Lonely Planet™ · Thorn Tree Forum · 2020 |

# Death of Mau Piailug-Master Pacific Navigator Country forums / Pacific Islands & Papua New Guinea
hardnosethehighway 05:22 UTC 14 Jul 2010 | Truly the end of an era spanning thousands of years-his knowledge stretched back into the mists of time.I have the Steve D Thomas book The Last Navigator on the table behind me-always to hand-Mau/his world view are never far from my mind. PACIFIC GIANT MAU PIAILUG DIES ON SATAWAL Legendary navigator revived an ancient art HONOLULU (Pacific Islands Report, July 14, 2010) – Legendary Micronesian master navigator Mau Piailug, among the last of his kind, reportedly died Sunday on his home island of Satawal in the Federated States of Micronesia. He was 78. Satawal is a remote atoll in the island chain of Yap, one of four states in the Federated States of Micronesia south of Guam. Working with the Hawaii-based Polynesian Voyaging Society, Piailug in 1976 navigated the double-hulled voyaging canoe Hokule‘a from Hawaii to Tahiti on its maiden voyage. The revered traditional navigator used the ancient skills he learned as a boy, guiding Hokule‘a 2,500 miles across the open ocean between Hawaii and Tahiti without charts or instruments. Piailug is credited with a revival of ancient navigational skills used by Pacific explorers – using only observations of stars, moon, wind, currents and birds to criss-cross the vast ocean long before Western explorers arrived. According to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser, Piailug had suffered from diabetes for many years. The Honolulu newspaper quoted Piailug protégé Nainoa Thompson – President of the Polynesian Voyaging Society – as a giant among Pacific islanders whose contributions to cultural preservation are beyond measure. "Thousands of people are sharing in the sadness," Thompson said. "His contribution to.....humankind is immeasurable." The Star-Advertiser notes that, beside Hawaii, other island cultures have since formed voyaging societies to promote native voyaging, including in Taiwan, New Zealand, Samoa, Fiji, Guam, Saipan, Palau, Chuuk, Pohnpei, the Marshall Islands and Tahiti. Piailug is survived by more than a dozen children and numerous grandchildren. Edited by: someone who loves to open Pacific |
5waldos 01:21 UTC 17 Jul 2010 | Sad news. I believe I met him once on Satawal but didn't realize the honor. | 1