6:30PM-8:30PM | Thursday, May 29, 2025
Address: Clark Planetarium 110 S 400 W, Salt Lake City, Utah 84101
Tōloa Rising: Reconnecting Through Sāmoan Wayfinding
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.
Free and open to the public, rsvp required.
MEET THE WAYFINDERS
Tuloutele Celeste Manuia Haʻo
A Hawaiian-Sāmoan wayfinder, educator, designer, and storyteller from Hilo, Hawaiʻi, Celeste trained under the late Pwo Navigator Kālepa Baybayan and co-navigated Hōkūleʻa on a historic journey that fulfilled her grandfather’s prophecy—returning to their village of Faleapuna, Sāmoa, “by way of sea and stars.”
At 17, Celeste was named Tuloutele, the Taupou of Faleapuna. Instead of remaining in the village, her grandfather directed her to return to Hawaiʻi, learn all she could, and one day teach their people. That calling guides her work today—blending ancestral intelligence with bold innovation to design learning experiences that reconnect ʻōiwi communities with identity, language, and place.
Fani Bruun
Fani Bruun is the current Tapena/Captain of Gaualofa, Samoa’s very own traditional va'atele (ocean voyaging canoe), and the first Samoan Woman to qualify as a yachtmaster. Dedicated to preserving Pasefika traditional navigation, she empowers Pacific communities through cultural education and voyaging.
Fani is a Sue Taei Fellow; her project, Women, Va’a, and Whales, focuses on documenting whale lore in Samoan communities, practicing STEM activities and sharing her knowledge of voyaging to inspire the next generation of female leaders in ocean conservation and maritime skills.
E momoli atu ai le agaga fa’afetai i ‘āiga, uō, ma pa’aga sa lagolagoina mālosi le tātou fa’amoemoe.
We express our heartfelt gratitude to our families, friends, colleagues and sponsors for their role in making our first Wayfinding Week a success.
Mālō lava le agalelei ma le a’ao foa’i.