Hawaiʻiloa

{{Short description|Legendary Hawaiian figure}} {{Multiple issues| {{Inline|date=August 2021}} {{Split|Hawaiʻiloa (mythical figure)|Hawaiʻiloa (voyaging canoe)|date=August 2021}} {{Original research|date=August 2021}} }}

'''Hawai{{okina}}iloa''' (alt. '''Hawai{{okina}}i Loa''' or '''Ke Kowa i Hawai{{okina}}i''') is a mythical Hawaiian fisherman and navigator who is said to have discovered the island of Hawai{{okina}}i.

==Legend== {{More citations needed section|date=August 2021}} Hawai{{okina}}iloa was an expert fisherman and navigator who was famous for his lengthy fishing expeditions.<ref>[http://www2.hawaii.edu/~dennisk/voyaging_chiefs/hawaiiloa.html Samuel M. Kamakau and Z. Kepelino: Hawai‘iloa and the Discovery of Hawai‘i] ''www2.hawaii.edu'', accessed 25 September 2020</ref> While on a prolonged voyage, his principal navigator, Makali{{okina}}i, asked Hawai{{okina}}iloa to steer eastward towards Aldebaran (Hoku{{okina}}ula, meaning "red star") and the Pleiades (near the Cluster of Makali{{okina}}i). After sailing in this direction, he and his crew stumbled upon the island of Hawai{{okina}}i, which was named in Hawai{{okina}}iloa's honor. Hawai{{okina}}iloa returned to his homeland, ''Ka {{okina}}āina kai melemele a Kāne'' ("the land of the yellow sea of Kāne"), to bring his family back with him to Hawai{{okina}}i. He then organized a colonizing expedition with his family and eight other skilled navigators. They settled on what is now the Island of Hawai{{okina}}i, named in his honor.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.hawaiischoolreports.com/symbols/origins.htm |title=Origins of Hawaii's Names |access-date=2007-02-24 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061230195509/http://www.hawaiischoolreports.com/symbols/origins.htm |archive-date=2006-12-30 }}</ref>{{Better source needed|date=August 2021|reason=Cited page only mentions a legend with Hawaiiloa, but no other source material.}}

The legend contains reference to his children:<ref>{{Cite book |last=Beckwith |first=Martha |url=https://sacred-texts.com/pac/hm/hm28.htm |title=Hawaiian Mythology |date=1940}}</ref> Māui (his eldest son), Kaua{{okina}}i (son), and O{{okina}}ahu (daughter) who settled on the islands that bear their names.

===Historical accuracy=== The Hawai{{okina}}iloa legend is popular amongst Hawaiians as a realistic Hawaiian origin story that is consistent with modern anthropological and historical beliefs.{{Citation needed|date=August 2021}}

However, there is currently little evidence to support its historical accuracy. The story is attested only by 19th-century sources such as Abraham Fornander and Thomas George Thrum, neither of whom provided their sources.{{Citation needed|date=August 2021}}

Hawai{{okina}}iloa is also unmentioned by earlier Hawaiian historians such as David Malo. Malo chronicled many Hawaiian origin stories, migration tales, and legends of indigenous origin.{{Citation needed|date=August 2021}} Samuel Kamakau tells of an alternate legend that the first man (Kumu-Honua) and woman (Lalo-Honua) were created on O{{okina}}ahu.{{Citation needed|date=August 2021}}

==Canoe== thumb|300px|Hawai{{okina}}iloa, Honolulu Harbor

''Hawai{{okina}}iloa'' is also the name of a voyaging canoe, built between 1991 and 1994.<ref name=BuildCanoe>[http://archive.hokulea.com/ike/kalai_waa/hawaiiloa.html The Building of Hawai‘iloa] ''archive.hokulea.com'', accessed 2020-09-22</ref> Named after the legendary navigator, the canoe was built for ocean navigation and has sailed internationally. The canoe ''Hawai{{okina}}iloa'' is now docked at Honolulu Harbor. It is often sailed on long voyages throughout the Pacific Ocean, studying voyaging techniques used in Ancient Hawaii.

===Building=== To make the canoe, two Sitka spruce logs were brought to Hawai{{okina}}i from Southeast Alaska, donated by the SeAlaska Corporation (owned by the Tlingit, Haida, and Tshimshian tribes). These came from 400-year-old, 200 feet high trees, a size which could not be found in modern Hawai{{okina}}i. The hulls of the canoe were designed by Rudy and Barry Choy and Dick Rhodes, and also used numerous woods from more local sources.<ref name=BuildCanoe/> The canoe was made without metal parts, and used three miles of lashing.<ref name=Recoll>[http://archive.hokulea.com/holokai/1995/nainoa_recollections.html Nainoa Thompson: Recollections of the Building of Hawai‘iloa and the 1995 Voyages] ''archive.hokulea.com'', accessed 25 September 2020</ref>

''Hawai{{okina}}iloa'' is {{convert|57|ft|m}} long, with a beam of {{convert|19|ft|m}}. She has two sails, each of {{convert|240–420|sqft|m2}}. She was initially launched in July 1993, and subsequently modified in dry dock before being re-launched a year later.<ref name=BuildCanoe/>

===Voyages in 1995=== In 1995, ''Hawai{{okina}}iloa'' sailed her maiden voyage to Tahiti, Ra{{okina}}iatea, and Nuku Hiva in the Marquesas Islands<ref>[http://www.ifa.hawaii.edu/tops/nainoa.html Nainoa Thompson - Biography] ''www.ifa.hawaii.edu'', accessed 25 September 2020</ref> in company with ''Hōkūle{{okina}}a'' and a third canoe from Hawai{{okina}}i called ''Makali{{okina}}i'' together with two canoes from Rarotonga: ''Te {{okina}}Au Tonga'' and ''Takitumu'', and the canoe ''Te {{okina}}Aurere'', from New Zealand. Subsequently that year, ''Hawai{{okina}}iloa'' was shipped to Seattle and then sailed north to Alaska, visiting twenty native villages on the coastal journey between Vancouver and Juneau.<ref name=Recoll/>

==References== {{Reflist}}

Category:Ancient Hawaiian royalty Category:Culture of Hawaii Category:Hōkūleʻa Category:Individual sailing vessels Category:Legendary Hawaiian people Category:Legendary progenitors Category:Polynesian navigation Category:Symbols of Hawaii Category:Training ships Category:Voyaging canoes