Polynesian Voyaging Society Visits Forest Grove Campus

The first Polynesians sailed their way to Hawai‘i in handcrafted double-hulled canoes, finding their way across the vast ocean with only the stars as a guide.

For the past 40 years, the Polynesian Voyaging Society has been working to revive that cultural heritage by building traditional canoes and making oceanic ventures with only the technology their ancestors had.

Gordon Pi‘ianaia is a former captain of the Hōkūle‘a, one of the traditional canoes, who led a 1980 roundtrip voyage between Hawai‘i and Tahiti. He will visit Pacific University on April 7 to share the story of the Polynesian Voyaging Society and its current venture: a two-year voyage across the worldʻs oceans to grow the movement for a more sustainable world.

Pacific University students, faculty and staff are invited to a presentation from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. April 7 in McCready Hall, Taylor-Meade Auditorium.

An evening presentation at 7 p.m. April 7, also in McCready Hall, will be open to the public.

Both events are free.

Pacific University also will continue its celebration of Polynesian culture later that week, with the 56th annual Nā Haumāna O Hawai‘I Lu‘au  Lu‘au on April 9 on the Forest Grove Campus.