Mau Piailug

A documentary that takes a retrospective look at the influence of Mau Piailug, a native from the tiny Micronesian atoll of Satawal, in reviving the art of non-instrument navigation in Polynesia. Relying solely on his knowledge of celestial bodies, oceanic currents, and natural markers, Mau guided the traditional sailing canoe Hokulea on a 1976 voyaging to Tahiti, a journey not completed in more than 600 years. For Native Hawaiians, this expedition signaled an exodus from the cultural doldrums of the previous century. Sail along on this remarkable journey and share Mau's story of reinvigoration, reconciliation, and redemption of a people as the master wayfinder and teacher that breathed life back into the sails Polynesia's voyaging tradition.

In 1995, a large gathering of transoceanic canoes took place on the island of Raiatea, an opportunity for the navigators of the South Pacific to renew old alliances and reunite their peoples. This film retraces the history of contemporary ancestral navigation through interviews with a number of distinguished Pacific navigators.