Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Culture And Heritage topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Hokule'a navigator Nainoa Thompson thanks Honolulu City services, stresses safety and parks' role in voyaging
Summary
Voyaging leader Nainoa Thompson delivered a "message of Aloha" to the City Council highlighting Hokule'a's 50-year history, the role of Honolulu's parks and safety services in training and voyages, and the importance of rescue swimmers and water-safety training.
Nainoa Thompson, a leader of the Hokule'a voyaging canoe, told the Honolulu City Council he was "honored and privileged" to deliver a message of Aloha and to thank the City and County of Honolulu for support over the canoe's 50-year history.
Thompson described how city agencies'notably parks and recreation, fire and rescue, and water-safety personnel'have been essential to Hokule'a's safety and training programs. He said parks served as central sites for construction, arrival and departure ceremonies, and community education dating to the canoe's earliest voyages in the 1970s.
Thompson stressed safety as the "number one issue." He outlined rescue processes used during a 1985 man-overboard incident in a severe storm and praised the specialized rescue-swimmer training his crew relies on for approval to sail. He thanked Honolulu Fire and Rescue and water-safety officers for their skills and humility and said their partnership allows voyages to proceed.
Why it matters: Thompson framed voyaging as an intergenerational cultural practice now in its fourth generation and credited municipal support for enabling safe transmission of navigation and seamanship skills.
Key quotation
"If we're not safe, we don't go. Period," Thompson said, describing the centrality of rescue training and city services to Hokule'a voyages.
Context: Thompson's remarks were offered as a public ceremonial message of Aloha at the start of the council session. He introduced members of the current crew, recalled early training workshops with parks and recreation staff, and thanked city leadership for decisions that allowed launching at culturally appropriate sites documented in Hokule'a records.
Provenance: Thompson's remarks appear in the public-comment/ceremonial portion of the meeting and were not a council action item.
