Sam Kaʻai – “This is all wrong. You need to change this.” University of Hawaii professor and folklorist Katherine Luomala placed a book into Ben Finney’s hands. It was Kon Tiki, a book theorizing that people had left South America on rafts and drifted haplessly, eventually discovering Hawaiʻi by accident. It was 1958, and this theory was popular—but incorrect. Polynesian tradition instead noted that the early Hawaiians came from Taputapuatea, not on rafts but on expertly crafted double-hulled canoes; and not without purpose, but intentionally, guided by advanced navigation practices passed down through generations.

Ben was an anthropologist and researcher, and began to dream of ancient canoes on new waves. What if they could build a traditional Polynesian voyaging canoe, like the kind built so long ago that carried people from Tahiti to Hawaiʻi, and what if they could use it to return? In 1973, fifteen years after Luomala handed Ben a book and gave him an order, the Polynesian Voyaging Society was founded by Ben Finney, Herb Kane and Tommy Holmes. Ben would serve as its first president. That year, Finney, Kane, and Holmes, along with countless volunteers, began to build the first Polynesian voyaging canoe in more than 600 years. She was finished in 1975, and was named Hōkūleʻa, meaning Star of Gladness. In 1976, Satawalese Navigator Mau Pialug led fourteen crew members, including Ben Finney, from Hawaiʻi to Tahiti using only traditional navigation methods. It took 34 days to cover the 2,700 mile distance, and Hōkūleʻa pulled into port on June 4, 1976. They were met by an estimated 17,000 people, all assembled to welcome the new Hawaiian voyagers.

Ben Finney would continue to act as crew member on the Hōkūleʻa, sailing 4,600 miles to Aotearoa in 1985 and 2,800 miles to Rarotonga in 1992. He is remembered today as a great teacher and for his work in making Hōkūleʻa a reality.