The International Festival of Canoes has been held every year in Lāhainā, Maui, since 1999. Bringing together a diverse group of master carvers and their apprentices from across the Pacific to celebrate their canoe traditions, the festival’s focal point is each crew’s completion of an entire wa‘a within a two-week period. A friend and I visited Lāhainā near the close of the festival as the crews prepared to put the finishing touches on their wa‘a, binding together past and future as surely as the ‘aha lashings will bind the canoes themselves.

I am a total layperson when it comes to canoes. I have never paddled, so the wa‘a’s many parts, along with their names and functions, often escape me. After a two-day visit – which proved to be all too brief – I was met with a new appreciation for the keepers of this knowledge. I was reminded that, for most ‘ōiwi, the act of physical creation is inherently spiritual, the two cannot – and should not – be isolated from one another. I was inspired yet again by the fact that although each wa‘a is a unique expression of the indigenous culture it represents, evolving over time with its people to meet their needs and match their environments, there are also undeniable connections and much strength to be found in those connections. Others may look at a map of the Pacific Ocean and see tiny islands, scattered and separated from one another by thousands of miles of water, but our ancestors were able to utilize the sea as an ancient highway -- a binding rather than a dividing force.

Organizer Karee Carlucci stated that "this event gathers together and honors the indigenous cultures who share a symbiotic relationship with the Pacific Ocean. While the 15-day festival follows the development of canoe from tree to sea, it also presents a unique opportunity to learn about these island cultures from the people who are keeping them alive." This year’s festival took place May 13 - 27 and featured delegations from Aotearoa, Hawai‘i, Rarotonga, Tahiti, and Tonga.

Takirirangi Smith, master carver from Aotearoa, explained that he teaches carving because he believes "it strengthens Māori culturally as a people and helps celebrate our uniqueness in a culturally diverse world. For me, the Festival of Canoes is a celebration not only of the canoe, but of knowledge that connects all indigenous peoples within te moana nui a Kiwa, the Pacific Ocean."

The festival sees these wa‘a through every stage of their development -- from the felling of logs in Puna, Hawai‘i, to the symbolic cutting of the "piko" and launching of the wa‘a on the last day of the event. Following transportation of the logs by barge to Kahului and truck to Lāhainā, the rough hewing is begun at Kamehameha Iki Beach Park during the first week of the festival. Once that is completed, delegations are moved to the Banyan Tree Park in Lāhainā to begin the more refined processes of shaping, sanding, and decorating.

Carvers are arranged in an open circle in the middle of the park, an area which is, by day, crowded with vendors and passersby. At the close of the day, however, the festival atmosphere noticeably shifts. Cleared of tables and tourists, the late afternoon park resembles a kauhale, everyone focused on the same activity -- rather than crowds, crews are visited by the much-appreciated Ma‘a‘a wehe lau niu o Lele. The festival is at its best during this time, truly offering us a glimpse into the creation of these wa‘a.

Undeniably, we are far removed from the days of kahuna kālai wa‘a. The pule and protocols offered and observed by our ancestors differ from those of modern-day practitioners in many ways. Sometimes alterations are made out of necessity -- while koa is preferred for Hawaiian wa‘a, it is no longer practical to fell as many koa trees as would be necessary for this two-week festival. Albizia -- a non-native tree that was originally used for wa‘a construction in other parts of the Pacific -- takes its place. When sanded down, the wa‘a made from albizia have a rich golden-yellow hue.

The whole festival appears to be a blending of old and new -- masters and assistants use both hand adzes and modern power tools to complete their wa‘a, blending together old technique and new technology to complete a process that, in the past, would have taken months, as indicated by the following excerpt:

"The tool used for cutting in the olden times was a stone adze, ground until sharp and tied to a handle... It would take one man almost a week to fell a tree; if many hands worked together, the tree could be felled in two days. Nowadays we have iron axes, and because of their sharpness a tree can easily be cut down; a strong man can cut down a koa tree in half an hour. After the tree is felled and before it is shaped into a canoe, more prayers are offered to the gods. After rough-shaping the log and making it light, the canoe is hauled down from the mountain and placed at a site prepared for it. After three months or more to cure the wood, the finishing work is done on the hull and the other parts of the canoe are attached." (Fornander, Vol. 5, 610)

Many acknowledge that modern tools make such a festival possible, allowing them to complete their wa‘a -- all of which are single hulled -- in a two-week period. "If our ancestors had had chain saws and power tools in their day, they would’ve used them, too!" laughed Manny Portabes, master assistant for the Tahitian crew. "Hawaiians took new things and made them Hawaiian, they didn’t just stay in the past." Although he worked with the Tahitian crew, Portabes is a kanaka maoli and was raised in Lāhainā by his father who also built wa‘a for daily use, knew all the local fishing grounds, and could read the sea and the winds while he traveled from island to island. Today, Portabes only wishes that he could have learned more from him when he had the chance.

