P00045: Steve Thomas Traditional Micronesian Navigation Collection 1983-1989 (Inventory)

As a young man piloting a small sailboat across the Pacific, Steve Thomas developed a fascination with ancient methods of navigation. He learned of a seafaring culture that, beginning 6,000 years ago, used arcane navigation arts to guide initiates unerringly across the Pacific with no compasses, no charts. Thomas ventured to the tiny coral atolls of Micronesia in search of these mysteries, this ancient language of the sea. There he found the last navigator. Mau Piailug, one of the last surviving palu, belongs to a dying breed of navigators who used only natural signs--stars, waves, birds--to guide their sailing canoes across thousands of miles of open ocean. Steve Thomas is the author of The Last Navigator and creator of the film of the same name. He has donated his amazing collection of slides of Satawal (Micronesia) and surrounding areas--including canoes, island scenes, feasts, dancing, traditional arts and more--to the Pacific Collection, University of Hawaii at Manoa Library.

48 hours advance notice required to use materials in this collection. Materials available Monday-Friday, 10 am-4:30 pm. Photographic images also available via World Wide Web. Photocopying prohibited.