Tuki-tahua's Māori maps
Mapas maoríes de Tuki-tahua
- Date
- 1793 · confidence high
- Place
- Norfolk Island, Australia
- Credited to
- Tuki-tahua and Huru-kokoti (Māori of Tokerau)
- Field
- Cosmos & Earth
What it is
Maps of New Zealand's North Island that two Māori chiefs drew first on the floor and then on paper for Governor King on Norfolk Island. They show settlements, routes and places with great relative accuracy and from the perspective of someone who knows the land.
The two Māori were brought to Norfolk Island in 1793, kidnapped; the maps were made there, not in New Zealand. The Māori tradition of mapping with sticks and on the ground is earlier but does not survive.
What it led to
- European record of Māori geographical knowledge
- an example of the use of indigenous maps by European explorers