Saving Ancestral Navigation through Photography

Saving Ancestral Navigation through Photography

Te ara
Terevaka
Tupuna i roto
i te Moana
Nui a Hiva

Saving Ancestral Navigation through Photography

Te ara Terevaka Tupuna i roto i te Moana Nui a Hiva (the path of the ancestral ships in the great ocean) is the name of the photographic exposition which invited the local community to look back into different times and to moments in the history of navigation on Rapa Nui. The initiative was a led by Petero “Hoi Tara” Hucke-Atan, sculptor, educator of Rapanui culture and currently an adviser to the Ma’u Henua Indigenous Community.

After sailing during 30 days to Tahiti with the Swiss expedition, Race for Water, on a solar-powered catamaran which seems like a mobile laboratory that is powered by the sun, the water and the wind, Petero decided to hold an exhibition which would show the contrast between the ancestral voyages and modern sailing powered by renewable energies.  He tells how he compiled data on the trips made by some Rapanui in the 1940s and 1950s… “in that time, people tried to escape from the Island in boats, looking for a better life, to let the rest of the world know that Rapa Nui existed and the conditions in which we lived.  Of the eight attempts to escape, four made it to other lands and the other four were lost at sea.”  To understand this urge to flee, it should be remembered that, until 1952, the Island was leased to an English sheep and wool company and, due to the presence of leprosy which had come in from Tahiti, the Rapanui people were prohibited from leaving their Island.  Then the Island was under the control of the Chilean Navy until 1964, a period in which the people had no political or civil rights.  They were considered stateless, which impeded them from legally traveling to any other part of the world.

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“I also included some tupuna (ancestral-style) voyages that reached Raiatea in 1995 and that gathered at Taputapuatea”…continues Petero Tucki. “At Taputapuatea there is a marae, an Eastern Polynesian religious temple.  That was where the navigators met to organize and launch voyages through the great ocean which we call Te Moana Nui a Kiva. The symbol of these meetings was a legendary octopus called Tai Mata Tumura’iao, whose cave was to be found between the islands of Taha’a and Ra’iätea.  This Heke, or octopus, symbolized the maritime routes of navigation.”

Petero Hucke noted that the ship of Race for Water, with all its modern technology, had two stabilizers on the sides of the ship, just like the Polynesian canoes.  Whose technology is that?  He responds…“That is ours. Our ancestors traveled thousands of nautical miles on their canoes with outriggers, or lateral support stabilizers which we call ama in Rapanui.  They sailed with the wisdom acquired through time, observing the astral bodies, the swell and the marine currents, the winds and other signs that are offered by nature to direct their course through the ocean Te Moana Nui a Kiva.  I hope to inspire the new generations to study and experiment on these journeys of our ancestors.  Recently I took sail on the ship “Ana Lola Queen” from Quellón in Southern Chile.  I’m very proud of this ship and its crew which attempts to recreate ancestral navigation.  I would urge the younger people that they leave behind their selfishness and their envy of others and be respectful and look back to the times of our ancestors.  Mauru’uru (thank you).

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Para Petero Hucke, la embarcación del Race for Water con toda su tecnología, tenía dos estabilizadores para la embarcación, al igual que las canoas polinésicas. ¿De quién es esa tecnología? El mismo se responde…“Esa tecnología es nuestra. Nuestros ancestros viajaron miles de millas náuticas con sus canoas con balancines o estabilizadores de apoyo lateral llamados ama en rapanui. Navegaban con la sabiduría adquirida a través de los tiempos, observando los cuerpos estelares, los oleajes y corrientes marinas, los vientos y otros signos ofrecidos por la naturaleza para dirigir su curso por el océano Te Moana Nui a Kiva.

Mi objetivo es incentivar a las nuevas generaciones a que estudien y experimenten sobre estas travesías de nuestros antepasados. Hace poco emprendió viaje la embarcación “Ana Lola Queen” desde Quellón en el sur de Chile. Estoy muy orgulloso por esta embarcación y por su tripulación que busca rescatar la navegación ancestral. Quisiera pedir a los más jóvenes que abandonen los egoísmos y la envidia y que seamos respetuosos e inclinemos las miradas hacia los tiempos de nuestros ancestros. Mauru’uru (Gracias)

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