The Mythology Book

332

I DO NOT

FORGET THE

GUIDING STARS

ALULUEI AND THE ART OF NAVIGATION

A

luluei is one of the oldest

gods of navigation in the

world. He was the son

of the canoe captain Pälülop, but

was killed by his older brothers Big

Rong and Little Rong. His father

then brought him back to Earth as

a spirit with many eyes, which the

people of Micronesia believe then

became the stars, which they use

for navigation.

Aluluei was not an ordinary

man; according to the Ifaluk people

of Micronesia, he had two faces so

that he could see all around him,

and although his upper body was

human, his bottom half was that

of a stingray. The Ifaluk, based

on the Ifaluk atoll (in the Caroline

Islands, in Micronesia) believe that

Aluluei did not initially know all the

lore of the sea—until he acquired

it with his daughter’s help.

Visiting gods

Long ago, Aluluei was living on

the island of Bwennap—a sandy

island with just one tree growing

on it. There he took a wife and

had several sons and a daughter.

Early one morning, Aluluei’s

daughter was bathing in the sea

when she saw a canoe approaching.

Three gods were paddling the

canoe: Segur, god of navigators;

Valur, the god of fish; and Werieng,

the god of birds. Valur and Werieng

were two of Aluluei’s sons. Aluluei’s

daughter ran to her father and

asked him to prepare food for their

visitors, and then she went back to

the shore to welcome them. But the

gods kept paddling, and it seemed

IN BRIEF

THEME

Knowledge of the seas

SOURCES

Oral tradition transcribed in

An Atoll Culture, Edwin

G. Burrows and Melford

E. Spiro, 1953; A Flower in My

Ear, Edwin G. Burrows, 1963.

SETTING

Ifaluk Atoll, Micronesia,

northwest Pacific islands.

KEY FIGURES

Aluluei The god of

seamanship.

Aluluei’s daughter One

of the god’s three children.

Segur The god of navigators.

Valur The god of fish; son

of Aluluei.

Werieng The god of seabirds;

son of Aluluei.

Paluelap The great navigator;

another son of Aluluei. Coconuts to the people of the Pacific islands, who are abundant and important

called the coconut palm the “Tree of

Life” because all of its parts can be

used in their communities.

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333

Islanders spot a coral reef as they

sail by Puynipet in the Caroline Islands.

These long boats, also used in Hawaii,

Samoa, Tahiti, and New Zealand, are

fast and stable in choppy waters.

See also: Viracocha the creator 256–57 ■ The first canoe 258–59 ■ Ta’aroa gives birth to the gods 316–17 ■ Maui of a

thousand tricks 320–23

OCEANIA

they were going to pass by without

stopping. So Aluluei’s daughter

picked up a tiny coconut, no bigger

than her fist, and held it up, calling

for them to come to her. When they

asked her why, she explained she

had a coconut for them to drink.

They instructed her to bring it out

to their canoe.

Neverending sustenance

Aluluei’s daughter waded out into

the sea with her coconut. When the

gods saw how small it was, they

scoffed, saying it would not be

enough to quench the thirst of

three men, but Aluluei’s daughter

told them to drink it anyway.

Valur took the coconut and

began to drink. He drank and

drank until he could drink no more,

but still the coconut held plenty of

water. He passed it to Werieng, and

Werieng passed it to Segur, and

after both gods had drunk their fill,

there was still plenty of water left in

the little nut. The gods laughed

with delight that one tiny coconut

could hold so much water. They

asked Aluluei’s daughter to climb

into their canoe, and when she had

done so, they spread out their sea

chart for her, marked with all the

islands, birds, and fish. They told

her they were so grateful to her for

bringing them the coconut that

they would give her the chart, and

advised her to take it to her father.

Shared wisdom

When Aluluei’s daughter took the

chart to her father, he understood

its value at once. It contained all

the lore of seamanship: everything

a man would need to know to

become a great captain. Aluluei

sent for his son Paluelap, the great

navigator, and showed him the

chart. Aluluei instructed his son

to teach the people everything that

was on the map, so that they could

learn how to sail safely from island

to island. Not everyone understood,

but some did, and they became the

first captains. Aluluei’s decision

to share the knowledge is typical

of the Ifaluk people, who do not

believe there is a set boundary

between the self and others. ■

Ifaluk canoes

The making and sailing of

outrigger canoes is crucial to

the islanders of Ifaluk, a coral

atoll in the Caroline Islands,

who use them for fishing and

as a means of transport.

Ifaluk canoes all have the

same traditional design and

are always painted red, black,

and white. Every Ifaluk canoe

carries a wooden image of

Aluluei, god of navigation.

Ifaluk society is ordered by

social rank, and each person is

assigned to one of eight clans

at birth. The only way a

person can increase their

social status is by becoming a

master navigator, a canoemaker,

or the oracular mouthpiece of

a god. The master navigator

has the highest status in

Ifaluk society. Many of the

songs passed down in the

Ifaluk oral tradition discuss

the making and sailing of

canoes; navigating using the

wind, currents, fish and birds,

and stars; and issuing laments

for those who were lost at sea.

See all the islands?

See all the birds?

See all the fish?

An Atoll Culture

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