navigation techniques from a master, mau piailug, of the small micronesian island of satawan. this is a man that was chosen by his grandfather. at one year old, he was put into tide pools to be trained, and learning the wind and the water. and, at five years old, he was sailing with his grandfather. and, then he would never say that as some sense of abuse but only love. he says, yeah, when the wave make the canoe move, the canoe make me sick, my grandfather threw me in the ocean so i can go inside the wave. and when i go inside the wave, i become the wave, and when i become the wave, now i m navigating. at five. so when i approached him, he just said to me, you re too old. you want someone to know everything, send your son to my island. but, he said. i ll teach you enough to find the island you seek, but i can t teach you the magic. why do you think it was important to do such difficult things? i mean, it s the same story
and identity. nainoa: the success was monumental. it changed worldview. that our ancestors were powerful, they were extraordinarily intelligent. they were courageous, and they were skilled. and so we come from them. anthony: thompson is a legendary water man. he s continued to sail on hokulea s missions. native hawaiian, his roots in this valley go back 200 years. nainoa: my grandfather was born here. so i grew up milking cows here with my grandfather. anthony: he spent many years learning traditional polynesian navigation techniques from a master. mau piailug, of the small micronesian island of satawan. nainoa: this is a man that was chosen by his grandfather. at one year old he was put into tide pools to be trained, and learning the wind and the water.