Land of Voyagers part 4: When Tupaia met Captain Cook

Two worlds collided in Tahiti in 1769 when Captain James Cook and Tupaia met.

A master of the art of navigation and map-making from the Pacific world met another master of the same arts from the western world.

In part four of the Land of Voyagers video series, host and waka navigator herself Noenoe Barclay-Kerr explains how the two met and what their relationship was like on board the HMS Endeavour.

Land of Voyagers

The Land of Voyagers is a video series that retells stories from the journeys great Polynesian navigators made across the Pacific to Aotearoa.

The series is part of the online learning platform Mātauranga, created by Sir Ian Taylor and his team.

In Taylor's words, these voyages across the Pacific required great innovation and are the greatest migration story in the history of mankind.

The video series is led by waka navigator Noenoe Barclay-Kerr, who is dedicated to the ancient traditions of the waka - including wayfinding, using the stars, wind, ocean currents and birds to navigate waka hourua (double hulled waka).