Navigation: How we as humans perceive the world around us. Maori and European perspectives

Описание: Bill Edwards, Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga
Online Presentation given 24 July at 6:00 pm Australian Eastern Standard Time

Different cultures use various navigation tools to achieve an understanding of location in space. This seminar will explore three different types of navigation that all utilise the Te Whanau Marama (the family of stars) for direction-finding. The presentation will examine differing views of ocean navigation including Polynesian and European techniques. It will examine two early 18th-century European navigators to New Zealand, James Cook and Marc Joseph Marion du Frense, by using their charts, logs and archaeological evidence of their stay in the Bay of islands. The seminar will also interrogate their charts and logs to extract precise information on their activities during their visit.

Bill Edwards – Short Bio

Kia ora! My name is Bill Edwards and I work for Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga as an area manager in Northland, New Zealand. My background is in archaeology, and I have some experience in navigating as I have been a sailor and waka paddler on coastal journeys. I am interested in how people have historically found their way across the ocean. Through my research, I have become fascinated not only with the mechanics of navigation, but with the philosophy that underpins it.