The Polynesian Voyaging Society recently inducted six Hawaiʻi captains and navigators as Pwo Navigators. The title is among the highest honors bestowed within the Weriyaeng School of Navigation.
A sacred Pwo induction ceremony was held in Niu Valley on Oʻahu on July 30, 2026. The ceremony was conducted by Pwo Navigators from Satawal, Micronesia on behalf of the Weriyaeng School of Navigation. Among the six new Pwo, five are Native Hawaiian and four are the first women in Hawaiʻi to earn this sacred title and responsibility.
The six new Hawaiʻi Pwo are Pōmai Bertelmann, Archie Kalepa, Kaʻiulani Murphy, Shantell De Silva, Russell Amimoto and Lehua Kamalu.
Photo: Courtesy of the Polynesian Voyaging Society/Kaimana Pinē
Founded in 1973, the Polynesian Voyaging Society was established to perpetuate the art and science of traditional Polynesian voyaging and the spirit of exploration through educational programs. The organization’s programs inspire students and their communities to understand their kuleana of caring for and protecting their cultural traditions and natural surroundings.
The Polynesian Voyaging Society is best known for the Hōkūleʻa, a double-hulled Polynesian voyaging canoe. When the vessel was first built and launched in the 1970s, it sparked a cultural renewal in Hawaiʻi and throughout Polynesia. On its maiden voyage in 1976, Master Navigator Mau Piailug, known as Mau, successfully guided the vessel from Hawaiʻi to Tahiti using traditional wayfinding practices, including reading the stars, winds, waves, currents, clouds and other natural signs.
Pwo is among the highest honors within Satawal’s Weriyaeng School of Navigation. It recognizes not only exceptional navigational skills, but also represents a lifelong commitment to leadership, service, teaching and stewardship. Those selected have demonstrated years of dedication to traditional navigation, voyaging, mentoring others and serving their communities.
This rite of passage honors the training lineage of Mau, the late master navigator, whose teachings helped revive navigation in Hawaiʻi and throughout Polynesia. Mau inducted Hawaiʻi’s first Pwo Navigators on Satawal in 2007. According to Mau, the core values of a Pwo navigator are light, love, kindness and compassion.
“This induction of six new Pwo in Hawaiʻi is a statement of the advancement of leadership in voyaging. It’s a graduation of six leaders who will lead voyaging into the next 50 years,” said Nainoa Thompson, Pwo Navigator and CEO of the Polynesian Voyaging Society, in a news release. “It’s also keeping our promise to Mau and our teachers, with the blessing of the School of Weriyaeng, that navigation will never go dormant again.”
Photo: Courtesy of the Polynesian Society/Kaimana Pinē
Mau is one of the most important figures in the modern revival of traditional Pacific voyaging. He was not only the first navigator of Hōkūleʻa, but also ensured that the ancient practice of open-ocean wayfinding would survive by training navigators outside of Micronesia, first in Hawaiʻi and then throughout Polynesia. At the time, traditional navigation had been dormant in Hawaiʻi for more than 600 years.
In 2007, Mau initiated the first generation of Hawaiian navigators in Satawal. The first class of Pwo inductees included Nainoa Thompson, Milton “Shorty” Bertelmann, Chad Kalepa Baybayan, Bruce Blankenfeld and Chad ʻŌnohi Paishon. Since then, Hawaiʻi’s Pwo navigators have gone on to train navigators throughout Oceania.
This recent Pwo ceremony was the first time the ritual was conducted in Hawaiʻi. Satawalese Pwo Navigators Isidore Metewalur, Robert Erailug and Thomas Raffipiy, who represent the family lineage of Mau and Weriyaeng School of Navigation, officiated the event.
The word Pwo signifies a new beginning to a lifetime of enlightened leadership and the passing of sacred knowledge. The title carries profound responsibility to serve, perpetuate voyaging traditions and guide future generations, strengthen communities and ensure this ancestral knowledge remains alive for future generations.
For more information about the Polynesian Voyaging Society, visit hokulea.org.
