Issues relevant to web-based communities in the Pacific Islands
are described. A brief geographic and demographic overview is provided,
and unique cultural, social and educational challenges are discussed, with
particular attention to Hawaii, American Samoa, and Chuuk, Federated States
of Micronesia as illustrative cases. The computer and allied web-based
technologies are viewed as serving some of the same contemporary functions
for voyagers as did the canoe, in the historical voyaging tradition. Projects that
aim to address some of the educational and social needs of Pacific Islanders as
voyagers at the University of Hawaii and as leaders in their home communities
are presented.