Outrigger Jack Finds a New Home in the South Pacific

As the story goes....

Jack found his way down the chain of islands until he reached the Marianas, the Northern most part of Micronesia.  The history of these islands was mixed.  In the 1600's Spain claimed them.  Most of the original inhabitants died out, I'm sure due to disease.  The population was now a very mixed group of Spanish, Filipino and Chamorro.   But Jack was in luck.  Germany had just purchased this island group a few years prior to his arrival.
The luck would not have lasted for very long because Japan was about to size control.
How Jack found his way deeper into the South Pacific no one really knows, but my guess is that he headed toward Papua New Guinea aboard a German vessel.  (Another German occupied island)

The rest of his story is folklore and myth.  Stories of Outrigger Jack are still told throughout many of the South Pacific Islands.

I can't tell you the rest of his story because no one really knows what actually happened.  This story will travel to the islands where fragments of his journey are told.  Through my art I will recreate how he lived and how he survived.


JUMP TO THE YEAR 2017 IN A SMALL TOWN CALLED HILO, HAWAII.

This is where the story of Outrigger Jack will come to life.

Tevita Kunato's Studio/Workshop, Hilo Hawaii

I am an artist who specializes in Oceania art.  I am going to make all the items that Jack would have needed.  In my backyard, I am going to teach you how to build a traditional Pacific house complete with woven bamboo walls and a coconut palm roof.  I will make a series of traditional fishing spears, hooks and lures.  Carved bowls and trays, musical instruments and a functional outrigger canoe.  I'll also plant a beautiful garden full of the foods that are consumed in this part of the World.

Welcome to the beautiful Pacific islands!!  Welcome to my World!

The site where I am going to build Outrigger Jack's home

Lost at Sea

This is a story about a young man who migrated to North America from Germany in the late 1800's.  He wasn't any different from the others who came in search of opportunity, a new life...a dream.
Jack was in his teens.  A young man, strong and ready to find his way.  He was adventurous, wild at heart.  He was pulled West, across the vast continent then up North into Canada.  Unknown to him, this is where it really all started.

Jack finds a job with the Canadian Pacific Railway aboard a steamship called the RMS Empress of Japan, a 456 ft ocean liner that carried mail and passengers to Tokyo, returning with hulls filled with tea.  It was the year 1915 and this was Jacks 6th crossing.  

Europe catches on fire!  War erupts and 10,000 miles away, Jack finds himself in a dangerous situation.  The anti German sentiment on board the Empress is focused directly on Jack.  He was pulled out of his bunk and beaten badly.  He doesn't wonder, he knows that if he remains on the ship, his life will surly be in jeopardy.   In secret Jack collects a few items and hides them in one of the ships rafts.  He plans his escape...

On his previous voyages Jack remembered seeing small fishing vessels headed SE out of Japan.  He had also seen a long line of atolls on the ships maps that seemed to lead the route the fishing boats were taking.  It was a stretch, but that was his only way to safety.  Quietly, under cover of darkness and taking advantage of a nodding lookout, Jack lowered the raft and disappeared into the Pacific.

 

What Was Life in the Pacific Like in the 1920's

Untouched, for the most part.  Outrigger canoes were still widely used for fishing and transportation.  The average home was made of available materials; coconut or grass roofs, woven bamboo walls, log posts tied with hand-made ropes...
An average day would be spent fishing, throwing net, gardening, hunting.  For most people, one would have to catch and grow the food consumed in the village.

This is the life that I am going to recreate as lived by Outrigger Jack.
In a few weeks, we are going to cut the log posts that will be used to make his house.  The walls will be made from crushed and woven bamboo, the roof will be woven coconut thatch.
I will plant his garden; taro, banana, pineapples, tapioca, sugarcane and aibika...and...his 19 foot fishing canoe will come to life!  He is also going to have a few 14-15 foot longboards!

Why am I doing this?

I am an artist without a sold business plan.  Shocking!!!  isn't it!  lol  Outrigger Jack is going to be my brand and my outlet that will help me create a cohesive body of work.  In my last post I stated that I am Jack.  I was born and raised in Papua New Guinea.  I grew up in a time where most people lived in grass huts, made tools out of wood and stone and hunted with bamboo arrows.  I miss it.  I loved it!  and...I want to celebrate it by sharing it through my work.

Why did I choose the name Outrigger Jack?

For me it's catchy. I want to generate a healthy following.  Most of my potential followers will know very little about the Pacific and with a name like Jack, maybe that will help you/them imagine.  After all, this is going to be a story!

Who is Outrigger Jack?

My name is David Kunert.  I'm an artist, living in Hilo, Hawaii. I go by the name Tevita Kunato.  Actually, that is my real name too!  Tevita means David.  Kunato is Kunert.  I was born and raised in the Pacific.  I am a white boy who is proud to call himself a Pacific Islander.  Actually, I really am a Pacific Islander!!!  I have no clue as to my true biological background. I was adopted.  I am a citizen of 3 countries.  I hold onto what little I can claim.  I am fluent in island culture ways and language.  But I am also fluent in the Western ways.  

DO YOU KIND OF GET WHO I AM?  GOOD!  BECAUSE I DON'T!

That leads me to this OUTRIGGER JACK.  Who is this guy? Where does he come from? Where is he going?  How does he live?  Outrigger Jack is going to be my pet character.  All of the art I am going make will tell his story.   From the outrigger canoe he used to his little house.  His fishing and hunting gear.  I'm gonna tell his story.  

This is a story about an outsider, Jack.  He doesn't really belong but he figures it out.  He not only learns but lives it.  We don't really know what is going on in his head.  He is a survivor.   He clearly lives life as if he authentically loves it.   He is lost.  But...He is lost in a very happy place.  

Over the next year, we are going to learn more about Outrigger Jack.

Projects to follow on this blog:

His 19 foot outrigger canoe.  I'll build it!!

His small house.  I'll build it!!!!

Tools he used for cooking, fishing, hunting, repairing, cutting, gardening...yep.  I'll make them

Food service and storage items

Clothing production and repair

Medicine

I want this project  to entertain but I also want to educate.  

Wish me luck!!!!!  

Jack