By examining myth, star charts and contemporary Polynesian seafaring, Jeff Evans traces the methods by which Polynesian explorers made their epic voyages, and retraces the historic sailing of the traditional canoe Hawaiki-nui with no modern aids from Tahiti down to New Zealand.
By examining myth, star charts and contemporary Polynesian seafaring, Jeff Evans traces the methods by which Polynesian explorers made their epic voyages, and retraces the historic sailing of the traditional canoe Hawaiki-nui with no modern aids from Tahiti down to New Zealand.
The Polynesian navigator Kupe is credited with the discovery of the land his expedition named Aotearoa, land of the long white cloud. How did he and the many canoes that followed find their way without modern navigational techniques through perilous seas in wooden canoes? By examining myth, star charts and contemporary Polynesian seafaring, Jeff Evans traces the methods by which the early explorers made their epic voyages in Part One. The book's second part travels with Maori canoe expert Matahi Brightwell and navigator Frances Cowan aboard the traditional canoe Hawaiki-nui following traditional navigation with no modern aids on its historic voyage from Tahiti down to New Zealand.
Jeff Evans is a writer and photographer based in Auckland. He has written several books relating to waka, including Nga Waka o Nehera, Polynesian Navigation and the Discovery of New Zealand and Waka Taua: The Maori War Canoe. Between them, these books recall Maori migration traditions, describe navigation skills used by Maori to voyage between the islands in the central Pacific and New Zealand, and introduce the reader to waka taua. His most recent books are a biography of Hec Busby, Heke-nuku-mai-nga-iwi Busby: Not Here by Chance (Huia), and Reawakened: traditional navigators of Te Moana Nui a Kiwa (Massey University Press 2021).
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