Māori links to Antarctica from seventh-century Polynesian explorer who ventured far south

Tuesday, 8 June 2021

A tabular iceberg floats near the coast of West Antarctica.

Polynesian traditions of a seventh century explorer who ventured far to the south, possibly as far as Antarctica, are included in a new paper aimed at starting to fill in the gaps about Māori connections to the frozen continent.

“Polynesian narratives of voyaging between the islands include voyaging into Antarctic waters by Hui Te Rangiora (also known as Ūi Te Rangiora) and his crew on the vessel Te Ivi o Atea, likely in the early seventh century,” the paper, published in the Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand, said.

“In some narratives, Hui Te Rangiora and his crew continued south. A long way south. In so doing, they were likely the first humans to set eyes on Antarctic waters and perhaps the continent.”

The paper is part of a project involving Manaaki Whenua Landcare Research and Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu researchers, and led by Dr Priscilla Wehi from Manaaki Whenua.

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“We found connection to Antarctica and its waters have been occurring since the earliest traditional voyaging, and later through participation in European-led voyaging and exploration, contemporary scientific research, fishing, and more for centuries,” Wehi said.

New Zealand offshore patrol vessel Otago in the Southern Ocean.

Part of the story of Hui Te Rangiora’s southern voyage is retold by surveyor and ethnologist Stephenson Percy Smith in a publication from the late 19th century.

That publication recounted a later description of the sights said to have been seen by Hui Te Rangiora and his crew.

That description talked of: “the rocks that grow out of the sea, in the space beyond Rapa; the monstrous seas; the female that dwells in those mountainous waves, whose tresses wave about in the waters and on the surface of the sea; and the frozen sea of pia, with the deceitful animal of that sea who dives to great depths–a foggy, misty, and dark place not seen by the sun. Other things are like rocks, whose summits pierce the skies, they are completely bare and without any vegetation on them”.

Offshore patrol vessel HMNZS Otago was battered by a heavy storm during an operation in the Southern Ocean in late 2015.

The frozen ocean was expressed by the term “Te tai-uka-a-Pia”, Smith wrote.

The authors of the new paper pointed to the name as supporting evidence for the narratives of Hui Te Rangiora. “…a-pia means – a, as, like, after the manner of; pia, the arrowroot, which when scraped looks like snow”.

Smith suggested the account of the journey referred to sub-Antarctic flora, fauna and physical geography, the paper said.

“Here he suggests that Southern Ocean bull-kelp – the ‘tresses that float on the monstrous waves’ – marine mammals, and icebergs respectively are visualised, all of which would have been new to Polynesian explorers.”

Hui Te Rangiora’s voyage and return were part of the history of the Ngāti Rārua people, and those stories appeared in a number of carvings, the paper said.

Seals at Campbell Island/Ihupuku Mautere marine reserve.

The Māori and Antarctica: Ka mua, ka muri website also refers to Hui Te Rangiora, saying that according to tribal narratives of Ngāti Rārua and Te Āti Awa, he was the first human to travel to the Antarctic.

”Hui Te Rangiora sits aloft the meeting house Tūrangapeke, at Te Awhina marae in Motueka. He gazes out in his continual search for new lands, and in this way his journey is remembered and honoured,” the website said.

“Te Rangiora also adorns the Pou at the entrance to the Riuwaka Resurgence in Kahurangi National Park. At this place, he took rest and prepared himself spiritually and physically for his journey into the Southern Ocean.”

The Manaaki Whenua paper said further evidence of Māori exploration was likely to become publicly known as tribal researchers and iwi worked together to share the narratives, and as Māori leadership in Antarctic research grew more visible.

Māori narratives of connection to Antarctica were not limited to these early voyages, the paper added.

Te Atu – also recorded as Tuati, Tu Atu, Tuati and John Sac – the son of whaler and sealer Captain William Stewart and his Ngāpuhi wife, was often described as the first Māori, as well as the first New Zealander, to view the coast of Antarctica in 1840, the paper said.

Te Atu travelled on the Vincennes, a ship that mapped many kilometres of Antarctic coastline, as part of the United States Exploring Expedition, led by Lieutenant Charles Wilkes.

Māori were also part of Antarctic expeditions in the “heroic era” of exploration in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the paper said.

In 1894, the Norwegian whaling vessel Antarctic stopped at Rakiura on its way south, adding four Stewart Islanders to the crew, including William Joss of Ngāi Tahu.

Māori whaler Buddy Willa was part of a Norwegian whaling expedition in the Ross Sea in the 1920s, and In 1934-1935, Louis Hauiti Potaka from Ūtiku, near Whanganui, was ship’s doctor on the BAE 2 expedition to Marie Byrd Land led by Rear Admiral Richard E Byrd.