars in the line along the backbone are its vertebrae that represents a generation of genealogical line, says the website. It follows Ke ka o Makali’i into the sky, the site continues.
Mānaiakalani
(The Fish hook of Maui/ The Chief’s Fishline)
According to information on the HVT website, Manaiakalani was the name of Maui’s fish hook that he used to catch a giant fish deep in the ocean. The website says, “In Hawai‘i, Maui is said to have used the fishhook to try to pull the existing islands closer together.” The website also says, Manaiakalani’s star line is visible in the summer season.
Ka Lupe O Kawelo
(The Kite of Kawelo`)
Translated in English as the “Great Square of Pegasus,” the start line includes the Kite and the constellation Cassiopeia as well as Aries and Cetus and Fomalhaut and Achernar, the bright stars from the south, says HVT website information.