Event Date: Thursday, June 15 2023

IMPORTANT UPDATE:

Due to weather, the Moananuiākea Voyage Global Launch Ceremony will be moved indoors to the Rec Center at University of Alaska Southeast in Juneau (12300 Mendenhall Loop Road).  The ceremony is scheduled for Thursday, June 15, 1 to 4pm (11am to 2pm HST).  Please join us in person or check out the livestream (video above).  

The crew is monitoring the weather to determine the best time for Hōkūle’a to depart Don D. Statter Harbor at Auke Bay.  At the earliest the canoe will depart on Saturday morning.  Please stay tuned for updates.

WHEN: Thursday, June 15, 2023, 1 to 4pm (11am to 2pm HST)

WHERE: University of Alaska Southeast Recreation Center, 12300 Mendenhall Loop Road, Juneau Alaska

PROGRAM: The Global Launch event will include Alaska Native and Hawaiian cultural protocols, dances, chants and prayers for a ceremonial send-off for Hōkūleʻa and her crew before they embark on the four-year voyage around the Pacific.  Representatives from Alaska, Indigenous Taiwan, Micronesia, Sāmoa, Rarotonga and Aotearoa (New Zealand) will share their well-wishes and commitments to the mission of the voyage.  The event will close with ʻaha ʻawa (Ceremonial Offering of ʻAwa) and a final blessing.

Alaska Opening

• Opening & Prayer
• Dance Performance
• Ceremony

Hawaiian Ceremony

• WEHENA (Opening)
  • Opening Protocol
  • “Moananuiākea A Voyage for Oceans, A Voyage for Earth”
  • Dances to Heal the Earth: Lush Ancestral World & Global Warming
• KĀHEA I KA MOANANUIĀKEA (Call to the Pacific)
  • Native Voices: Indigenous Taiwan, Micronesia, Sāmoa, Rarotonga, Aotearoa
• HE LEO MAHALO (Grateful Voices)
  • Dances to Heal the Earth: Rising Sea Levels & Heed the Sound of the Drum
  • Tributes and Presentations
• ʻAHA ʻAWA (Ceremonial Offering of ʻAwa*)
  • Ceremonial Offering of ʻAwa (Designated individuals gather in a circle to receive drink)
  • ʻAuʻa ʻIa: Dance of Resolve and Commitment
  • Pī Kai: Cleansing Ritual
  • Hawaiʻi Aloha: Song of the Hawaiʻi Homeland

*’Awa, also known as kava, is a ceremonial drink used throughout the Pacific for events of importance. Fresh water is mixed with the pulverized root of the pepper plant (piper methysticum).

Final Blessing

• Closing Ceremony
• Dance Performance
• Ceremonial Sendoff & Prayers