Navigation in the Pacific
The means by which the Pacifica seafarers traveled around the ocean
I repost my essay about the Kuaka owing to an argument I had on YouTube about my theory that it is the birds that led to the discovery of Aotearoa. The obdurate gainsayer told me that my theory was nonsense as the Pacifica navigators used a star compass.
The flight of the Kuaka
When out walking near the sea I often converse with people I meet. Sometimes I talk about the rights to the apparently common land on which we walk. As the conversation evolves, occasionally I pose this question: how did the original inhabitants of Aotearoa-New Zealand, the Māori, find New Zealand? Knowing they did not have the instruments available to…
I tried to point out my theory was enhanced by the star compass. Where the person got their idea from was a project named Hokulea links to which can be found below.
I wrote an email to them which said:
I recently engaged in a heated discussion on YouTube about a theory I have about the means by which Māori discovered Aotearoa. The debate about one way voyaging compared to two way voyaging has always left me unsatisfied. The one way voyaging theory is completely unsatisfactory as it is most unlikely that large scale expeditions would chance upon the Aotearoa landmass nor would they take the risk. The problem then is to explain how Aotearoa was found to enable two way voyaging to take place.
My hobby is bird photography on the Manukau Harbour. Whilst not the most photogenic of birds I see Kūaka (Godwits) occasionally at the foreshore gathering food at the tide line. They are not common on the part of the harbour near Titirangi I frequent as they seem to prefer other places like Mangere. Their dowdy appearance belies their remarkable character. They fly nonstop from Alaska to Aotearoa. Māori considered them supernatural which is hardly surprising. They provide the missing piece of the jigsaw. I wrote about my theory on Substack. Here is the link.
[see above]
Buried deep within your webpage is an essay under the title The Star Compass by Nainoa Thompson which states:
The star compass also reads the flight path of birds and the direction of waves.
That description dovetails with my theory perfectly. The person who claimed that my theory was nonsense, relying on your website, and instead claimed that Pacifica seafarers used the star compass to navigate. I tried to point out that no navigational aid will enable a mariner to sail to a place they do not know exists. Something has to tell them it exists. For Tasman it was a guess as he thought there was a continent awaiting discovery. The original Māori seafarers could not take that chance. They knew land was out there as they knew that the Kuaka are not seabirds and could not come to the surface to feed as could a Toroa (albatross). Now I can understand how they tracked the flight path. I suspect it would have taken considerable time to accumulate the knowledge but I am convinced that is how they discovered Aotearoa. There is another candidate for the winged pathfinders being Koekoeā (cuckoo). The migrate between Aotearoa and Pacific Islands. I suspect it is both and the mariners were able to triangulate in some way.
It might be helpful to explain that using a navigational aid enables the seafarers to sail to and fro but not to find.
They replied with a stock response which I copy because it gives links to their various websites:
Mahalo for contacting the Polynesian Voyaging Society. This email is monitored but response times will most likely be slow due to staff capacity. Mahalo for your patience and aloha.
Pae ʻĀina Statewide Sail updates can be found on social media and on the Hōkūleʻa website. Check here for the public events schedule. Learn more about the Moananuiākea Voyage here.
Please visit www.Hokulea.com, www.WaaHonua.com, Hawaiian Voyaging Traditions, Past Voyages, and @HokuleaCrew on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube for more.
The accompanying image is of the Manuka Harbour with Poaka (stilts) in the foreground.
Interestingly when I told the responding machine I wanted to talk to a human, it promised to refer me and someone would contact me eventually. What is says is untrue but it is not lying as a machine cannot know what is false and what is not.