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Project Accomplishments
June, 1996 – June, 2002
Goal 1. Canoes Built:
The Taumako community built a new te puke type of voyaging canoe
christened Vaka Taumako.
A small tealolili voyaging canoe was built on Taumako in 1999.
A 4.7 fathom (9.3 meter) tealolili was half completed on Kaua'i.
Two tealolili – at 4.5 and 5.5 fathoms length - were completed in
Taumako. One is designated as a gift to Outer Reefs people for use in
training and voyaging.
Goals 1. and 2. Canoes Sailed and Voyaged on Ancient Routes:
Training sails were taken on the Vaka Taumako in the lagoon and
nearby Taumako.
The first voyage of the Vaka Taumako was taken by a crew of eight.
It was a challenging passage from Taumako to Nifiloli in the Outer
Reef Islands.
The return voyage was accomplished in Dec, 2001, in the first
light, seasonal, westerlies to occur for 3 years.
Goal 3. Education Given in Voyaging Skills and Values:
The entire Taumako community helped build and sail tepuke named
Vaka Taumako.and a small tealolili (no name yet) for the first time in
over forty years.
The Vaeakau people of the Outer Reef Islands (closest Polynesians
to Taumako) formally joined the canoe building and sail-training
program of the Vaka Taumako Project. In return for traditional gifts
of pigs and other feast foods, the Taumako community will make them a
small training canoe of the type called tealolili.and train some Outer
Reef Islands people during building and sailing of the canoe, and the
voyage/delivery to Outer Reefs.
Created planning foundation for an ongoing apprentice program and a
school of voyaging for Taumakoan and Outer Reefs people. The concept
includes eventual initiation of such a program for outsiders. The
curricula includes methods of building, sailing, navigating,
maintaining canoes, and how to do all the planning and execution of
voyaging, including relationships with people on other islands,
protocol, weather, cargo, health and spiritual development, and safety
and emergency methods.
A canoe house was constructed at Taumako to accommodate the
maintainance and training programs and to accommodate the canoes,
archives, students, and visitors.
Trial term of voyaging school (Lata Navigation School) was run
during July – Oct, 2001, with practicums carried out during Nov, 2001
– Mar, 2002. 57 students and 8 instructors participated.
Goal 4. Documented the Project Step by Step and Collected Archival
Materials:
Taumako students shot over 90 hours of archival video footage, and
over 15 hours was shot by a professional, to document all aspects of
the planning, building, and sailing of the Vaka Taumako. This footage
provides a rich resource to be used in both archival and broadcast
products.
Dr. George and Meph Wyeth worked with Paramount Chief Kaveia, and
other Taumakoan elders and students, to make written, drawn, and
photographic records of voyaging knowledge and project activities.
Goal 5. Produced Information and Educational Publications:
Numerous articles were published in a variety of journals and
magazines. Most recently "The Return of Lata: the Building and
Sailing of An Authentic Polynesian Voyaging Canoe" by M. George and K.
Kaveia was published in the July, 1999 issue of Sailing, New Zealand,
and others were published in Wooden Boat magazine, etc.
During Jan., 1997 -1998 two short videos were produced – The Heirs
of Lata and Vaka Taumako: The First Voyage. In 2000 another was
produced entitledThrough Our Eyes.
During Mar, 2002 a TV docu-drama was recorded for airing during
2003 on German National TV and for possible world distribution.
Goal 6. Arranged Cultural Exchanges:
During May – July, 1999 seven nga Taumako flew to Hawaii and began
building a small demonstration voyaging canoe for educational use on
Kaua'i. Over 600 people visited the worksite, and many participated
in the work and support activities. The Paramount Chief of Taumako, a
master star navigator and the last active Polynesian navigator,
underwent successful cataract eye surgeries on Kaua'i.
Goal 7. Protected and Benefited Taumako
Written agreements are in place within and between the VTP and
outside interests regarding nga Taumako property rights and copyright
and profits.
Scores of articles were published in several countires and the VTP
website visitors have averaged about 60 per week since inception
in 1998.
Step by step of the project, Taumakoans have gained awareness and
skills in documentation, representation, and management of their own
cultural knowledge.
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