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Cancelled: Nainoa Thompson, Finding Our Way

  • Whidbey Island Center for the Arts PO Box 52 | 565 Camano Avenue Langley, WA 98260 (map)

This event has been cancelled

ABOUT NAINOA THOMPSON

The Trudy Sundberg Lecture Series and Sno-Isle Libraries Foundation are delighted to bring to the Whidbey Island community Nainoa Thompson, a Native Hawaiian master navigator, explorer, environmentalist, cultural revivalist, educator, storyteller, and the President of the Polynesian Voyaging Society. Nainoa is best known as the first Hawaiian in over 600 years to practice the ancient Polynesian art of navigation, having navigated two double-hulled canoes (the Hōkūleʻa and the Hawaiʻiloa) from Hawaii to other island nations in Polynesia without the aid of western instruments. Inspired by his kūpuna (elders), Nainoa has dedicated his life to exploring the deep meaning of voyaging, revitalizing ancient Polynesian wayfinding practices lost due to the colonization and Westernization of the Polynesian archipelagos, empowering youth, and bringing awareness to global environmental issues due to climate change. Nainoa has earned numerous honors for his work, including the Unsung Hero of Compassion, awarded by His Holiness XIV Dalai Lama, and the National Geographic Society’s Hubbard Medal.

Due to unavoidable circumstances, this event has been cancelled

Saturday, May 6 | 7:30 PM
Doors at 7:00 PM

FREE to attend

ABOUT MOANANUIĀKEA

In June 2023, Nainoa Thompson and his crew from the Polynesian Voyaging Society will embark on one of their most important explorations yet: Moananuiākea, a monumental voyage of the Pacific Ocean spreading over 47 months, 43,000 miles, 300 ports, and 36 countries and archipelagos. The goal of the voyage is to amplify the vital importance of oceans and indigenous knowledge through education and storytelling, and to ignite a movement of 10 million “planetary navigators'' by developing young leaders and engaging communities around the world to take part in navigating the earth towards a healthy, thriving future. These new leaders will possess and demonstrate the Navigator Mindset—the courage to face the coming storms, the responsibility to act as stewards for our planet, and the resilience to rise to the challenges of a rapidly changing world.

 

Founded in 2016, the Trudy Sundberg Lecture Series honors beloved Whidbey Island teacher and community leader Trudy J. Sundberg. To learn more, visit https://sno-islefoundation.org/trudy-sundberg/.

Earlier Event: May 5
The "Would-be" Island String Trio
Later Event: May 10
WA State Supreme Court TOWN HALL

LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Whidbey Island Center for the Arts would like to begin by acknowledging that we gather on the ancestral homelands, originally known as Tscha-kole-chy (SHA-KOL-CHI) in Lushootseed (LU-SHOOT-SEED), of the Coastal Salish Peoples, on the lands of the lower Skagit, Tulalip (tuh·lay·luhp), Swinomish (SWIN-ə-mish), Snohomish (snō-hō-mish), Stillaguamish (still-uh-GWAH-mish), and Suquamish (soo-kwah-mish), who have lived in the Salish Sea basin since time immemorial and have hunted, fished, gathered, and taken care of these lands.

We respect their sovereignty, their right to self-determination, and we honor their sacred spiritual connection with the land and water.

Please join us in expressing our deepest respect and gratitude to the indigenous people of this territory and for their enduring care and protection of the land in which we currently occupy and share through the Treaty of Point Elliott signed by 82 tribes in Múckl-te-óh (Mukilteo) on January 22, 1855.