Nautical Charts of the South Pacific

On display at the Musee de la Civilisation in Quebec City is an exhibition on the history of human thought called Copyright humain.

This is filled with a variety of astonishing sights. One is an upright walking replica extrapolated from Lucy, the 40% complete skeleton of  an australopithicus hominid. Another is a an NFB film in black and white: Wilder Penfield and colleagues perform an early brain operation at the  Montreal Neurological Institute.

One of the most fascinating artifacts was a small wooden frame that functioned as a nautical chart for the wayfinders of Oceania. The label explains that it illustrates the "perfect knowledge" of Polynesian navigators. Shells and corals represent the islands, and the angled wooden slats depict the waves and currents around each.

These maps were memorized by the navigator before setting out on the voyage. In this way, the peoples of the south seas traveled by outrigger canoe from one small island to another.

Colonial conquerors, proud of their "scientific superiority," denigrated such knowledge, along with the civilizations that produced it. The ancient knowledge was nearly lost.

But since 1976, when it travelled between Tahiti and Hawaii, the Hokulea, a traditional outrigger canoe, has once again been plying the waters of the Pacific using this ancient system of navigation.