Hometown
Juneau, Alaska
Voyage(s)
Moananuiākea Voyage – Leg 5: Prince Rupert to Vancouver
Bio
Ben has long known and had a relationship with PVS but Moananuiakea is the first time he is sailing on a waʻa kaulua. Ben’s father, Byron Mallott, was the head of Sealaska when Hawaiʻi turned to Alaska Natives for help in finding two trees large enough to be used as hulls for the voyaging canoe Hawaiʻi Loa in the early 1990s. Byron made it happen and would go on to become a longtime PVS board member.
Ben’s first sail on Hōkūleʻa was from his hometown of Juneau to his father’s hometown of Yakutat. Ben, who works in public policy with the Alaska Federation of Natives, describes Hōkūleʻa as “a symbol of indigenous determination, pride, culture, and traditional knowledge.” And he looks forward to seeing voyaging “connect local indigenous communities together.”
Though new to voyaging, there is much he has already found to miss about it when back on land: “the fresh air and hearing the sound of the waves and water.”
Ben’s first sail on Hōkūleʻa was from his hometown of Juneau to his father’s hometown of Yakutat. Ben, who works in public policy with the Alaska Federation of Natives, describes Hōkūleʻa as “a symbol of indigenous determination, pride, culture, and traditional knowledge.” And he looks forward to seeing voyaging “connect local indigenous communities together.”
Though new to voyaging, there is much he has already found to miss about it when back on land: “the fresh air and hearing the sound of the waves and water.”