In early August, during the last eight hours of the nine-day voyage of the Hōkūleʻa voyaging canoe traveling from Aitutaki, Cook Islands, to the islands of Sāmoa, adverse weather conditions obliterated any environmental clues to apprentice navigator and University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo student Celeste “Cesi” Haʻo. This was a critical turn of events, because the Hōkūleʻa navigates without the help of modern technology, guided only by the skills of rotating navigators reading the sea, wind and stars. With the dismal weather, the only option left to Haʻo to set the course and direction of the canoe was to navigate by naʻau—her gut instinct and feelings. It was a triumphant moment when she guided that canoe right into port. It was an epic journey for Haʻo as she returned to Faleapuna, her village of Sāmoa,
- Haʻo presents “Seeking Samoa: A Taupou’s Voyage Home” at the ʻImiloa Astronomy Center on Friday, October 24, 7 p.m.
Back to Sāmoa
Haʻo, an ʻImiloa Astronomy Center of Hawaiʻi education associate, was born in Keaukaha and raised in Panaʻewa on Hawaiʻi Island. Her father, Walter Manuia, is from Keaukaha, and her mother, Eva Manuia, is from Sauniatu, Sāmoa.
Ten years ago when Haʻo was 17, her grandfather, Tialavea Morris, the aliʻi and high chief of Faleapuna, called Haʻo and her parents to his village in ʻUpolu. Her grandfather made her a taupou by bestowing on her the title of Tuloutele. She was now the head of the Nuʻu o Tamaʻitaʻi (all women born into the village), and it was expected she would help make decisions for the family and village as spiritual and temporal caretaker.
But unlike other taupou whose duty is to village and family, Haʻo’s grandfather had different ideas, sending her home to Hawaiʻi to continue her education. “There will be a time that I will call for you to return home (to Sāmoa),” he told her. “When I do, it is your responsibility to bring back what you’ve learned and teach your people.”
Her voyage on the Hōkūleʻa was an extremely significant experience. It was a fulfillment of her promise to her grandfather 10 years in the making to navigate and return to their islands the way her ancestors once did, “by way of the sea and the stars.” She says her grandfather’s hope was that the voyage and the knowledge she brought would inspire their Samoan community to leave their shores once again the way their kupuna did and to bring navigation back to the place where it all began.
Fulfilling her grandfather’s wish did not come without heartbreak. Upon arriving in Sāmoa, she learned that while she was at sea, her grandfather had suffered two heart attacks while in California and would not be able to see and welcome her home.
“At first I couldn’t understand the reason for the total plot twist but I believe that everything happens for a reason,” she says. “That reason became apparent much later in my trip as I was tasked to develop a way by which I could help teach Sāmoa, the birthplace of navigation, how to navigate again. I thought I was there to fulfill a promise to my grandfather, but it took him not being there to make me realize that this journey was always meant to be so much bigger (than the two of us).”
Haʻo continues her work at ʻImiloa and is currently earning a degree in culture-based astronomy education at UH Hilo. She says her passion has always been about bridge building and promoting place-based teaching and learning of astronomy and science through a cultural perspective.
Go the UH Hilo Stories for more on Haʻo including how she became an apprentice navigator and her goals for the future.
—This story was adapted from the UH Hilo Stories website.
—By Susan Enright
