This conflict originates from the very first Pacific-colonial encounters. Early visitors considered the island chains economically and culturally insignificant in comparison to continental Europe, and these views were passed down intergenerationally to Hawaiian Islanders. Tongan and Fijian scholar Epeli Hau\u2019ofa (1939\u20132009) speaks to this problem in his seminal essay, \u201cOur Sea of Islands\u201d (1993)4<\/sup><\/a><\/span> 4 <\/a> - Epeli Hau\u2019ofa, \u201cOur Sea of Islands,\u201d in A New Oceania: Rediscovering Our Sea of Islands<\/em>, ed. Eric Waddell, Vijay Naidu, and Epeli Hau\u2019ofa (Suva, Fiji: School of Social and Economic Development, The University of the South Pacific in association with Beake House, 1993), 2\u200a\u2014\u200a16.<\/span>. Hau\u2019ofa states that feelings of belittlement have been transmitted through generations, and he examines two opposing concepts for viewing the Pacific and Polynesian Islands. The colonial phrase \u201cislands in a far sea\u201d claims that Islanders are far from urban trade centres in continental Europe and North America, thus forming the false perception that the Islands and Islanders are too small to gain economic independence. However, this \u201csmallness\u201d is relative. The Indigenous worldview that Hau\u2019ofa presents, \u201ca sea of islands,\u201d posits the region as a network, within which there is freedom to participate in trade and the exchange of knowledge. Hau\u2019ofa claims that this optimistic perspective of the islands as a network must take precedence to encourage Pacific Islanders to work through feelings left over by colonial contact. Noe\u2019s practice reflects Hau\u2019ofa\u2019s philosophy, in that the culture of the Islands must take up space in a global and diasporic context. Through her progressive and insightful work, Noe is already going beyond what is expected of her, not only as an artist but as a Hawaiian Islander.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Noe\u2019s practice reflects Hau\u2019ofa\u2019s philosophy, in that the culture of the Islands must take up space in a global and diasporic context. Through her progressive and insightful work, Noe is already going beyond what is expected of her, not only as an artist but as a Hawaiian Islander.<\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n Education regarding Hawaiian cultural practices is observed in Kilo H\u014dk\u016b<\/em> (which can be translated as, \u201cto observe and study the stars\u201d). In this VR (virtual reality) simulation, users experience Hawaiian open-ocean wayfinding. The project\u2019s aim is to educate viewers about the important constellations in the Hawaiian night sky by self-navigating in a Hawaiian wa\u2019a<\/em>, or double-hulled canoe.5<\/sup><\/a><\/span> 5 <\/a> - Patrick Karjala, Dean Lodes, Kari Noe, Anna Sikkink, and Jason Leigh, \u201cKilo Hoku\u200a\u2014\u200aExperiencing Hawaiian, Non-Instrument Open Ocean Navigation through Virtual Reality,\u201d Presence<\/em>, vol. 26, no. 3 (2017): 265.<\/span> <\/sup>By wearing a VR headset (an HTC Vive), users can control the vessel in a virtual star dome environment, in which Hawaiian constellations are labelled to guide their journey. As a real-life practice, Hawaiian wayfinding is an example of a non-instrument navigational technique; no tools, such as maps or compasses, are used to direct the vessel. Following the annexation of the Hawaiian Kingdom by the United States in 1898, wayfinding practices were largely -obscured, and the first rebirth of Hawaiian wayfinding came nearly a century later from the Polynesian Voyaging Society (PVS) during the Hawaiian Renaissance of the 1970s and 1980s.6<\/sup><\/a><\/span> 6 <\/a> - \u201cThe Story of Hokule\u2019a,\u201d H<\/em>okule’a<\/em>, <www.hokulea.com\/voyages\/our-story\/>.<\/span> In 1975, PVS\u2019s three founding members, Ben Finney, Herb K\u0101ne, and Tommy Holmes, built an updated replica of a wa\u2019a.<\/em> Later that year, the vessel, named H\u014dk\u016ble\u2019a<\/em>,7<\/sup><\/a><\/span> 7 <\/a> - Translation of Hokule\u2019a: \u201cStar of Joy,\u201d zenith star of the Hawaiian Islands. Karjala et al., \u201cKilo Hoku,\u201d 264.<\/span>] completed its maiden voyage from Hawai\u2019i to Tahiti. Still an active program, H\u014dk\u016ble\u2019a<\/em> has since travelled more than 150,000 nautical miles throughout the Pacific. To develop Kilo H\u014dk\u016b<\/em>, Noe, along with team members Patrick Karjala, Dean Lodes, and Anna Sikkink, consulted with the PVS and the \u2018Imiloa Astronomy Center to ensure the accuracy of their simulation. To credit its significance, H\u014dk\u016ble\u2019a<\/em> is the vessel replicated in the work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Colonial policies enforced by the United States following the annexation of Hawai\u2019i resulted in the loss of many native Hawaiian traditions and forms of knowledge.<\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n The project has been well received for its realistic rendering of the wayfinding experience. One PVS navigator testified to how lifelike the simulation felt, noting that it made her seasick. Others claimed that it would be a useful tool in urban areas, where actual navigation and stargazing prove to be more difficult due to high levels of light pollution. It is also important to note that although Kilo H\u014dk\u016b<\/em> effectively mimics the movement and sounds of water surrounding the vessel, there is no physical risk to the user, as there would be to an actual open-ocean navigator. In light of the response to Kilo H\u014dk\u016b<\/em>, Noe is most proud of how it teaches children, by carrying on \u2018\u014clelo Hawai\u2019i: \u201cYou could tell the children\u2019s realms of possibility expanded after trying out Kilo H\u014dk\u016b<\/em>. They ask how and where they can learn more about navigation, or sometimes they even ask where they can learn more about programming.