Hawai'i Islands, Aotearoa (New Zealand) and Rapa Nui (Easter Island) makes "The Polynesian Triangle", the vast ocean of 34million square kilometers. In the ancient days, Polynesians colonized every island in this triangle by their voyaging canoe without any navigational instruments. Hokule'a is a replica of these voyaging canoes in the ancient times.

Hokule'a at first is built to demonstrate the intentional colonization theory of Polynesians. Hokule'a means "The star of joy" in Hawai'ian language and it is a "Performance equal replica" of the ancient vessel used by the first Hawai'ians. The navigators of this canoe use the re-created skills of non-instrumental navigation named "Wayfinding". Since its launching in 1975, Hokule'a sailed more than 160 thousand kilometers and became the symbol of the recovering of Polynesia cultures and identity.

Ancient voyaging canoes were big enough to sail with useful plants and livestock. Ancient Polynesians have broad-scale knowledge for voyaging, that knowledge is not only about navigation but how to build the canoe, how to make and carry the foods, etc.