GoKawiilMarshallese stick charts documented as unique Pacific navigation tool
Marshallese navigators built stick charts from coconut-frond midribs, shells and sennit fiber to represent ocean swell patterns and island locations across the Pacific. Each chart was so personal in design that typically only its maker could fully interpret and use it for canoe navigation. The practice declined after World War II amid new electronic navigation tools, reduced inter-island canoe travel, and disruption from US nuclear testing at Bikini Atoll.