We hosted two groups of Hawaiians last week. One group was headed for Yap and the other group was coming back from Yap. Sahyan Tasi Fache Mwan, the canoe house of Guam’s Traditional Seafaring Society, is in the background.

During the last few days of March and first few days of April, Guam’s Traditional Seafaring Society was honored to host navigators and crew of the Polynesian Voyaging Society’s “One Ocean, One People, 2007 Voyage to Micronesia and Japan: A Celebration of Pacific Voyaging, Cultures, and Islands.” Bruce Best, Sandy Yee, and Chris Leon Guerrero should be credited for their efforts in this regard, along with a dozen or so other TSS members.

Your visit provided us an opportunity to learn from the Polynesian Voyaging Society and to share some of our experiences with you. We especially wanted you to meet our leader and Master Navigator, Manny Sikau. We were impressed with the PVS’s fabulous organization with supplies and the stocking of the canoes for voyage. But perhaps most of all we were impressed by the warmth and aloha spirit flowing freely and the ohana relationship of your crew.

Frank Cruz, Ron Acfalle, and Paul Sablan were able to take some of our guests on day and night sight-seeing tours. The culminating activity was a barbeque at our canoe house, Såhyan Tåsi Fache Mwan (Vessel of the Sea, Meeting House of the Great Spirits). Manny Sikau blessed the food with a Carolinian chant from the pwo ceremony and we shared food and stories. Maria Yatar McDonald, our traditional tattoo artist, got to meet a lot of old friends from the Makalii. We hope that our guests got to see Guam’s inafa’maolek (literally, making it good for one another) spirit. We enjoyed a slide-show from the 2007 Voyage. Your voyage and your visit inspired us. All were blessed with a spectacular sunset.

2007 Voyage Photos > Guam’s Traditional Seafaring Society hosts PVS crew (7) > Maria and Chris bookends for the voyagers