The Canoe Is the People
Indigenous Navigation in the Pacific
Sea Marks
A wayfinder also relies on sea marks located in specific places to find the way. It might not be best to take the shortest path to an island if this means that you cannot check your course by seeing or feeling the sea marks. Wayfinders learn to use sea marks through experience as well as through stories and songs about them.
Reefs GLOSSARY reefs - areas of rock or coral below the surface of the water may act as sea marks, even those up to 50 m below the surface. The water above a reef has a different colour (light green) from the sea around it (blue). Short, steep waves sometimes form above a reef too. They are caused by a current GLOSSARY current - the directional flow of the sea meeting the reef. If the sea is flat, a navigator can see these waves from some kilometres away. At night, a wayfinder can feel the canoe move differently over them [See figure 1].
Sea life (like sharks, whales, and dolphins) also act as sea marks for a navigator. Extraordinary animals are often found at the same place along a path, even over centuries. Some are well known to navigators and have been given their own names. They can be as helpful as reefs in guiding the navigator. Some sea life can also be guides to show you where to find the land.
Knowledge about sea marks is closely protected. Student navigators chant GLOSSARY chant - sing, say lists of marks that they can look for between an island and each star point. A wayfinder’s family member may sing or tell a story about these sea marks while the wayfinder is at sea.
Knowing the directions
Cook Islands navigation student Kaiki Tarangi (Karl)
You say, “Whoever you are, and I know you – that’s the other thing, I know you, I trust you – can you hold me in the palm of your hand until I get back from this voyage and help us to get there safely?” And you’d be amazed, mate. So many wayfinders talk about when they’re lost and they’re getting nervous, and they just look down to the water and there’s a shark, a white shark just swimming right in front, and they go, “That’s the direction!”
