Were Polynesians expert navigators or climate change refugees?

18 June 2023

3pm

Free entry

Ockie Simmonds-Tumapuhia (Raukawa, Tuuwharetoa, Ngaa Puhi) is a tribal researcher from the Society of Maaori Astronomy Research and Traditions (SMART).

Over the past decade Simmonds-Tumapuhia has worked closely with astronomical experts in Japan who used archaeo-astronomical techniques, based on traditional Maaori koorero, to identify the Gregorian arrival dates of the Tainui and Te Arawa waka to Aotearoa as part of a ‘Great Fleet’ in the summer of 1408 CE. What caused the early Maaori ancestors to settle the Pacific and Aotearoa was presented at the History of Astronomy Symposium in Japan (2021) and to the NZ Climate Change Commission (2022).

In this free public talk, Ockie will present some of this research in a Matariki context.

Find out more: Matariki Ki Waikato Festival 2023