Pac Travel
Connecting The Islands
International Canoe Festival
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| Family members of Tahitian carvers look on during the launch ceremony. [Photo: Kasumi Vitarelli] |
Canoes and the knowledge of how to build them have become symbols of cultural survival and integrity. Canoes remind us of the relationship between nature (the tree log), man (the canoe builder) and the gods (the source of knowledge). Pacific canoes conjure up images of brave exploration by ancient navigators, of warfare between islands, and of daring fishermen, the providers of the community.
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Canoes have been important to the people of the Pacific since ancient times, when they were the only form of transportation between far-flung islands. Geographically isolated islands relied on canoe craftsmanship and seamanship skills for their development. Fishing, cooperation between island groups, trading goods, sharing technology and populating new islands were all possible because of the canoe. In an island world, the canoe was the key to survival.
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| New Zealand’s waka (canoe) awaits launch. [Photo: Kasumi Vitarelli] |
The International Festival of Canoes, which has become a popular annual event on the Hawaiian island of Maui, brings together master canoe carvers from around the Pacific. It honors the traditions of canoe making and voyaging and recognizes the skills that allowed early Pacific people to explore and settle the distant corners of the Pacific.
Held each May, the International Festival of Canoes was founded in 1998. What began back then as half-day event, during which canoes were simply displayed, has now become a two-week-long cultural celebration, during which canoes are constructed and launched, amid festivities that include dancing, music, cultural arts demonstrations and island food preparation.
Finishing the details on Maori tiki. The carving of tiki, drums and surfboards, as well as dancing and food preparation accompanied the canoe building celebration. [Photo: Kasumi Vitarelli]
Organized by the Lahaina Town Action Committee of Maui, it celebrates those cultures that share a symbiotic relationship to the Pacific Ocean.
“This event is important,” says Michael Tavioni, a self-taught carver from the Cook Islands, “because it’s the only one in the Pacific to showcase the carving of canoes, as opposed to canoe racing or merely exhibiting the vessels.”
The festival follows the development of canoe from tree to sea. Tall Albizia trees are brought from the upland forests. Before work commences and the log is cut, the transformation is honored in ceremonies and rituals, giving respect to the life force within the tree. The heavy rough work is carried out with modern tools.
The event culminates on the last two days with a parade showcasing the finished canoes. The drama and excitement reach a peak during the final ceremony in which symbolic ti-leaf-braided umbilical cords are cut and each canoe is “birthed” into the ocean. Voices are raised in cheer as the vessels lift up on a wave and are paddled out to sea.
The art of the canoe brings the islands together, and connects the past with the present. The knowledge of canoe building has been passed on, nurtured and kept alive. Traditional canoe designs are blended with innovative forms. Power tools as well as the traditional adze are used to shape the wood. Transformed and imbued with a new life force, the canoe maintains a continuum from the past. The canoe becomes a living spirit linking us to our ancestors.
Preparations are already well underway for the 2007 International Festival of Canoes. It will run from May 12-26 this year. Visit www.mauicanoefest.com for more information.
