E Ala was built in 1981. Birth from Pōkaʻī, Waiʻanae- E Ala was one of the first three waʻa kaulua built within the Hawaiian islands.
During this time, Hawaiʻi was finding its way home, connecting back to our cultural practices and teachings. The Hawaiian Renaissance sparked a fire to revitalize the lost art of traditional canoe building and way-finding. As in ancient times, E Ala is always greeted as a vital member of the community, for he is seen as a vibrant link to the past which helps us navigate an often challenging present and future.
E Alaʻs journey has not always been smooth. In the late 1980s, he was leased to a Maui Touring Company, where he flooded, capsized, and was abandoned. The Polynesian Voyaging Society repaired and returned E Ala to Oʻahu in the 1990s and began offering programs for students along the Waiʻanae Coast, only to have those programs end in 2005 due to a lack of funding.
Fast-forward to 2010 when E Ala partnered again with schools along the Waiʻanae coast to train and teach the next generation of leaders to navigate and care for the canoe. These programs were sustainable and gaining traction until COVID-19, when complete operations took a standstill until January 2022.
E Ala has been dormant since 2010. Our goal is to complete the restoration and resume voyaging in 2025.
Before we resumed our efforts to restore E Ala waʻa, we needed to create a sail plan to reach this destination. In 2022, we contracted Mana Maoli as a partnered organization to help gather moʻolelo and media around E Alaʻs history. During this project, we engaged youth from Kamaile Academy to learn and apply multimedia skills along with voyaging practices. Our youths were able to schedule interviews, set up film sets, operate equipment, guide moʻolelo, and learn about voyaging and E Ala history. While we did this project, E Ala Voyaging Academy conducted three community work days to complete the following objects:
(1) Inventory list. Current materials. List of needed materials for restoration milestones.
(2) Prepare hālau and grounds for restoration and community/volunteer engagement. Safety compliance.
(3) Reengage our community and partners. Get the word out.
Please visit The Awakening collaboration project with Mana Maoli. This project allowed us to prepare to reengage the community and re-awaken E Alaʻs restoration.
