The Hokule‘a is scheduled to arrive in Seattle at about 8 a.m. Saturday morning, where it will remain for four days as its crew conducts tours of the canoe and participates in public engagement activities throughout the city, according to a news release.
The canoe will sail from Suquamish and arrive in Elliot Bay, where it will be greeted by a flotilla of outrigger paddling canoes and the city’s fire boat. The Suquamish and Muckleshoot Indian tribes will also hold a welcome ceremony after the canoe docks at Pier 62, as the Hokule‘a and its crew enter into the 10th week of their four-year Moananuiakea Voyage.
“The Port of Seattle welcomes the crew of the Hokule‘a and the message they bring from indigenous voices across the Pacific Ocean — protect our most cherished values and places from disappearing,” said Port of Seattle Commissioner Fred Felleman in a written statement. “The importance of their message is underscored as we lament the tragic losses from the devastating fire in Lahaina.”
The ceremony will consist of remarks by the Polynesian Voyaging Society’s CEO Nainoa Thompson, Seattle city officials and indigenous arts and culture group, Unkitawa.
On Sunday, the Hokule‘a crew will be at the Seattle Aquarium, where aquarium attendees can meet crewmembers, learn about traditional Polynesian voyaging, navigation, nautical knot tying and the Moananuiakea Voyage, according to the Hokule‘a website.
Later that day, captain and navigator Bruce Blankenfeld will also present the history of Hokule‘a, traditional navigation and the Moananuiakea Voyage, also at the aquarium.
That evening, the public will have the opportunity to meet the Hokule‘a crewmembers at Patagonia Seattle from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
The public is also invited to participate in dockside tours of the Hokule‘a, which will be available from 1 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. today, and from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. on Sunday and Monday.
On Tuesday, Thompson is scheduled to give a presentation at the Burke Museum from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m.
Following the Hokule‘a’s four-day stay in Seattle, it is scheduled to depart from Bell Harbor Marina the morning of Aug. 30. Weather permitting, it is scheduled to arrive in Tacoma at noon at the Foss Waterway Seaport Museum.
To learn more about the Hokule‘a’s arrival into Seattle, visit hokulea.com.
Linsey Dower covers ethnic and cultural affairs and is a corps member of Report for America, a national service organization that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues and communities.
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