Mao Piailug Passed Away in Satawal, Yap Outer Islands, Micronesia
Master navigator Mau Piailug passes away.
Thursday, 15 July 2010 00:00.
COLONIA, Yap (Yap State Government) - The last of the old traditional navigators of the Pacific, Mau Piailug, died Monday, on his home island of Satawal, in the Federated States of Micronesia. He was 78.
When European explorers first ventured into the Pacific in the early 1500s, they found people on all the major islands. How the people got there was a mystery to them. They had no idea that they had happened upon a people who were the greatest explorers and navigators in the world - people so skilled that they needed no maps or instruments to find their way across the vast ocean.
The last of these great traditional navigators was Mau Piailug, who guided the Hawaiian voyaging canoe Hokule’a on its first trip to Tahiti, using only non-instrument navigation in 1976.
Mau Piailug was born in 1932. When he was still a little baby, his grandfather put him in a tide pool as though he were putting him in a cradle. There the sea gently rocked him back and forth with the rhythm of the tides.
When Mau was six, his grandfather began to teach him about navigation. He started by telling him about the stars.
The grandfather made a star compass out of a circle of coral rocks, and in the center he put a little canoe he had made of palm fronds. Then he explained how the stars rose in the sky and traveled from east to west.
As he grew older Mau spent his evenings in the canoe house. There he asked the elders to teach him about navigation. In this way, and with his grandfather’s help, he learned the paths of more than a hundred stars. He also learned that when clouds covered the sky, he could use the direction of the ocean waves to guide the canoe. He could also follow the birds toward land when they headed home in the evening, and he studied the creatures of the sea, for in times of trouble they, too, could help him find land.
http://www.mvariety.com/2010071428357/local-news/master-navigator-mau-piailug-passes-away.php
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Letter to the Editor: In Memory of Mau Piailug, the great Micronesian master navigator and a man of peace .
Friday, 16 July 2010 00:00.
A GREAT Micronesian has journeyed into God’s Kingdom.
As you paddle your canoe to meet God in Heaven, your path to enlightenment will be remembered by the people of the world.
As you enter God’s Kingdom, you leave a legacy among the people of the world.
You planted a seed into the minds of our youth to respect the ocean and learn the ways of the seas.
You taught our Pacific seafarers to reach foreign lands and to survive the challenges of the ocean.
The stars at night that guided you on your ocean voyages assisted our ancient navigators as they explored the Pacific.
The fairy terns and the brown bobbies that you watch sing as they guide our fishermen in quest of daily sustenance.
The North Equatorial Current that swings your canoe brings nourishments to our coral reefs.
The green turtles and the hawksbill turtles that show you the way will lay their eggs in our Pacific Islands to assist future navigators.
Your handshake with me at the home of Thedoro Selepeo in Tanapag, Saipan enriched my life and strengthened my respect for the ocean.
As you look down to us from Heaven, may your spirit guide us to live in peace with one another.
You will always be loved and admired by your brothers and sisters in the many islands of the Pacific.
Mau Piailug was a master of the stars and the ocean. Star navigators of the future will use his ancient skills to explore the universe. If it wasn’t for this man we would have lost it all... We have lost a hero. R.I.P Mau Piailug, MAGAS PUTION.
JOAQUIN (JACK)
P. VILLAGOMEZ
A fisherman and a man of peace
http://www.mvariety.com/2010071528360/letter-to-the-editor/letter-to-the-editor-in-memory-of-mau-piailug-the-great-micronesian-master-navigator-and-a-man-of-peace.php
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Letter to the Editor: Irony.
Monday, 15 March 2010 00:00.
THE word “irony” is tossed around often enough, but I doubt many people understand it’s meaning. ‘Irony’ has everything to do with opposites.
It is ironic if a police officer assists in the commission of a crime because, by definition, policemen are supposed to prevent crimes. It would be ironic if Mau Piailug got lost on his way home from the grocery store because he is arguably the greatest navigator remaining on planet Earth. And it is ironic when Chamorros invoke their Catholicism and their church when making a case for indigenous rights.
