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The making of Tupaia’s map

  • Tupaia’s Map is one of the most famous and enigmatic artefacts to emerge from the early encounters between Europeans and Pacific Islanders. It was drawn by Tupaia, an arioi priest, chiefly advisor and master navigator from Ra‘iātea in the Leeward Society Islands in collaboration with various members of the crew of James Cook’s Endeavour, in two distinct moments of mapmaking and three draft stages between August 1769 and February 1770. To this day, the identity of many islands on the chart, and the logic of their arrangement have posed a riddle to researchers. Drawing in part on archival material hitherto overlooked, in this long essay we propose a new understanding of the chart’s cartographic logic, offer a detailed reconstruction of its genesis, and thus for the first time present a comprehensive reading of Tupaia’s Map. The chart not only underscores the extent and mastery of Polynesian navigation, it is also a remarkable feat of translation between two very different wayfinding systems and their respective representational models.

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Metadaten
Author details:Lars EcksteinORCiDGND, Anja SchwarzORCiDGND
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1080/00223344.2018.1512369
ISSN:0022-3344
ISSN:1469-9605
Title of parent work (English):The journal of pacific history
Subtitle (English):a story of the extent and mastery of Polynesian navigation, competing systems of wayfinding on James Cook’s endeavour, and the invention of an ingenious cartographic system
Publisher:Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group
Place of publishing:London
Publication type:Article
Language:English
Year of first publication:2019
Publication year:2019
Release date:2021/04/22
Tag:Cartography; Indigenous knowledges and ontologies; Tupaia; first contact; sea of islands; star navigation; translation; wayfinding
Volume:54
Issue:1
Number of pages:95
First page:1
Last Page:95
Funding institution:Deutsche ForschungsgemeinschaftGerman Research Foundation (DFG)
Organizational units:Philosophische Fakultät / Institut für Anglistik und Amerikanistik
DDC classification:3 Sozialwissenschaften / 39 Bräuche, Etikette, Folklore / 390 Bräuche, Etikette, Folklore
9 Geschichte und Geografie / 90 Geschichte / 900 Geschichte und Geografie
Peer review:Referiert
Publishing method:Open Access / Bronze Open-Access
License (German):License LogoCC-BY-NC-ND - Namensnennung, nicht kommerziell, keine Bearbeitungen 4.0 International
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