Ceremony returns Hokule‘a to builders
Ownership of the double-hulled sailing canoe Hokule'a has been returned from the Bishop Museum to the nonprofit Polynesian Voyaging Society, the organization that originally built the vessel.
In ceremonies Tuesday at the Hawaii Maritime Center in Honolulu, the ownership was given formally to the society.
The Hawaii Maritime Museum purchased the Hokule'a from the Polynesian Voyaging Society for $250,000 in 1990 through funding from the National Park Service.
The canoe's ownership was transferred when the center was purchased by the Bishop Museum in 1995.
The museum has helped to support the voyages of the Hokule'a, including some $100,000 from a NASA grant in 2002 to prepare the canoe for a statewide educational sail.
Using native Pacific way-finding techniques, a crew aboard the canoe sailed on a historic voyage from Hawaii to Tahiti in 1976, supporting the point that Polynesians were capable of long-distance navigation centuries before Westerners.
The Hokule'a has been involved in some 10 major Pacific voyages, including its latest this year to Micronesia and Japan.
Museum interim President Michael Chinaka said officials with his organization have been honored to be the caretaker of the vessel but are delighted to return the ownership to those who "dreamed it, built it and revived ancient voyaging practices."