Voyaging with Nikau Hindin

In 2013, Nikau Hindin was introduced to celestial navigation after spending time with a group of young navigators called Kapu Nā Keiki, where she learned the tools and knowledge of moving through the world as her tīpuna did, with the guiding kapehu whetu (Star Compass), utilising, among other tohu, the winds, currents, stars and moon. During this time, Hindin found herself cleaning 'Aunty Laura's' yard, Laura being the mother of master navigator Nainoa Thompson. In her yard, Laura had been storing the sails from the famed, double-hulled sailing canoe Hokule'a, used for its voyage from Hawai'i to Rapa Nui in 1999. She generously gifted Hindin a portion of them to paint.

Hōkūle'a, our star of gladness, began as a means of reviving a legacy of exploration and innovation that first brought Polynesians to the archipelago of Hawai'i and brought Māori to the far away isles of Aotearoa. In the face of traditional navigational knowledge becoming lost in Hawai'i, The Polynesian Voyaging Society searched to find a traditional navigator to guide Hokule'a and invited Mau Pialug, or 'Mau', a navigator from a small island called Satawal in Micronesia. This first voyage brought a rōpū of young people together from across Moana Oceania, including Thompson, who led several future voyages, including a two-year voyage (1985-1987) to Aotearoa.

Te Wheoi (2015), displayed alongside Nā Hoku (2015), represents the earlier works by Hindin where she first used her studies of the kapehu whetu as mark making on Hokule'a's sail. It is in these earlier works that the substrate — the material that holds her mark-making — becomes vital to the context of the broader work, leading her into a journey of material discovery.

Te Wheoi (left) and Nā Hoku (right)

Nikau Hindin: Kōkōrangi ki Kōkōwai — A journey in understanding Maramataka and traditional celestial navigation practices through the revitalisation of aute is on view at The Suter Art Gallery Te Aratoi o Whakatū from June 4 - August 13, 2022.

The above text has been taken from the labels that accompany the exhibition which has been developed and toured by The Dowse Art Museum.