Thursday, 15 July 2010 00:00.
COLONIA, Yap (Yap State Government) - The last of the old traditional navigators of the Pacific, Mau Piailug, died Monday, on his home island of Satawal, in the Federated States of Micronesia. He was 78.
When European explorers first ventured into the Pacific in the early 1500s, they found people on all the major islands. How the people got there was a mystery to them. They had no idea that they had happened upon a people who were the greatest explorers and navigators in the world - people so skilled that they needed no maps or instruments to find their way across the vast ocean.
The last of these great traditional navigators was Mau Piailug, who guided the Hawaiian voyaging canoe Hokule’a on its first trip to Tahiti, using only non-instrument navigation in 1976.
Mau Piailug was born in 1932. When he was still a little baby, his grandfather put him in a tide pool as though he were putting him in a cradle. There the sea gently rocked him back and forth with the rhythm of the tides.
When Mau was six, his grandfather began to teach him about navigation. He started by telling him about the stars.
The grandfather made a star compass out of a circle of coral rocks, and in the center he put a little canoe he had made of palm fronds. Then he explained how the stars rose in the sky and traveled from east to west.
As he grew older Mau spent his evenings in the canoe house. There he asked the elders to teach him about navigation. In this way, and with his grandfather’s help, he learned the paths of more than a hundred stars. He also learned that when clouds covered the sky, he could use the direction of the ocean waves to guide the canoe. He could also follow the birds toward land when they headed home in the evening, and he studied the creatures of the sea, for in times of trouble they, too, could help him find land.
http://www.mvariety.com/2010071428357/local-news/master-navigator-mau-piailug-passes-away.php
----------------------------------------------
Letter to the Editor: In Memory of Mau Piailug, the great Micronesian master navigator and a man of peace .
Friday, 16 July 2010 00:00.
A GREAT Micronesian has journeyed into God’s Kingdom.
As you paddle your canoe to meet God in Heaven, your path to enlightenment will be remembered by the people of the world.
As you enter God’s Kingdom, you leave a legacy among the people of the world.
You planted a seed into the minds of our youth to respect the ocean and learn the ways of the seas.
You taught our Pacific seafarers to reach foreign lands and to survive the challenges of the ocean.
The stars at night that guided you on your ocean voyages assisted our ancient navigators as they explored the Pacific.
The fairy terns and the brown bobbies that you watch sing as they guide our fishermen in quest of daily sustenance.
The North Equatorial Current that swings your canoe brings nourishments to our coral reefs.
The green turtles and the hawksbill turtles that show you the way will lay their eggs in our Pacific Islands to assist future navigators.
Your handshake with me at the home of Thedoro Selepeo in Tanapag, Saipan enriched my life and strengthened my respect for the ocean.
As you look down to us from Heaven, may your spirit guide us to live in peace with one another.
You will always be loved and admired by your brothers and sisters in the many islands of the Pacific.
Mau Piailug was a master of the stars and the ocean. Star navigators of the future will use his ancient skills to explore the universe. If it wasn’t for this man we would have lost it all... We have lost a hero. R.I.P Mau Piailug, MAGAS PUTION.
JOAQUIN (JACK)
P. VILLAGOMEZ
A fisherman and a man of peace
http://www.mvariety.com/2010071528360/letter-to-the-editor/letter-to-the-editor-in-memory-of-mau-piailug-the-great-micronesian-master-navigator-and-a-man-of-peace.php
--------------------------------------------
Letter to the Editor: Irony.
Monday, 15 March 2010 00:00.
THE word “irony” is tossed around often enough, but I doubt many people understand it’s meaning. ‘Irony’ has everything to do with opposites.
It is ironic if a police officer assists in the commission of a crime because, by definition, policemen are supposed to prevent crimes. It would be ironic if Mau Piailug got lost on his way home from the grocery store because he is arguably the greatest navigator remaining on planet Earth. And it is ironic when Chamorros invoke their Catholicism and their church when making a case for indigenous rights.