Wayfinding

Te Aurere is navigated by traditional wayfinding using knowledge of the sun, moon, stars, wave patterns, wind, clouds, and birds. The waka was the first in modern times to sail back from Aotearoa-New Zealand to the Cook Islands, a key link in the migration path of the Polynesian settlers who came here about 800 years ago. Te Aurere has played a central role in the revival of traditional navigation in Aotearoa-New Zealand with the support of Mau Piailug of Satawal and Nainoa Thompson of the Polynesian Voyaging Society.

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The Koekoeā or Long-tailed Cuckoo (Eudynamys taitensis) may have been one of the clues to the discovery of Aotearoa-New Zealand by ancient Māori. The Koekoeā is widely dispersed in Polynesia, Micronesia and Melanesia in an arc from Palau to Pitcairn, but breeds only in Aotearoa-New Zealand. More

The exploration and settlement of the Pacific Ocean is one of the great migration stories of humankind. Over a period from about 1500 BC to around 1250-1300 AD the Polynesians explored and settled what is now the “Polynesian Triangle” - an area bigger than the surface of the Moon. More

Early European sailors in the Pacific like James Cook developed a strong appreciation of the navigation skills of the Polynesians. Various people, like Andrew Sharp, have since claimed that Polynesian settlement was the result of accidental discoveries. This view has now been discredited. Te Aurere is part of a renaissance of traditional wayfinding in the Pacific led by Mau Piailug and Nainoa Thompson. More

Traditional wayfinding using knowledge of the sun, moon, stars, wave patterns, wind, clouds, and birds. All of this was committed to memory and complemented by lore covering matters such as the timing of voyages to particular destinations and knowledge of rituals. Much of what is known now of traditional wayfinding is based on practices in Micronesia as ocean voyaging by Māori may have ended over 500 years ago. More