Woman traditional voyager’s experience
THE round table discussion on Ocean’s 4 Life: Heroines du Pacifique allowed traditional voyager Iva Nancy Vunikura to also share her experience on her recent voyage to Lau last month.
“The Lau trip wasn’t an easy voyage because it simply reminded us of how our forefathers sailed those waters in their traditional canoes,” and emotional Ms Vunikura said.
“We just want to give them back the honour of being able to do it many years ago.”
She said it was a special moment because after 100 years a traditional drua was seen sailing through the Lau waters.
She said on Lau her team did research on traditional canoe building and learned about traditional sailing from the villagers.
“To sail through Lau in a traditional drua was always part of my bucket list and now I have crossed that off my list,” she said.
On having that ancestral voyaging connection, Ms Vunikura said she felt that the ocean protected her just like how it protected her ancestors during those long voyages.
Also part of the roundtable discussion was oceania women voyagers from Samoa, French Polynesia, Hawaii and Tonga via Zoom.