Hawaiki Rising
By Sam Low
Island Heritage Publishing, 2013
Hardcover, 343 pages
It has been nearly 38 years since the Polynesian voyaging canoe Hokule’a first set sail from Hawaii without instruments or charts, using only the stars, wind, and waves for guidance. Hokule’a’s historic 35-day, 2,400-nm voyage to Tahiti became testimony to the ancient navigators’ skill and showed it was possible to sail upwind from the east, eventually settling in Polynesia.
In his new book Hawaiki Rising, author, filmmaker and photographer Sam Low tells Hokule’a’s story and chronicles the voyaging canoe’s history as an icon of Hawaiian pride and culture.
Low, who sailed aboard her, filmed her, is himself one-quarter Hawaiian. He tells the great canoe’s story from the perspective of those who sailed Hokule’a from 1973 – 1980 and together helped kindle renewed pride and interest in the preservation of this rich ancient culture. It is an intimate portrait of all those whose commitment to the culture made Hokule’a a reality.
