Loading your book clubs
There was a problem loading your book clubs. Please try again.
Not in a club? Learn more
Join or create book clubs
Choose books together
Track your books
Bring your club to Amazon Book Clubs, start a new book club and invite your friends to join, or find a club that’s right for you for free.
Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required. Learn more
Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.
Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.
Flip to back Flip to front
Follow the Author
Something went wrong. Please try your request again later.
Frequently bought together
- +
- +
Total price:
To see our price, add these items to your cart.
Choose items to buy together.
What other items do customers buy after viewing this item?
Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1
About the author
Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.
How the "flying proa" conquered two-thirds of the equatorial surface of the earth
Reviewed in the United States on January 23, 2020
We the navigators is a virtual encyclopedia of Pacific traditional navigational lore. University of Hawai’i Press published the book in 1972. In his foreword, Saul H. Riesenberg (the same anthropologist who was responsible for translating and publishing the book of Luelen) cites how Pigafetta, Magellan’s chronicler marveled at the canoes he saw upon the discovery of the Mariana Islands in 1521 then over two hundred years later when across the Pacific 3,000 canoes surrounded the Resolution at Kealakekua Bay in 1779. How had these “flying proa” conquered such immense distances and populated every corner of an ocean that covers two-thirds of the equatorial surface of the earth? David Lewis’s book We, the Navigators is an attempt to answer this question. Indeed, Lewis’s chronicle begins with Tupaia, high chief and navigator-priest of Raiatea. One of Cook’s informants he was the only highly qualified Polynesian navigator interviewed at length by Europeans. He had knowledge of every major group in Polynesia except Hawai’i and New Zealand. An area of ocean extending 2600 miles from the Marquesas in the east to Rotuma and Fiji in the west. He goes on to cite other historic examples of traditional navigators then goes on to show practical examples of then-current navigational lore by inviting traditional navigators aboard his yacht Isbjorn and turning it over to their stewardship. The first was Tevake from Pileni atoll who navigated the yacht without the use of instruments from the Outer Reef Islands to Taumako, Vanikoro and Ndeni -- a total distance of 335 miles. The second in a separate part of the ocean was Hipour from Puluwat who successfully navigated from his home island to Saipan and back a distance of nearly 600 miles one way. How did they accomplish this? Their primary tools were the stars. They were masters of the night sky with all 36 points on the circumference of the horizon memorized as to star appearances and successive risings as the skies turned the night through. Its image ingrained in their mind to such an extent that on cloud covered nights just a small section of sky was enough to for them to recover their bearings and achieve landfall. An image that rotated with the seasons and kept them abreast of the night sky no in what time of year their journey took place.In addition to pointer stars that arose on the horizon above the cloud line they used the known position of intermediate islands as triangulation points along their voyage based on successive star risings at approximately right angles to their headings. Finally, they timed their voyages by heaving to and waiting for dawn to arrive before attempting landfall to avoid missing their destination due to darkness. A final fail-safe within the last twenty miles or so was the flight path of terns and noddies leaving their home islands and flying out to sea in the morning and back after their day of fishing. Looking at a map of the Pacific in this way with a circumference of twenty miles drawn around the periphery of the various chains of islands leaves most gaps between islands and even archipelagos well under 300 miles. How to explain the populations of outlying islands of Hawai’i, Easter Island and New Zealand? The most logical explanation is accidental drift due to storms or other mishaps, return to home islands and then a purposeful retracing voyage of settlement.In this way the Melanesians settled the areas between coastal New Guinea in the west to Fiji in the east. The Polynesians settled the area from New Zealand in the south to Hawai’I in the north and Easter Island in the east; and the Micronesians settled the area from Palau in the west through the Carolines east to the Marshall Islands and not necessarily in that order but rather in fits and starts of accidental discoveries followed by purposeful migration. This is but a brief review of 341 pages of detailed chronical of traditional skills traced from island group to island group throughout the pages of Pacific history covered by this monumental book.
Reviewed in the United States on January 23, 2020
Images in this review
Top reviews from the United States
There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on January 27, 2016
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on December 25, 2015
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on July 21, 2016
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on January 4, 2020
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on August 28, 2020
Top reviews from other countries
Ronan Sheppard
Overall a great read but sometimes Tough
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on October 21, 2021
