Once on the verge of losing their traditional knowledge, the people of the Taumako in the Solomon Islands are devoted to preserving their ancient Polynesian seafaring practices by training a new generation in wayfinding and vaka (boat) construction.
Approximately 500 Taumakans, who exist today without electricity, telephones, or motorized vehicles, could be the only people in the Pacific still capable of building and sailing voyaging canoes using traditional methods. Just thirty years ago, only a few living sailors held this knowledge; at that time, it had been three decades since any Taumakan used a traditional vaka for transport. In 1993, Chief and master navigator Kruso Kaveia requested the help of Dr. Marianne “Mimi” George, an anthropologist who co-founded the Pacific Traditions Society and a remote, blue-water sailor, to preserve their important ancestral ways. This initiative began The Vaka Taumako Project. “My role has evolved from outside communicator, coordinator, fundraiser, occasional writer, filmmaking supporter and doer to connected advisor, collaborator, and community member,” says Dr. George.
Taumakan youth learn from their elders and use only sustainable local natural materials, ancient tools, and traditional methods to construct the vessels. On the island, they say, ‘if you want to build a voyaging canoe, the first thing you must do is plant a garden to feed the workers who will help you.’ Read more