Polynesian Navigation and the Discovery of 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 the first part of the book. 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 who works for leading clients in New Zealand and overseas. An authority on Maori canoes, Jeff is also the author of Waka Taua: The Maori War Canoe, Nga Waka o Nehera and Maori Weapons in Pre-European New Zealand, and editor of Elsdon Best's Notes on the Art of War. Jeff lives in Auckland.

Featured in the 18 July 2011 New Zealand newsletter.
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Featured in the Spring 2011 Cool for Schools
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