Wayfinding (Civ5)/Civilopedia

Traditional Polynesian navigation, also called "wayfinding", was a highly sophisticated and orally-transmitted system of knowledge which allowed the Polynesians to cross immense expanses of the Pacific Ocean in open craft. It consisted of parts celestial navigation, awareness of oceanic currents, bird and fish behavioral sciences, dead reckoning and weather observations. Wayfinding was the exclusive and secret purview of the guilds of navigators, and allowed the Polynesians to travel across tens of thousands of square miles without the use of compass or clock. An apprentice navigator would learn key facts about the motion of stars, the behavior of birds, and peculiarities of weather (such as clouds visibly forming over an island beyond the horizon) from his master in the form of chants, songs, and schematic maps created from simple materials.
As wayfinding was an orally-transmitted secret with much local variation, most knowledge of wayfinding has been lost in the present day. There are still schools of traditional Polynesian navigation in the Pacific area, such as Taumako in the Solomon Islands.
Given the comparatively small size of Polynesian sail craft and the feats of sailing accomplished by the Polynesians, the efficacy of wayfinding and the skill of Polynesian navigators have been highly praised by many, occasionally straying into romantic over-embellishment. Still, it is hard not to be struck with respect at the confidence and competence that led the Polynesians to sail off towards tiny, distant lands in an open boat scarcely the length of a city bus.