monday2 Essays - Metropolitan Division, New York Islanders

Europeans and Pacific Islanders had a differing lifestyle when growing up that had a major influence on how and why they navigated the way in which they did. For once instance, the Pacific Islanders learned from a small age to be more curious and explore the nature around them. Europeans were living a more civilized life, so the children were not encouraged to explore nature like the Pacific Islanders were. Beginning at a young age, like 6 or 7, the Islanders would be taken on canoe rides and they were free to explore the islands and the lands that surrounded their village. Another reason for Pacific Islanders being better navigators is that they combine traditional knowledge with more personal and intimate knowledge. Europeans were relying solely on traditional knowledge for traveling. For instance, they most relied on a compass and stars to know if they were on the right track. An example of this personal knowledge is how a boat may change the way it is sailing because of how the c urrent changes. They would also note how the sky would change different colors and how to use that to detect reefs and other obstacles in it and how to read the sky. The Pacific Islanders are also more naturally experienced in traveling especially across sea. Some of that knowledge is not something that can be acquired in a traditional setting. A person still has to combine the traditional knowledge with personal experience to fully succeed. The navigators also have to have certain characteristics like keen eyes. The Pacific Islanders are taught to sometimes ignore visual cues because there will be more significant evidence such as stars or the wave patterns. These clues are difficult for a novice to pick up. One island navigator says "he would sometimes retire to the hut on his canoe's outrigger platform, where he could lie down and without distraction more readily direct the helmsman onto the proper course by analysing the roll and pitch of the vessel at it corkscrewed over the wa ves." The last reason is the way the Islanders are taught. The students are taught by a senior navigator who first tries to filter his massive amount of knowledge to the students. They first sit together and try to make little diagrams with pebbles on the mats. The pebbles represents stars so at a young age. The students cannot fully continue in their learning until they start with any island in the known ocean and name off the stars both from going to the island and returning from the island. This gives the students the ability to see the patterns relative to the stars, islands, and reefs so if they can pick up on the pattern they can travel anywhere.