By Courtney Mattison
Equipped only with the tools of Polynesian ancestors and their unwavering conviction, the crews of the Hōkūle‘a and Hikianalia traditional voyaging canoes sailed into Apia, Samoa on Sunday after navigating from Hawaii through Polynesia since May. The Pacific Voyagers and Nainoa Thompson – President and Master Navigator of the Polynesian Voyaging Society – were accompanied onboard the Hōkūle‘a for its most recent sail by ocean artist Wyland and Conservation International’s Greg Stone and were welcomed ashore by Dr. Sylvia Earle amid an impressive display of traditional Polynesian performers. Once on shore, the Samoa Head of State addressed his guests with a profoundly heartfelt speech expressing Samoa’s appreciation for its kinship with Hawaii, setting the tone for a four-day conference hosted by the United Nations on Small Island Developing States (SIDS).…