Pacific Navigation Notes

Notes for Navigation

The pacific navigators traveled through many miles of open ocean without a compass or written directions. Yet they were able to survive long voyages and eventually populate all of the Pacific islands.

Pacific Navigators successfully brought their canoes to landfall thousands of years ago and helped to populate the islands with the many cultures that we know today.

How did they do this?

Stars: These are used on clear nights. Navigators memorize the star paths in the sky. At night, navigators used the stars. They memorized the star patterns, the rising and setting of each star, which constellation could be seen at certain times in the year, and which stars could be seen above certain islands. Stars, like the sun, rise in the east and set in the west. Throughout the islands, navigators recognized the same stars

and followed a similar star compass, although not in the

same language.

Waves: Waves can be used on cloudy or clear days or nights. A navigator feels the waves as they pass beneath his canoe. Coastal currents are intricately tied to winds, waves, and land formations.

Winds that blow along the shoreline affect waves and, therefore, currents.

What can science teach us that navigators learned thousands of years ago? Navigators are trained to feel the wave frequency,the lengths of each wave, and the direction of currents.

Clouds: There are more clouds over high islands that over low islands. Marshallese Navigators claim to “see” islands in the clouds.

Birds: Seabirds can fish from 40 to 120 miles away from the island where they nest Birds nest on land and fish at sea. Navigators study the living patterns of each oceanic bird. These can tell a navigator how far

from land he is. Navigators know which birds are more common near which island. They also can follow these birds home.

Fish: Some fish are migratory and move in certain latitudes. Navigators can tell which fish are more abundant in one island and which may not swim near another.

Reefs: Reefs that form around islands have distinctive shapes and colors.

At night, navigators used the stars. They memorized the star patterns, the rising and setting of each star,

names and shapes of constellation that could be seen at certain times in the year, and which stars could be seen above certain islands

Stars, like the sun, rise in the east and set in the west.

There were twelve schools of navigation found throughout the Pacific. Navigators learned one of two secret languages of these schools. Some learned more than one language . Navigators from different islands could converse with each other if they learned the same secret language.

Besides a secret language, navigators also had to learn magic. Magic gave navigators certain powers that other people could not understand. One thing the navigator could do was talk to certain animals in the ocean. They could move clouds and keep storms away.

Navigators also feel the ocean waves and currents beneath the canoe whether it is day or night.

Navigators use waves and the currents to tell direction.

Navigators are trained to feel the wave frequency,the lengths of each wave, and the direction of currents.

Birds nest on land and fish at sea. Navigators study the living patterns of each oceanic bird. These can tell a navigator how far from land he is. When birds head for home at dusk or early evening, the navigator follows the bird home.