Hawaiiloa (alt. Hawaii Loa or Ke Kowa i Hawaii) is a mythical Hawaiian fisherman and navigator who is said to have discovered the

island of Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii ) is the largest island in the United States, located in the state of Hawaii. It is the southeasternmost of the Hawaiian Islands, a chain of volcanic islands in the North Pacific Ocean. With an area of , it has 63% of th ...

Legend

Hawaiiloa was an expert fisherman and navigator who was famous for his lengthy fishing expeditions. While on a prolonged voyage, his principal navigator, Makalii, asked Hawaiiloa to steer eastward towards

Aldebaran Aldebaran (Arabic: “The Follower”, "الدبران") is the brightest star in the zodiac constellation of Taurus. It has the Bayer designation α Tauri, which is Latinized to Alpha Tauri and abbreviated Alpha Tau or α Tau. Alde ...

(Hokuula, meaning "red star") and the

Pleiades The Pleiades (), also known as The Seven Sisters, Messier 45 and other names by different cultures, is an asterism and an open star cluster containing middle-aged, hot B-type stars in the north-west of the constellation Taurus. At a distance ...

(near the Cluster of Makalii). After sailing in this direction, he and his crew stumbled upon the island of Hawaii, which was named in Hawaiiloa's honor. Hawaiiloa returned to his homeland, ''Ka āina kai melemele a Kāne'' ("the land of the yellow sea of

Kāne In Hawaiian mythology, Kāne is considered the highest of the three major Hawaiian deities, along with Kū and Lono. He represented the god of procreation and was worshipped as ancestor of chiefs and commoners. Kāne is the creator and gives ...

"), to bring his family back with him to Hawaii. He then organized a colonizing expedition with his family and eight other skilled navigators. They settled on what is now the

Island of Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii ) is the largest island in the United States, located in the state of Hawaii. It is the southeasternmost of the Hawaiian Islands, a chain of volcanic islands in the North Pacific Ocean. With an area of , it has 63% of th ...

, named in his honor. The legend contains reference to his children: Māui (his eldest son), Kauai (son), and

Oahu Oahu () ( Hawaiian: ''Oʻahu'' ()), also known as "The Gathering Place", is the third-largest of the Hawaiian Islands. It is home to roughly one million people—over two-thirds of the population of the U.S. state of Hawaii. The island of O� ...

(daughter) who settled on the islands that bear their names.

Historical accuracy

The Hawaiiloa legend is popular amongst

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only state ...

ans as a realistic Hawaiian origin story that is consistent with modern anthropological and historical beliefs. However, there is currently little evidence to support its historical accuracy. The story is attested only by 19th-century sources such as

Abraham Fornander Abraham Fornander (November 4, 1812 – November 1, 1887) was a Swedish-born emigrant who became an important journalist, judge, and ethnologist in Hawaii. Early life and education Fornander was born in Öland, Sweden on November 4, 1812, to An ...

and Thomas George Thrum, neither of whom provided their sources. Hawaiiloa is also unmentioned by earlier Hawaiian historians such as

David Malo David Malo or Davida Malo (1795–1853) was a chiefly counselor, a Hawaiian intellectual, educator, politician and minister. He is remembered by subsequent generations of Hawaiian people and scholars primarily as a Native Hawaiian historian of the ...

. Malo chronicaled many Hawaiian origin stories, migration tales, and legends of indigenous origin.

Samuel Kamakau Samuel Mānaiakalani Kamakau (October 29, 1815 – September 5, 1876) was a Hawaiian historian and scholar. His work appeared in local newspapers and was later compiled into books, becoming an invaluable resource on the Hawaiian people, Hawaiian ...

tells of an alternate legend that the first man (

Kumu-Honua In Hawaiian Religion, Kumu-Honua ("first on Earth") is the first man. He was created from muddy water in the fashion of steam ascending upwards and married to Lalo-Honua; the couple was given a garden by Kāne and were forbidden from eating a part ...

