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Canoe voyagers seek Legislature assistance
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Posted on Feb 25 2000
Members of the canoe voyagers who are scheduled to sail traditionally from Yap to Saipan in April yesterday sought financial assistance from and support of the House of Representatives.
Benigno M. Sablan, former secretary of the Department of Lands and Natural Resources, said the traditional canoe voyage will revitalize Chamolinian culture.
He said the scheduled sea journey had been in the planning stage for about six months. Canoe sailing had been resumed two decades ago to relive Carolinian culture.
Mr. Sablan said two teams of four sailing canoes will be deployed for the ancient art of sea journey. At least 45 Chamorros and Carolinians will participate in the scheduled navigation.
Mr. Sablan is the oldest participant at 52 years old, while the youngest is aged 18. The group will be joined by the three sons of Dr. Mau Pialug, who provided the voyagers with the map and advise that the climate this year will be best for canoe sailing.
“We follow Dr. Pialug’s advise because he is the master navigator,” he said. Dr. Pialug is one of the few Carolinian pioneers who restored the Satawal-Saipan voyage route.
According to Mr. Sablan, the voyage will officially commence at Satawal and Puluwat Atolls, two small islands in the outskirts of Yap. The sailing team will stop by the Wes Faiu Atoll, an islet where the old Carolinians used to collect food for their compatriots on Saipan.
Traditional voyages have been made in the past, especially during the last decade, with landings mostly made in Chalan Kanoa or Garapan where the Carolinian Utt is located.
In 1977, a group of Carolinians from Saipan traveled to Satawal and went back via a canoe. The Makalii voyage, steered by Dr. Pialug, sailed through the whole of Micronesia before docking on Saipan.
There have also been traditional voyages to Saipan in the early 1900s but these were temporarily stopped when the locals were dispatched during the second World War. (ARF)
