{"id":28788,"date":"2014-10-24T11:41:45","date_gmt":"2014-10-24T21:41:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=28788"},"modified":"2021-10-22T08:35:30","modified_gmt":"2021-10-22T18:35:30","slug":"apprentice-navigator-cesi-hao-recounts-her-journey-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2014\/10\/24\/apprentice-navigator-cesi-hao-recounts-her-journey-home\/","title":{"rendered":"Apprentice navigator Cesi Ha\u02bbo recounts her journey home"},"content":{"rendered":"<span class=\"span-reading-time rt-reading-time\" style=\"display: block;\"><span class=\"rt-label rt-prefix\">Reading time: <\/span> <span class=\"rt-time\"> 3<\/span> <span class=\"rt-label rt-postfix\">minutes<\/span><\/span><p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/hao-hokulea.jpg\" alt=\"Celeste \u201cCesi\u201d Hao\" width=\"620\" height=\"334\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-28803\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/hao-hokulea.jpg 620w, https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/hao-hokulea-260x140.jpg 260w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 620px) 100vw, 620px\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"clear-photo\"> In early August, during the last eight hours of the nine-day voyage of the <span aria-label=\"Hokulea\">H\u014dk\u016ble&#699;a<\/span> voyaging canoe traveling from Aitutaki, Cook Islands, to the islands of S&#257;moa, adverse weather conditions obliterated any environmental clues to apprentice navigator and <a href=\"http:\/\/hilo.hawaii.edu\/\">University of <span aria-label=\"Hawaii\">Hawai&#699;i<\/span> at Hilo<\/a> student Celeste &ldquo;Cesi&rdquo; <span aria-label=\"Hao\">Ha&#699;o<\/span>. This was a critical turn of events, because the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.hokulea.com\"><span aria-label=\"Hokulea\">H\u014dk\u016ble&#699;a<\/span><\/a> navigates without the help of modern technology, guided only by the skills of rotating navigators reading the sea, wind and stars. With the dismal weather, the only option left to <span aria-label=\"Hao\">Ha&#699;o<\/span> to set the course and direction of the canoe was to navigate by <span aria-label=\"naau\">na&#699;au<\/span>&#8212;her gut instinct and feelings. It was a triumphant moment when she guided that canoe right into port. It was an epic journey for <span aria-label=\"Hao\">Ha&#699;o<\/span> as she returned to Faleapuna, her village of S&#257;moa,<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span aria-label=\"Hao\">Ha&#699;o<\/span> presents &ldquo;Seeking Samoa: A Taupou&#8217;s Voyage Home&rdquo; at the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.imiloahawaii.org\/\"><span aria-label=\"Imiloa\">&#699;Imiloa<\/span> Astronomy Center<\/a> on Friday, October 24, 7 p.m.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Back to S&#257;moa<\/h2>\n<p><span aria-label=\"Hao\">Ha&#699;o<\/span>, an <a href=\"http:\/\/www.imiloahawaii.org\/\"><span aria-label=\"Imiloa\">&#699;Imiloa<\/span> Astronomy Center of <span aria-label=\"Hawaii\">Hawai&#699;i<\/span><\/a> education associate, was born in Keaukaha and raised in <span aria-label=\"Pnaewa\">Pana&#699;ewa<\/span> on <span aria-label=\"Hawaii\">Hawai&#699;i<\/span> Island. Her father, Walter Manuia, is from Keaukaha, and her mother, Eva Manuia, is from Sauniatu, S&#257;moa. <\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_28802\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-28802\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/hao-morris.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" class=\"size-full wp-image-28802\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/hao-morris.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/hao-morris-260x195.jpg 260w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-28802\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><span aria-label=\"Hao\">Ha&#699;o<\/span> with her grandfather Tialavea Morris at the wedding reception.