) and woman (

Lalo-Honua In Hawaiian mythology, Lalo-Honua (Hawaiian for "below the Earth") is the first woman. She was married to Kumu-Honua and formed out of his side parts; the couple was given a garden by Kāne and were forbidden from eating a particular fruit. This ...

) were created on Oahu.

Canoe

''Hawaiiloa'' is also the name of a voyaging canoe, built between 1991 and 1994.The Building of Hawai‘iloa
''archive.hokulea.com'', accessed 2020-09-22 Named after the legendary navigator, the canoe was built for ocean navigation and has sailed internationally. The canoe ''Hawaiiloa'' is now docked at Honolulu Harbor. It is often sailed on long voyages throughout the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contin ...

, studying voyaging techniques used in

Ancient Hawaii Ancient Hawaii is the period of Hawaiian history preceding the unification in 1810 of the Kingdom of Hawaii by Kamehameha the Great. Traditionally, researchers estimated the first settlement of the Hawaiian islands as having occurred sporadicall ...

Building

To make the canoe, two Sitka spruce logs were brought to Hawaii from Southeast

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S. ...

, donated by the SeAlaska Corporation (owned by the

Tlingit The Tlingit ( or ; also spelled Tlinkit) are indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast of North America. Their language is the Tlingit language (natively , pronounced ),

, Haida, and

Tshimshian The Tsimshian (; tsi, Ts’msyan or Tsm'syen) are an Indigenous people of the Pacific Northwest Coast. Their communities are mostly in coastal British Columbia in Terrace and Prince Rupert, and Metlakatla, Alaska on Annette Island, the only r ...

tribes). These came from 400-year-old, 200 feet high trees, a size which could not be found in modern Hawaii. The hulls of the canoe were designed by Rudy and Barry Choy and Dick Rhodes, and also used numerous woods from more local sources. The canoe was made without metal parts, and used three miles of lashing.Nainoa Thompson: Recollections of the Building of Hawai‘iloa and the 1995 Voyages
''archive.hokulea.com'', accessed 25 September 2020 ''Hawaiiloa'' is long, with a beam of . She has two sails, each of . She was initially launched in July 1993, and subsequently modified in dry dock before being re-launched a year later.

Voyages in 1995

In 1995, ''Hawaiiloa'' sailed her maiden voyage to

Tahiti Tahiti (; Tahitian ; ; previously also known as Otaheite) is the largest island of the Windward group of the Society Islands in French Polynesia. It is located in the central part of the Pacific Ocean and the nearest major landmass is Austra ...

Raiatea Raiatea or Ra'iatea ( Tahitian: ''Ra‘iātea'') is the second largest of the Society Islands, after Tahiti, in French Polynesia. The island is widely regarded as the "centre" of the eastern islands in ancient Polynesia and it is likely that the ...

and

Nuku Hiva Nuku Hiva (sometimes spelled Nukahiva or Nukuhiva) is the largest of the Marquesas Islands in French Polynesia, an overseas country of France in the Pacific Ocean. It was formerly also known as ''Île Marchand'' and ''Madison Island''. Herman ...

in the

Marquesas Islands The Marquesas Islands (; french: Îles Marquises or ' or '; Marquesan: ' ( North Marquesan) and ' ( South Marquesan), both meaning "the land of men") are a group of volcanic islands in French Polynesia, an overseas collectivity of France in ...

Nainoa Thompson - Biography
''www.ifa.hawaii.edu'', accessed 25 September 2020 in company with '' Hōkūlea'' and a third canoe from Hawaii called ''Makalii'' together with two canoes from Rarotonga: ''Te Au Tonga'' and ''Takitumu'', and the canoe ''Te Aurere'', from

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. Subsequently that year, ''Hawaiiloa'' was shipped to

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

and then sailed north to Alaska, visiting twenty native villages on the coastal journey between

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

and

Juneau The City and Borough of Juneau, more commonly known simply as Juneau ( ; tli, Dzánti K'ihéeni ), is the capital city of the state of Alaska. Located in the Gastineau Channel and the Alaskan panhandle, it is a unified municipality and the s ...

References