25 June 2023. Then, in Tahiti...

 We reminisce, recall, with wonder and deep appreciations, cherished memories.  Mayhaps because many of us are "of an age", when body parts begin to fail, and, beset by ailments, we remember...

I was working as a Seasonal Interpretive Ranger at Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park the Summer of 1985.    In July, Jo-Anne [jks] called and said OK, we going Tahiti.  Her husband, and other family, friends, and acquaintances were going down to prep Hōkūleʻa for the second leg of the "Voyage of Rediscovery", which would go as far as Aotearoa.  I told her OK then, I gotta take off work.  For three weeks?

I went and met with my boss, and said I needed to take a few weeks off.  Of course I had no Leave Time, having just started work.  He reminded me of that, and asked what was so urgent that I "needed" to go?  I explained, and apologized for the short notice.  Then he said What if I deny your leave?  I chuckled and said Iʻll quit and go anyway.  Shaking his head, he smiled and said Go...

Thirty-eight years later circumstances remind us of that time, with one particular event indelibly etched.  Weʻll get to that soon enough.

So we flew south, landing at Faaʻa Airport around midnight.  It was an easy trip.  Maybe 5 hours more or less straight down, in the same time zone.  No jet lag.  Stepping outside the terminal...lights on the hills ma uka, the smells of diesel and woodsmoke, people speaking French.  We made our way to a little one-story waterfront motelish place just west of downtown.

The crowded waterfront in  Papeʻete.  Hōkū stands out a bit amongst all the other masts.  Lots of activity at the harbor, traffic along the bordering thoroughfare added noise...  By the time we arrived, the canoe had been mostly prepared and stocked.  jks and I easily occupied ourselves.  Going to the central market for our lau hala bags so weʻd easily carry our baguette, cans of sardines, and bottles of water.  Basic supplies, because even back then, Tahiti was expensive.  We managed to find a shoppe, I think Magasin Venus, as instructed by Ilima, where we happily found old-fashioned cotton fabric, 36" wide, in a variety of prints and colors.  "One meter 8" was the yardage needed to fashion pāreu.  Perfect.  Cannot find that kine today.  Everything seems to be 45" wide polyester, or rayon, or some gauzy thing.

Soon enough Hōkū was ready.  gp asked if jks and I wanted to to with them to Moʻorea.  Of course!  Kinda silly to say no.  So we went.  It had been arranged that a cultural group, Pupu Ariʻoi would host us.  

Gazing. wondering, thinking, enthralled, amazed...

We sailed about the 15 miles to Moʻorea and tied up at a little pier next to an old church in Afareaitu.

Tahiti (Nui and Iti) is like our isle of Maui:  Big and little islands joined by an isthmus.  Papeʻete is on the west side of the north shore of Tahiti Nui.  Surfers and their fans may be familiar with "Chopes" the slangized name of Teahupoʻo, at the end of the road (the bottom one) on Tahiti Iti.

So after tying up at the pier, one of the Tahitian crew ran down the road to alert the folks of Pupu Ariʻoi of our arrival.  Soon enough we were informally greeted and bustled off to their compound on the ma uka side of the coastal road.  Iaorana and aloha spread, and orientation given, we were instructed to meet at the main fare (fuh-reh) for a formal welcome.  There was an oration by a tupuna tāne, and the response, a formal oratory in ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi, by Tūtū Abraham Piianaia.  No matter that few of us could understand either, their voices both held us rapt.  Other speakers followed.

Above, the thatched main fare.  Below, the interior.  The framing is hau, lined with lau hala.  Lightweight, made with what get locally.  It was stunning.  At left below is green tee-shirted Leon Paoa Sterling, and at right in jeans and white shirt, Tūtū Piianaia.  NAP commented:  "I like how the young ones are gathered to talk with Tutu.  He was always kind of a quiet unassuming presence.  Just sort of there and always observing, never pressing."  Capturing an essence of the man...He is missed.

Below, another fare where we gathered.  Note the bands of metal on coconut tree trucks.  Climbing rats slip and slide and arenʻt able to get up to coconuts.

Herb Kane wrote of part of the 1985 voyage, but left out something for some reason.  See the following.

1985: The Seekers by Herb Kane

A pertinent excerpt:

I went over their entire story with them, and heard it as Henry had told it to me.

 

"He wrote down your phone number in Kona, but when we got back we couldn't find the paper," Kawena said. "When Tehani took us to Taputapuatea , the big marae, the people there asked us to talk to the Hokule'a guys. They said that in the olden days, when the last canoe left, the chief of the canoe-Maui was his name -turned back and put a kapu on the place. Tapu, they call it.

