The Pacific and Indian oceans share a little-known common heritage. Five thousand years ago, people of the Pacific designed ocean-capable canoes, and they set sail from a beach in Taiwan and settled on islands from Madagascar to Aotearoa (New Zealand) and Rapa Nui (Easter Island) to Hawaii. The descendants of these brave seafarers surpass 400 million people today.

During a lecture and demonstration, the artists and co-founders of Small Island Big Song will share geographical and historical background about these great oceanic migrations. The musicians will showcase some of the cultural similarities shared by their communities across these vast ocean expanses.

The University Honors Program is the event sponsor.

Small Island Big Song will join filmmakers, oceanographers, scientists and artists at NC State for a slate of extraordinary events from April 8-12. This collective of Indigenous musicians comes from island nations in the Pacific and Indian oceans — Taiwan, Australia, Papua New Guinea, Madagascar, Mauritius and Easter Island (Chile) — where they are on the front lines of climate change. The week of events will come to a celebratory close when Small Island Big Song performs in Stewart Theatre on Friday, April 12 at 7:30 p.m.