"The Canoe: An Alaskan and Hawaiian Tradition" opens Friday at the Hawai'i Maritime Center, which is also home for Hokule'a — the Polynesian Voyaging Society's canoe — when it is not roaming the Pacific Ocean.

"This kind of exhibit allows us to celebrate Hawai'i's uniqueness and its distinction, and its extraordinary heritage and history," said Hokule'a navigator and captain, Nainoa Thompson. "But at the very same time, we allow ourselves to bridge over and be respectful and understanding of all of he world's great cultures."

The Hokule'a's journey to Micronesia will include a visit to Satawal, one of the Carolina Islands, to honor master navigator Mau Piailug, who taught Thompson the art of steering by the stars in the 1970s. Piailug navigated Hokule'a's maiden 1976 voyage to Tahiti. The Hokule'a will accompany the Alingano Maisu, a canoe built by the organization Na Kalai Wa'a Moku o Hawai'i, which will be presented as a gift to Piailug.

After Micronesia, Hokule'a sails to Japan, in part to celebrate the 1881 voyage of King David Kalakaua to Yokohama that led to the immigration of the first Japanese to Hawai'i.

Learn more: http://pvs.kcc.hawaii.edu

Reach Zenaida Serrano at zserrano@honoluluadvertiser.com.