Wa'a kaulua
Hawaiian double-hulled canoe
Koa wood with coconut fiber cordage
Early 20th century
The wa'a, or outrigger canoe, was the technology that connected the islands of Hawai'i. It was a fast, maneuverable, and seaworthy vessel for carrying fishermen, soldiers, food, news, trade items—everything that needed to be transported in a vibrant, active culture.
Each of the Austronesian peoples of the Pacific developed their own style of wa'a, adapting the technology to their local environment and needs. Hawai'i, unlike most other Polynesian islands, was blessed with groves of enormous trees so canoe hulls could be hewn from single logs of native koa. By contrast, in Tahiti, wooden planks were carefully fitted together and sealed to form the hull of a wa'a.
The Hawaiian double-hulled canoe evolved from the outrigger canoe found throughout the Pacific. The outrigger, or ama, was a small float on the left side of the canoe with a short spar (or spreader) called an 'iako. In a wa'a kaulua, the left hull is still called the ama, but there is a deck between it and the right hull, allowing the wa'a to carry more cargo and passengers, and to keep them dry.
The largest wa'a kaulua were the voyaging canoes. With these, Polynesians made voyages of more than 2,000 miles between the far-flung archipelagoes of the Pacific. In the 1970s, the Hōkūle'a—the first modern replica of a voyaging canoe—was built in Hawai'i. Inspired by the Hōkūle'a's many voyages since its creation, more than a dozen voyaging canoes have been built in New Zealand, Tahiti, the Cook Islands, and other island groups.