Maritime Madams: Lehua Kamalu

Womanica

Acast Creative Studios

History, Society & Culture, Education

4.3 • 920 Ratings

🗓️ 9 July 2025

⏱️ 8 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Lehua Kamalu (c. 1980-present) was the first woman in modern history to captain and navigate a voyaging canoe using the traditional Polynesian practice of wayfinding. Without maps or GPS, she navigated the Pacific Ocean using cues from the currents, the winds and the stars.

For Further Reading:

This month, we're talking about Maritime Madams. Whether through scientific study, aquatic exploration, or legendary prowess, they harnessed the power of the bodies of waters that cover our earth.

History classes can get a bad rap, and sometimes for good reason. When we were students, we couldn't help wondering... where were all the ladies at? Why were so many incredible stories missing from the typical curriculum? Enter, Womanica. On this Wonder Media Network podcast we explore the lives of inspiring women in history you may not know about, but definitely should.

Every weekday, listeners explore the trials, tragedies, and triumphs of groundbreaking women throughout history who have dramatically shaped the world around us. In each 5 minute episode, we'll dive into the story behind one woman listeners may or may not know–but definitely should. These diverse women from across space and time are grouped into easily accessible and engaging monthly themes like Educators, Villains, Indigenous Storytellers, Activists, and many more. Womanica is hosted by WMN co-founder and award-winning journalist Jenny Kaplan. The bite-sized episodes pack painstakingly researched content into fun, entertaining, and addictive daily adventures.

Womanica was created by Liz Kaplan and Jenny Kaplan, executive produced by Jenny Kaplan, and produced by Grace Lynch, Maddy Foley, Brittany Martinez, Edie Allard, Carmen Borca-Carrillo, Taylor Williamson, Sara Schleede, Paloma Moreno Jimenez, Luci Jones, Abbey Delk, Adrien Behn, Alyia Yates, Vanessa Handy, Melia Agudelo, and Joia Putnoi. Special thanks to Shira Atkins.

Original theme music by Brittany Martinez.

Follow Wonder Media Network:

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	This is an IHeart podcast.
0:04.1	I'm Adrienne Garcia-Marquez, and this is Behind the Flow,
0:08.5	a podcast documentary series charting the origin story of San Diego Football Club.
0:13.8	Join us as we take you behind the scenes, revealing how you build a sport organization from scratch at breakneck speed.
0:22.0	Give it away. What a chance! The first goal! how you build a sports organization from scratch at breakneck speed. Listen to San Diego FC, behind the flow on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.
0:42.0	Hello, from Wonder Media Network, I'm Jenny Kaplan, and this is Womanica.
0:49.2	This month we're talking about maritime madams, whether through scientific study, aquatic exploration, or legendary prowess.
0:53.0	These women harness the power of the bodies of water that cover our earth.
0:59.0	Imagine yourself at sea. The wind is cool against your face and salty on your tongue.
1:02.0	When you turn your head from side to side, all you can see is miles and miles of more ocean.
1:08.0	Your vessel is small, a quaint, two-hulled canoe with a pair of red sails,
1:14.7	a tiny speck on an endless expanse of bobbing waves. Your mission is to find land again.
1:22.2	The catch? You won't be using maps, GPS, or any other modern tool of navigation.
1:31.8	You must rely on the skies, the currents, and the stars to guide you.
1:38.0	For thousands of years, indigenous Pacific island cultures preserved this practice of wayfinding.
1:42.2	Today's Wamanikin is one of the expert navigators reviving the practice, and in turn preserving and celebrating her Hawaiian
1:45.0	cultural heritage. Let's talk about Lehua Kamaloo. Lehua was born in New York in the late 1980s.
1:55.1	Both of her parents had native Hawaiian ancestry, and when she was still young, the family moved to Honolulu.
2:01.9	There, her parents put Le Hua and her sisters in a Hawaiian immersion program, which offered
2:06.8	classes in the native Hawaiian language.
2:09.9	Lehuah grew up during an era of renewed interest and pride in Pacific Island cultures.
2:15.3	Communities fought to revive native languages and traditions like hula
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Acast Creative Studios, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Acast Creative Studios and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.