Another intriguing element of the festival -- from this layperson’s perspective -- was the cultural expression evident in each crew’s wa‘a of choice, as well as the style of wa‘a that has developed in different island groups. These varied styles are not arbitrary, but dictated by the needs of the native people to survive in their own unique environments. Two Hawaiian wa‘a constructed during the festival -- one by Lahainaluna High School students and another by Hui O Wa‘a Kaulua -- were sleek and unmistakable in form and design. Meant for use in the open ocean and to weather wind and waves, these single-hulled wa‘a have ‘ama (outrigger float) to keep them steady in rough seas and palekai and manu to keep waves from washing in. I also learned that the prow of the wa‘a is known as the ‘eku -- the "snout" of the canoe, which "digs into the ocean as the snout of a pig digs into the earth." This kind of interrelatedness of the Hawaiian world never fails to fascinate me.

Portabes explained that the fishing wa‘a created by Tahitian master carver Marirai "Freddy" Tauotaha, known for his skill in crafting the long wa‘a used for racing, was made for use in the relatively flat waters around the Tahitian islands. Tauotaha carries on the legacy of his father, internationally renowned carver Puaniho Tauotaha, whom he began working with at a very young age. The Tahitian wa‘a appeared to me to be most similar to our Hawaiian ones, similarly sleek and unadorned -- especially when compared to that of the Māori. Nearly 50 feet in length, narrow, and decorated with carved panels and figures on the prow and stern, the Māori wa‘a, also for fishing, lacked an ‘ama and was built to sit low in the water, reflecting the fact that they are usually used in lakes rather than oceans.

Māori wa‘a are noticeably more decorated than most others we saw, and in response to my curiosity, a master carver from Aotearoa shared that because of the large land mass and raw materials discovered in Aotearoa, the development of Māori wa‘a moved away from double-hulled voyaging technology to eventually favor the single-hulled waka taua, or vessels of war. Because mana was such an integral part of success in war, the elaborate carving and ornamentation so characteristic of Māori wa‘a reflect the belief that the carver can imbue living power and spirit to the wa‘a through his work -- the more intricate the embellishments, the more mana possessed by the wa‘a.

Although some of these wa‘a will be used for display purposes throughout Lāhainā, crew members of Hui O Wa‘a Kaulua shared with us that theirs will join Mo‘olele on a trip to Kaho‘olawe and be used to teach students about navigation. We were told that Lahainaluna students have participated in this festival for the past five years, not surprising if you observed the efficiency of their crew. It seemed each student knew his or her own individual task to complete, which allowed the group to function as one cohesive unit. Teacher Jeremy Delos Reyes of Lahainaluna High School believes the festival not only gives his students an education in Hawaiian culture, but also provides them with the invaluable experience of personally meeting master carvers from all over Polynesia and learning firsthand what is done in other indigenous cultures.

Hawaiian master carver Ray Bumatay agreed, saying, "My idea is to expose the kids to this knowledge. It’s all about the kids."

Fortunately, there are still those who preserve and perpetuate this knowledge within their own families, just as there are masters apprenticing a new generation of carvers who will carry on this customary practice. Some worry, however, that there are not enough young people taking up this tradition -- and wonder who will take over when they are gone. This festival not only gives the rest of us the opportunity to learn a little bit about their work, perhaps it will serve to connect master to student, past to future. It is not something we should overlook -- fundamental to our survival, wa‘a were a means of both sustenance and recreation, of inter-island trips and visits to neighboring coastlines, of art and of function. Beyond that, they were the means by which our ancestors -- who had mastered not only the skill of kālai wa‘a (canoe carving) but also of navigating by the stars, currents, winds, and other natural elements -- populated this vast ocean. Our wa‘a stand testament to the ingenuity and finesse of our ancestors, they are modern day reminders that this ocean was traversed skillfully and with purpose. They are reminders that we, as ‘ōiwi, ultimately share a common and an ancient heritage that we must continue to celebrate.

For more information on traditional methods of Hawaiian canoe building, please visit the Polynesian Voyaging Society’s website.