Tupaia (navigator)
Tupaia (c. 1725 – December 1770) was a Polynesian navigator and arioi (Tohunga or priest), originally from the island of Ra'iatea in the Pacific Islands group known to Europeans as the Society Islands. His remarkable navigational skills and Pacific geographical knowledge were to be utilised by Lt. James Cook, R.N. when he took him aboard HMS Endeavour as guide on its famous voyage of exploration. He joined the vessel near Tahiti, and was welcomed aboard on insistence of Sir Joseph Banks, a member of Cook's expedition.
Tupaia accompanied Cook to New Zealand and was welcomed by some of the Māori as a Tohunga (a gifted religious person, almost a god).[1] It seems that they presented him with a precious dog-skin cloak.
In December 1770, Tupaia died of dysentery, contracted while Endeavour was berthed for repairs in Batavia.[2]
[edit] Notes
- ^ King, Michael (2003). History of New Zealand ISBN 0-14-301867-1 Penguin. Pages 103 & 106
- ^ Hough, Richard (1994). Captain James Cook. Hodder and Stoughton. p. 201. ISBN 0340825563.
[edit] References
- Druett, Joan (2011). Tupaia ISBN 978-1-86979-386-1 Random house New Zealand.
- King, Michael (2003). History of New Zealand ISBN 0-14-301867-1 Penguin.
- Tupaia at the New Zealand Electronic Text Centre
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