Nga Hautupua I Eke Tai Roa : Heroes of the Long Tides

12 hand drawn maps by Barry Brailsford, text by Barry Brailsford with translation to Te Reo Māori by Romana Potts.

Heroes, covers twelve hundred years of voyaging by Waitaha navigators. It embraces remarkable voyages between Te Pito o Te Ao (Easter Island) and Aotearoa/New Zealand, to the Sub-Antarctic Islands and to South America. Their huge double-hulled catamarans sailed remarkable distances on strong ocean currents they called Long Tides. These ocean currents are among the fastest in the world and could carry them 200 kilometres in a day. Some voyages involved island hopping but many did not.

Danger stalked these Long Tides. The Octopus, their name for the wild seas created when two currents collided, tested their courage and skill. Usually they won through but death often hovered close. They accepted that danger. Drowning in the arms of Tangaroa was considered a noble death.