Nainoa_Thompson Charles Nainoa Thompson (born 1953) is a Native Hawaiian navigator and the executive director of the Polynesian Voyaging Society. He is best known as the first Hawaiian to practice the ancient Polynesian art of navigation since the 14th century, having navigated two double-hulled canoes (the Hokule and the Hawai) from Hawaii to other island nations in Polynesia without the aid of instruments.