 

"Only one thing can lift the kapu. A canoe must come from Hawai'i, and it must come into the lagoon through the narrow pass in the reef right outside the temple-Teavamoa, they call the pass. When Hokule'a came to Ra'iatea before, in 1976, it was brought through the main ship passage outside the town of Uturoa. Wrong place. The people were unhappy, but nobody had told the Hokule'a guys any different; and the guy who took them through, he was from Tahiti, and he didn't know how important it was to come in through Teavamoa Pass.

 

"When we returned to Mo'orea, we met again with the Pu'u Ario'i folks. They have this old kupuna man they look up to, and he said the same as the folks at Taputapuatea . When Hokule'a comes again, it should sail right in at Taputapuatea and lift the kapu. He said that the kapu is a curse for Mo'orea. All canoes that tried to sail from Mo'orea to Taputapuatea have failed. It has been this way for hundreds of years; and not until a canoe from Hawai'i sails in through the pass at Taputapuatea can the curse be lifted.

 

"So will you tell the Hokule'a guys, please? When Hokule'a comes again?"

 

"I'll pass it on," I replied, "but there's no plan to sail Hokule'a to Tahiti again. She's already made two trips, one in '76 and one in '80."

 

"We'll have to go to Tahiti again," Nalani said. "We don't know when, or what this all means, but the old man on Huahine said we would make another trip, maybe more. And the old kupuna man at Mo'orea was sure that Hokule'a would come again, in just a couple years, but he said he would be dead by then. When Hokule'a comes, he will die."

And, another excerpt:

While at Tahiti, Nainoa and the captain, Gordon Pi'ianai'a, were visited by a delegation from the Pu'u Ario'i with an invitation to bring the canoe to Mo'orea. A feast and ceremonies were planned. Mo'orea was not on the itinerary, but to decline the invitation would appear ungracious; moreover, cultural exchange was a purpose of the voyage. Gordon accepted the invitation.

 

He had met some of the Pu'u Ario'i on Mo'orea five years earlier, during the previous voyage of Hokule'a. Their senior kupuna, the leading elder, had honored Gordon with a Tahitian name, Tamatoa, and had predicted that both Gordon and Hokule'a would someday return-a prediction which, at the time, seemed highly unlikely.

 

Hokule'a was welcomed to Mo'orea with a formal oration that lasted perhaps thirty minutes. Historian Abraham Pi'ianai'a, Gordon's father, having joined the crew at Tahiti, was able to respond with correct protocol, modifying his impeccable Hawaiian slightly so that it could be understood by Tahitian ears. His response drew a tremendous ovation.

 

Gordon noticed that the old man he had met five years earlier was not among the Pu'u Ario'i.

 

The Hawaiians were overwhelmed with hospitality; and a special request was formally presented to them: when they reached Ra'iatea, would they please sail into the lagoon through the pass outside of Taputapuatea ? This had been the wish of their senior elder, that a canoe from Hawai'i land at Taputapuatea and lift the curse which Mo'orea canoe navigators had suffered for centuries. Unfortunately, that elder could not make the plea himself. True to his own prediction, he had died on the day that Hokule'a had landed at Tahiti.

 

The day after leaving Mo'orea, the canoe reached Huahine, 140 miles to the west.

About that "special request":  To ensure success of the curse-lifting endeavor, and to purify the crew, the people of Pupu Ariʻoi decided that it was necessary to conduct a "fire walking" ceremony.  This was to include everyone who had arrived on Hōkū at Moʻorea, and those from Moʻorea who would be sailing onward. Of course that meant Jo-Anne and I too.  

The afternoon was spent watching imu opening, wandering the grounds, talking story, and resting, with a bit of background dread:  Fire walking.  

The fire walk was to take place onsite.  A ditch had been dug, perhaps 4 or 5 feet wide and 20 long.  It had been prepped like an imu:  layers of wood topped by rocks.  It was lit mid-afternoon.   By the time we went sleep (or tried to) stones could be heard cracking and popping.  Weʻd been instructed that someone would wake us at 3am.  Weʻd be given a plain muslin pāreu to wear, and monoi, tiare-infused coconut oil, for our skin.  And so it happened.

chill breeze from mountains

moorea moonlit night

coconut grove awe

After dozing in fits and starts, we got up and changed into pāreu.  The monoi, homemade and in reused glass bottles, aside from its memory-evoking fragrance, is an effective insulator against cool morning air.  We spoke in whispers and gathered where a small group of Tahitians were working.  The grass was damp with familiar early-morning dew.

