Pacific voyagers’ remarkable environmental knowledge allowed for long-distance navigation without Western technology

By: Richard (Rick) Feinberg, Kent State University , The Conversation

Outlets: The Conversation

Published: January 2, 2026

Words: 1,435

Last Updated: 2 months, 2 weeks ago

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By Richard (Rick) Feinberg, Kent State University

Wet and shivering, I rose from the outrigger of a Polynesian voyaging canoe. We’d been at sea all afternoon and most of the night. I’d hoped to get a little rest, but rain, wind and an absence of flat space made sleep impossible. My companions didn’t even try.

It was May 1972, and I was three months into doctoral research on one of the world’s most remote islands. …

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