The Innuet and the Pacific Islanders, the Navigators

The pacific islanders are specially trained and selected. Start at a very early age, they are taught the precise positions on the horizon of 32 named stars. They can use those stars to maintain a steady course in any direction they choose. However, out on the open ocean, they can also use patterns of swell. Swell is a wave form that is not produced by local winds, but is generated by storms. And these swells follow very, very regular courses across the ocean. So thes navigators use the patterns of swell also as a kind of compass.