Wednesday, January 21, 1998
What ever happened to the effort in Hawaii's Legislature to honor Thor Heyerdahl? He was the Norwegian ethnologist who in 1947 sailed a balsa-wood raft named "Kon-Tiki" from Peru to the Tuamotu Islands to test his theory that islands of Polynesia could have been settled by Indians from South America? Isle Legislature
honored HeyerdahlThe Legislature did honor him. In 1994, at the Kon-Tiki museum in Oslo, Heyerdahl accepted a certificate sent by the Hawaii House of Representatives to mark his 80th birthday.
"Thor Heyerdahl helped to bring the people and culture of Polynesia to the attention of the world, stimulated interest in the Pacific and Hawaii and inspired native Hawaiian voyaging expeditions," the declaration said.
In accepting the award, Heyerdahl noted much of his early inspiration and knowledge came from Hawaii. Heyerdahl's 1950 book, "Kon-Tiki," tells the tale of his Pacific voyage.