The luna of the walk went along each edge of the pit, probing hot pōhaku and settling them in place with a wood ʻōʻō.  Then, when he and others decided it was ready, with a whole stalk of kī, unrushed and careful, he began walking the length of the hot ditch, using lau kī to brush off ash and embers from the rock surface.  When all was properly prepped and deemed ready, we organized and lined up.  Luna first, then Tūtū Piianaia, then the crew...  

The soles of our feet were wet, the pōhaku dense, flat, and warmhot.  We proceeded, looking down to ensure our footing was stable.  Between the stones, emberglow, the silence of concentration.  There may have been chant and prayer.  I donʻt remember.  After the line of us were pau, somebody said One more time?  We all agreed Of Course!  And so it was.

Nainoa, post fire-walk contemplation at Afareaitu

Jo-Anne and I ferried back to Papeʻete; Hōkū sailed off to Huahine.  Jo and I had decided to fly to Raʻiatea so we could meet the canoe at Taputapuatea.  So we did.  My French was more or less nonexistent, Joʻs basic.  Late afternoon at the curb of the small airport on Raʻiatea we looked at each other and shrugged.  Passengers were met and driven off.  There were a handful of locals pitching their pension (lodging).  We were attracted to a cheerful woman with a navy blue camper-shelled pickup, we chatted then Jo and I climbed in the back.  Trust.  Bumping along roads, then a stop.  The woman came to the tail gate and told us to wait.  A few minutes later she returned with a fresh whole mahimahi.  Our dinner.  Her pension was tidy and clean, very rural, and she lived next door.  When she returned with our meals, we chatted in French English Hawaiian pidgin.  We shared that we were there to greet the canoe, and were from Hawaiʻi.  Oh! She said...Thereʻs a man here from Hawaiʻi.  Tom Cummings.  Married to a local woman, Therese.  Jo knew him from mutual associations with Kamehameha Schools.  Of course.  Trust.  It was settled.  Our hostess would call Tom and weʻd meet him tomorrow.

Tom, years later, speaking on Oʻahu [gigi-hawaii]

Jo and I were delivered to Tom and Thereseʻs home, not far away.  An unanticipated reunion, after which we jumped into logistics and planning.  We should go Taputapuatea today.  Then when Hōkū is close, weʻll go with friends in their aluminum skiff to greet them at Teavamoa.  Gotta make sure they sail into the correct pass!

Below...part of marae Taputapuatea.  Marae = Heiau.  In Tahiti, some marae have large slabs of upright stone forming the back wall.  Taputapuatea has a paved court in front.  Please reference readings online to gain more information about this special place.  Similar heiau are found in Hawaiʻi, and are deemed "older" by some because of their construction.  Here, smaller upright slabs of lava form the back wall of a paved platform, and the slabs aid in sightings of celestial objects...stars and planets.

Below, finally, after hundreds of years, a waʻa from Hawaiʻi enters Teavamoa, lifting the kapu.  The dim outline of Huahine can be seen on the horizon at right.

A small crowd gathered and waited for Hōkū to anchor.

from Pinterest

A surfeit (or not!) of tiare (above), as worn in Tahiti.  And below, greenish yellow motoʻi (ylangylang).  Lovely fragrance.  Both flowers are used to infuse coconut oil with their fragrances, yielding Monoi.  Monoi tiare (Tahitian gardenia) is an all-time favorite.  All those days at Maniniʻōwali and other beaches on Kekaha-wai-ole shores, monoi in the morning on the skin...and in the hair (long, wavy darkish hair!).  Oiling your skin made water bead after swimming, alleviating that annoying itchy salt crustiness when putting on clothes after.

Motoʻi or Ylangylang

Le Ylang-ylang, Motoi, (Cananga odorata) originaire de l’Asie du sud-est, est connu depuis longtemps par les marquisiens qui utilisent les fleurs très odorantes pour parfumer le monoï ou pour la composition de bouquets aphrodisiaques. Il aurait été introduit à Tahiti en 1850 par M. Dunnett.

So.  Now you have a bit more information about the Voyage of Rediscovery.  Until events like our cleansing fire walk are written about, the picture can remain incomplete.

Aloha, always aloha.  Please email questions or comments.

BobbyC

maniniowali@gmail.com