Utah Wayfinding Week
September 14-19, 2026
Your Voyage Begins Here!
Utah Wayfinding Week is a celebration of Pacific navigation, culture, and connection. Over six days, community members, students, and educators are invited to explore the ancestral knowledge of Oceanic wayfinding through a series of events across Salt Lake City — from historical conversations to hands-on trainings to evenings under the stars.
All of these events are provided at no cost and are open to the public, thanks to our wonderful partners whose generosity has made this possible.
Join us on the journey — sign up today for the week's events.
Fallout Memories: Impacts and Legacies of the Atomic Testing Era in the Marshall Islands and the United States
This event features a panel of experts with both scholarly and lived experience with nuclear testing in the Marshall Islands and American West, including a screening of oral history interviews from the Great Basin Heritage Area Partnership's Fallout of Fallout project, and a presentation from HEAL Utah about the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA) for downwinders.
Tōloa Rising: Reconnecting Through Sāmoan Wayfinding
The Sāmoan Star Compass will illuminate the dome of the Clark Planetarium—marking a historic return to ancestral skies, stories, and navigation.
Tōloa Rising: Navigating the Night Sky
The Sāmoan Star Compass will illuminate the dome of the Clark Planetarium—marking a historic return to ancestral skies, stories, and navigation.
Wayfinding Basics for Educators
Explore wayfinding as a way of understanding Pacific knowledge systems and creating meaningful connections to culture, place, and identity. This training is offered to Utah educators interested in learning more about wayfinding so they can incorporate this knowledge into lesson plans.
Umusaga: A Voyage Made Ready
Umusaga closes Utah Wayfinding Week: a celebration of the preparation, learning, and community that carry a voyage, and a people, home.
Pasifika Story Night
Address: Sorenson Unity Center, Black Box Theatre, 1383 S 900 W, SLC, Utah 84104
We proudly present Pasifika Story Stage: a fun evening of storytelling that will showcase five dynamic Pasifika storytellers from our community who will share personal “wayfinding” stories, experiences, and tales that will entertain, educate, and inspire. Through personal journeys and ancestral legends, storytellers will celebrate the theme of “wayfinding” experiences that connect us all. Come prepared to laugh, cry, and cheer on community members who will step up to the mic on the Pasifika Story Stage.
An Evening Beneath Ancestral Skies: Tōloa Rising at Clark Planetarium
Location: Clark Planetarium 110 400 W, Salt Lake City, UT 84101
Join us for an immersive navigation experience guided by Wayfinders Tuloutele Celeste Manuia Ha’o & Fani Bruun
For the first time ever, the Sāmoan Star Compass will illuminate the dome of the Clark Planetarium—marking a historic return to ancestral skies, stories, and navigation. Guided by Sāmoan wayfinders Tuloutele Celeste Manuia Haʻo (Hōkūleʻa, Apprentice Navigator) and Fani Bruun (Gaualofa, Tapena/Captain), Tōloa Rising invites you to discover the basics of Oceanic wayfinding as we chart a celestial course from Utah to the heart of the Pacific—retracing pathways that unite our islands, cultures, and shared ancestral memory.
Seeking Samoa: A Taupou’s Voyage Home
Location: Gardner Commons Address, 260 S. Central Campus Dr, Room 1900, Salt Lake City, UT 84112
Journey with Tuloutele Celeste Manuia Haʻo as she shares an ancestral and personal voyage across ocean and identity—weaving together wayfinding, cultural revitalization, and the sacred responsibilities of a taupou living in diaspora into a powerful story of return, resilience, and renewal.
Tuloutele Celeste Manuia Haʻo is a Hawaiian-Sāmoan wayfinder, educator, designer, and storyteller from Hilo, Hawaiʻi. She trained under the late Pwo Navigator Kālepa Baybayan and co-navigated Hōkūleʻa on a historical journey that fulfilled her grandfather’s prophecy—returning to their village of Faleapuna, Sāmoa, “by way of sea and stars.”
Voyaging by Land and Sea: Utah Roots and Oceanic Routes
Location: Millcreek Library, 2266 E Evergreen Ave, Salt Lake City, Utah 84109
Discover the fascinating history of the intrepid voyagers, ill-fated visitors, and enterprising families who laid the roots of Utah’s Samoan communities, growing from a handful of islanders in the 1890s to the largest Pacific Islander group in the state. Followed by Keynote speaker Fani Bruun, captain of Gaualofa, Samoa’s traditional va’atele (voyaging canoe).
This is Our Story: NHPI Communities of Utah Oral History Project
Location: Iosepa Pavilion, Tc02745 Dugway, UT 84022
Learn about this important initiative documenting the experiences of Utah's Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander communities.Enjoy a special performance and inspiring Oli chant by Malialole Dance and Entertainment Studio. Engage with a panel of five individuals who participated in the oral history project as they share personal experiences and unique stories.
Fa’afetai Tele Lava!
Utah Wayfinding Week is made possible by our wonderful staff, volunteers, and generous sponsors.
Thank you to our wonderful village for their helping hands and open hearts to make this week’s events happen.