\u201d8<\/sup><\/a><\/span> 8 <\/a> - \u2018Olelo Hawai\u2019i refers to the Native Hawaiian language. Noe, interview, 2018.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n To date, Kilo H\u014dk\u016b<\/em> has been presented in Honolulu at the PVS (2019), the Bishop Museum (2018), the M\u0101l\u0101ma Honua Summit (2017), and the Honolulu Museum of Art\u2019s Cultural Animation Film Festival (2017). At each of these venues, participants of all ages were guided by the simulation research team during their experience. Educational materials were also provided as a way to outline Kilo H\u014dk\u016b<\/em>\u2019s mission and share the larger history of Hawaiian open-ocean wayfinding. The project is ongoing, and is currently being modified to enhance user experience at the University of Hawai\u2019i at M\u0101noa\u2019s Laboratory for Advanced Visualization and Applications. In upcoming iterations, the simulation will include a controller that will allow users to rotate the Earth on its axis, and new celestial markers will be implemented. Eventually, the team hopes to make the simulation available for home use, and they are currently looking into possibilities for the software to be used on a mobile app. Overall, Kilo H\u014dk\u016b<\/em>\u2019s educational and entertainment functions create a means to restore an aspect of Hawaiian culture that, until recently, has been hidden from most of the public.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Colonial policies enforced by the United States following the annexation of Hawai\u2019i resulted in the loss of many native Hawaiian traditions and forms of knowledge, wayfinding being one of them. As a VR simulation, the project offers a digital platform on which users can immerse themselves in a Hawai\u2019i that existed before colonial contact, making Kilo H\u014dk\u016b <\/em>a fundamentally decolonial project. Many contemporary Indigenous scholars discuss the importance of using digital media technologies in order to disrupt the hegemonic binaries that were produced after colonial contact.9<\/sup><\/a><\/span> 9 <\/a> - Julie Nagam, \u201cDeciphering the Refusal of the Digital and Binary Codes of Sovereignty\/Self-Determination and Civilized\/Savage,\u201d in Indigenous Art: New Media and the Digital<\/em>, ed. Heather Igloliorte, Julie Nagam, and Carla Taunton, a special issue of Public<\/em>, vol. 54 (2016): 89.<\/span> Therefore, the use of VR as a pedagogical tool in Kilo H\u014dk\u016b <\/em>can simultaneously be considered an act of cultural sovereignty. In a conversation, Noe mentioned that there is a Hawaiian philosophy of time that states that in order to arrive at the future, one must move forward into the past.10<\/sup><\/a><\/span> 10 <\/a> - Kari Noe, interview with author, Tiohti\u00e0:ke\/Montr\u00e9al, Qu\u00e9bec, June 11, 2019.<\/span> This non-linear conception of time is not dissimilar to those found in many cultures around the world, and it closely mirrors the practices and processes behind the project.<\/em> By researching this historically vital navigational technique with the experts at PVS, Noe and her team were subsequently encouraged to push H\u014dk\u016ble\u2019a<\/em> into the present through the use of VR software. Consequently, Kilo H\u014dk\u016b <\/em>displays a reimagined vision of the past that operates by means of innovative digital technologies.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n Without question, Noe\u2019s practice constructs affirmative Hawaiian and Pacific Indigenous futures. Hau\u2019ofa declares that Pacific Islanders must disregard the hegemonic views that have belittled many island nations and, instead, see themselves and their communities as generous, strong, and liberated.11<\/sup><\/a><\/span> 11 <\/a> - Hau\u2019ofa, \u201cOur Sea of Islands,\u201d 16. <\/span> By using VR as its central platform, Noe claims the agency of Kilo H\u014dk\u016b<\/em> to revive a historically significant navigational practice that was concealed for generations, thereby resisting Hawai\u2019i\u2019s colonial histories in favour of a positive, decolonial future. Noe and her team can be considered part of a growing community of artists and researchers who use digital technologies as a means to reconsider how we can interpret, interact with, and respond to our global histories. <\/p>\n\n\n![\"Kari](\"https:\/\/esse.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/98-DO7-IMG1-IM_Henderson_Noe-Kehau_still_01_CMYK_resultat.jpg\")
<\/strong>D\u00e9monstration de Kilo H\u014dk\u016b1<\/em>, 2018.
Photo : Patrick Karjala<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n![\"Kari](\"https:\/\/esse.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/98-DO7-IMG4-IM_Henderson_Noe-Kehau_still_04_CMYK-C-FLAT_resultat.jpg\")
<\/strong>Kilo H\u014dk\u016b, Starpointer 1<\/em>, still from the virtual reality simulation, 2019.
Photo : Kari Noe<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/esse.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/98-DO7-IMG2-IM_Henderson_Noe-Kehau_still_06_CMYK-C-FLAT_resultat.jpg\")
Kilo H\u014dk\u016b<\/em><\/em> , Main deck<\/em>, still from the virtual reality simulation, 2019.
Photo : Kari Noe<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n