© UNESCO
Indigenous Knowledge and Knowledge Transmission
The Canoe Is the People: Indigenous Navigation in the Pacific
Ancestral Voyaging Knowledge
- Presentation: Ancestral Voyaging Knowledge in the Pacific Region (PDF, 2021)
Overview of indigenous knowledge of the marine environment and ocean navigation by men and women of the Pacific Islands - Ancestral Voyaging Knowledge in Oceania I: Mobilizing indigenous knowledge for People, Ocean, Biodiversity and Climate (PDF, 2021)
- Ancestral Voyaging Knowledge in Oceania II: Pacific Women’s Knowledge (PDF, 2021)
- An overview of Pacific voyaging and navigation including in Aotearoa New Zealand (PDF, 2021)
The Canoe Is the People educational pack
"The compass can go wrong, the stars never" *
Tongan navigator
Thousands of years ago, when most European sailors were still hugging the coast, the island peoples of the Pacific held the knowledge and skills to explore the great ocean paths around and beyond their homes.
Modern instruments didn't exist - no compasses, no radio, no radar, no GPS. The Pacific peoples navigated their canoes with their own sophisticated techniques, using the seas, skies, and sea life to guide them.
The Canoe is the People Educational Resource Pack includes:
The entire CD-ROM is available on The canoe is the people Website (English, Maori)
To receive a hard copy of "The Canoe is the People Educational Resource Pack", please send a request to links@unesco.org
* From David Lewis in Bader, H. and McCurdy, P., eds (1999)