Marshall Islands Stick Chart - Passing On Stick Chart Knowledge

Passing On Stick Chart Knowledge

Stick charts were not made and used by all Marshall Islanders. Only a select few rulers knew the method of making the maps, and the knowledge was only passed on from father to son. So that others could utilize the expertise of the navigator, fifteen or more canoes sailed together in a squadron, accompanied by a leader pilot skilled in use of the charts.

It was not until 1862 that this unique piloting system was revealed in a public notice prepared by a resident missionary. It was not until the 1890s that it was comprehensively described by a naval officer, Captain Winkler of the German Navy. He became so intrigued by the stick charts that he made a major effort to determine navigational principles behind them and convinced the navigators to share how the stick charts were used.

Read more about this topic:  Marshall Islands Stick Chart

Famous quotes containing the words passing on, passing, stick, chart and/or knowledge:

    When as a child I laughed and wept,
    Time crept.
    When as a youth I waxed more bold,
    Time strolled.
    When I became a full-grown man,
    Time RAN.
    When older still I daily grew,
    Time FLEW.
    Soon I shall find, in passing on,
    Time gone.
    O Christ! wilt Thou have saved me then?
    Amen.
    Henry Twells (1823–1900)

    There is a lady sweet and kind,
    Was never face so pleased my mind;
    I did but see her passing by,
    And yet I love her till I die.
    Thomas Ford (1580–1648)

    Does it stick in our minds as a touchstone
    Of learning and la politesse?
    For while the old place hadn’t much tone,
    Two others we know have got less.
    Philip Larkin (1922–1986)

    Perhaps in His wisdom the Almighty is trying to show us that a leader may chart the way, may point out the road to lasting peace, but that many leaders and many peoples must do the building.
    Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962)

    Test of the poet is knowledge of love,
    For Eros is older than Saturn or Jove;
    Never was poet, of late or of yore,
    Who was not tremulous with love-lore.
    Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)