Canoes have been an essential feature of
Oceania life for thousands of years. From the large voyaging canoes to the simple fishing
canoes, they have provided food and transportation for Pacific Island people. Their
construction varies according to the available material. In Melanesia, where large trees
are available, they are normally a dug-out canoe which involves hollowing out the trunk of
the tree. In Micronesia, where these trees are not available construction was quite
different and normally involved joining together planks of wood with glue, often made from
the sap of the breadfruit tree and are tied together using coconut fibre.
I do hope that you find the following
pictorial images of our Oceania Canoes to be of some interest.
A replica Polynesian Voyaging Canoe constructed in Hawaii
using the traditional craftsmanship and materials. These canoes had been used to verify
the recorded sailing feats of our forefathers who sailed similar canoes across vast
expanses of the Pacific Ocean between the Central Pacific Islands and Easter Island.
Micronesian fishermen display their
skill in casting a net from an outrigger canoe.
Carving a canoe from a
single tree trunk, Papua New Guinea
A traditional outrigged
canoe, Marshall Islands, 1920
A closer view of the same above canoe (Marshall
Islands)
showing details of the construction and
rigging as well
as the traditional clothing of the
fishermen, 1920.
Melanesian war canoe
Canoe transport,
Solomon Islands
Solomon Islands war
canoe
River sailing in Fiji
using a canoe constructed from a large tree
Samoa war canoe, pre-1920
Early war canoe
Using the canoe for
transport, Gailes, Papua New Guinea
Tabiteuea (Kiribati) locals sail a swift 96 feet, three
mastered outrigger canoe. Its width is five and a half feet, freeboard five feet, and
draft three feet. The outrigger is a single log about 49 feet long and 2 feet in diameter
lashed to the hull amidships by thirteen 20 foot pieces forming a scaffold. The masts are
40 feet high. Since the deck is only half covered, it is possible to "go below"
at any point. A red flag floats from each masthead. Like the smaller craft,it is constructed without metal, all parts being tied
together with coconut fibre.
From the outrigger, the huge steering oar looks small.
However, for the Kiribati lads who clamber out on theframework to keep the speeding craft on an even keel clear vision
of the steersman is vital.
An unexpected
puff or flaw could easily fling them overboard.
At high tide on the ocean beach Kiribati fishermen boldly
launch their flimsy
canoes - they brave the open sea without any thought of
danger.
Early image of a Samoa war canoe
Early image of a Samoa
fishing canoe
Micronesian sailors and navigators travel
large distances in these simple rigged sailing canoes.
