Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Download MP3
For centuries, the islanders of Yap were renowned in the Pacific for their navigational skills. They could travel hundreds of miles in open sailing canoes, charting their course by the stars, the winds, and the pattern of the waves. That knowledge became endangered as Yap came under the control first of the Spanish, then of the Japanese, and especially the US after World War II. But in recent years, there’s been a resurgence of interest among young Yapese in learning this ancient skill, and keeping it alive. The World’s Mary Kay Magistad went sailing with some of them. (photo: Mary Kay Magistad)
A crew of aspiring navigators is hoisting a mahogany canoe into a turquoise lagoon, for a morning sail.
They position the outrigger – made from a breadfruit trees, and the mast, made of bamboo. In this case, the sail is made from a used parachute. But traditionally, it would have been made of woven fiber from a pandanus tree.
The canoe glides through the water, with occasional adjustments to the sail. The art of navigation used to be passed down from father to son – but these days, very few master navigators remain.
One is Ali Haleyalur, a corpulent 53-year-old former policeman. Now he teaches the skills passed down to him by his forefathers to younger Yapese. I caught up with him just outside his village home:
“At night, we use the stars. And in the daytime, we connect the waves. We learn to observe the waves. Because there are certain waves we watch. So you have to be good in observing, so you know how to connect them, so you know which way your canoe is pointing. But it always takes your head – calculate and memorize.”
Haleyalur says he’s memorized all the important stars, when they rise and set But he says he can also find his way on a stormy night, when there are no stars in sight. Then, he listens to how the waves are hitting the canoe. As a navigator on long trips, he says, that can mean he gets little or no sleep:
“We get used to that. You make sure that your crew have good rest so they can work very hard and do their work right, and make sure they don’t fall overboard.”
Haleyalur has traveled by canoe as far as Guam – some 470 miles away. It’s a five-to-seven day voyage. He and a crew at the traditional navigation school are planning another trip there in April. They’re in the process of preparing the boat:
But equally important, Ali Haleyalur says, is preparing spiritually for the journey. And here’s where Yap’s overlaying Catholic culture – brought by Spanish colonizers centuries ago – bumps up traditional island beliefs. Haleyalur says he has his crew say the “Our Father,” but he also has them take special herbal medicine, to ward off black magic from rival master navigators.
“If they were jealous of you, they would make storms come to you, or tornados, or they would even send sharks to attack the canoe.”
Once, he says, his canoe on the open seas was boxed in by three whales. One got underneath the canoe.
“We were above the water. (Laughs) We were really scared. To be true with you, I remember telling one guy who was inside bailing – because there were two holy water bottles that were under the platform. And so I told him, ‘pour some of the holy water, and let’s pray.’… And then we started out with the “Our Father,” we said “Our Father, who art in heaven”…and then we were all scared and excited, and were saying things that weren’t part of the prayer. But it finally let us go.”
There are other ways to appeal to the spirits of the sea. Haleyalur says there are chants known only to master navigators, like this one, to help the canoe find its way:
Haleyalur says he’s Catholic, but he also believes in this magic – and in black magic – although he chuckles and demurs when I ask if he knows black magic:
“I don’t do black magic… The reason I don’t get involved with it is, I’m a very devoted Catholic Christian. I don’t want to get involved with something that does bad things to others.”
But some here in Yap say Halayalur has been known to summon thunder on a clear day, if he has a message to spread.
Traditional beliefs still live in Yap – and if Halayalur has his way, Yap’s traditional art of navigation will have a long life ahead of it too.
For The World, I’m Mary Kay Magistad, Yap.
Discussion
2 comments for “The open sailing canoes of Yap”