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Ten years ago when <span aria-label=\"Hao\">Ha&#699;o<\/span> was 17, her grandfather, Tialavea Morris, the <span aria-label=\"alii\">ali&#699;i<\/span> and high chief of Faleapuna, called <span aria-label=\"Hao\">Ha&#699;o<\/span> and her parents to his village in <span aria-label=\"Upolu\">&#699;Upolu<\/span>. Her grandfather made her a taupou by bestowing on her the title of Tuloutele. She was now the head of the <span aria-label=\"Nuu\">Nu&#699;u<\/span> o <span aria-label=\"Tamaitai\">Tama&#699;ita&#699;i<\/span> (all women born into the village), and it was expected she would help make decisions for the family and village as spiritual and temporal caretaker.<\/p>\n<p>But unlike other taupou whose duty is to village and family, <span aria-label=\"Hao\">Ha&#699;o<\/span>&#8217;s grandfather had different ideas, sending her home to <span aria-label=\"Hawaii\">Hawai&#699;i<\/span> to continue her education. &ldquo;There will be a time that I will call for you to return home (to S&#257;moa),&rdquo; he told her. &ldquo;When I do, it is your responsibility to bring back what you&#8217;ve learned and teach your people.&rdquo; <\/p>\n<p>Her voyage on the <span aria-label=\"Hokulea\">H\u014dk\u016ble&#699;a<\/span> was an extremely significant experience. It was a fulfillment of her promise to her grandfather 10 years in the making to navigate and return to their islands the way her ancestors once did, &ldquo;by way of the sea and the stars.&rdquo; She says her grandfather&#8217;s hope was that the voyage and the knowledge she brought would inspire their Samoan community to leave their shores once again the way their kupuna did and to bring navigation back to the place where it all began. <\/p>\n<p>Fulfilling her grandfather&#8217;s wish did not come without heartbreak. Upon arriving in S&#257;moa, she learned that while she was at sea, her grandfather had suffered two heart attacks while in California and would not be able to see and welcome her home. <\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;At first I couldn&#8217;t understand the reason for the total plot twist but I believe that everything happens for a reason,&rdquo; she says. &ldquo;That reason became apparent much later in my trip as I was tasked to develop a way by which I could help teach S&#257;moa, the birthplace of navigation, how to navigate again. I thought I was there to fulfill a promise to my grandfather, but it took him not being there to make me realize that this journey was always meant to be so much bigger (than the two of us).&rdquo; <\/p>\n<p><span aria-label=\"Hao\">Ha&#699;o<\/span> continues her work at <span aria-label=\"Imiloa\">&#699;Imiloa<\/span> and is currently earning a degree in culture-based astronomy education at <abbr>东精影业<\/abbr> Hilo. She says her passion has always been about bridge building and promoting place-based teaching and learning of astronomy and science through a cultural perspective.<\/p>\n<p>Go the <a href=\"http:\/\/hilo.hawaii.edu\/news\/stories\/2014\/10\/23\/celeste-hao-rising-star\/\"><abbr>东精影业<\/abbr> Hilo Stories<\/a> for more on <span aria-label=\"Hao\">Ha&#699;o<\/span> including how she became an apprentice navigator and her goals for the future.<\/p>\n<p>&#8212;<em>This story was adapted from the <a href=\"http:\/\/hilo.hawaii.edu\/news\/stories\/2014\/10\/23\/celeste-hao-rising-star\/\"><abbr>东精影业<\/abbr> Hilo Stories website<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>&#8212;By Susan Enright<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><abbr>东精影业<\/abbr> Hilo student  and apprentice <span aria-label=\"Hokulea\">H\u014dk\u016ble&#699;a<\/span> navigator Celeste &ldquo;Cesi&rdquo; <span aria-label=\"Hao\">Ha&#699;o<\/span> shares her journey home to her village of S&#257;moa.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[33,292,1012,14,56],"class_list":["post-28788","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-people","tag-hawaiian","tag-imiloa-astronomy-center","tag-malama-honua","tag-uh-hilo","tag-video-2","entry","has-media"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28788","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28788"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28788\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":150284,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28788\/revisions\/150284"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28788"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28788"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28788"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}