Ui-te-Rangiora

Ice floes in the Southern Ocean

Ui-te-Rangiora or Hui Te Rangiora is a legendary Polynesian navigator from Rarotonga who is claimed to have sailed to the Southern Ocean and sometimes to have discovered Antarctica.

According to a 19th-century interpretation of Rarotongan legend by Stephenson Percy Smith, Ui-te-Rangiora and his crew on the vessel Te Ivi o Atea sailed south and encountered an area he called Tai-uka-a-pia (interpreted by Smith as a frozen sea), "a foggy, misty, and dark place not seen by the sun" where rocks grow out of the sea.[1][2] Smith interpreted this as referring to the ice floes and icebergs in the Southern Ocean, due to the ice floes being similar to arrowroot powder (referring to Tacca leontopetaloides, Polynesian arrowroot).[2] This has led others to conclude that Ui-te-Rangiora was the first person to discover Antarctica.[2][3]

The interpretation of Ui-te-Rangiora reaching Antarctic waters has been questioned.[4] Anderson et al. note that there is no mention of an Antarctic voyage in the original legend, and that it is first mentioned in the story of his descendant Te Aru Tanga Nuku, who wished to "behold all the wonderful things on the ocean" seen by his ancestor.[5] Anthropologist Te Rangi Hīroa assessed the legend as having "so much post-European information" that it cannot be accepted as accurate and ancient.[6] As the Cook Islands Māori language had no pre-European word for 'ice' or 'frozen', interpreting Tai-uka-a-pia as a frozen sea may be a mistranslation, and an alternate interpretation is "sea covered with foam like arrowroot".[7] New Zealand iwi Ngāi Tahu considers the legend to be a mythic origin story rather than a historical voyaging narrative.[8]

It has been suggested that the folklore of the islanders reflected an actual event, namely a sea area covered with a dense layer of floating pieces of pumice resulting from some undersea volcanic eruption. Such a 25 000 km2 sea surface was sighted in 2012 in the area of Kermadec Islands, with a 60 cm thick bright white layer resembling a shelf glacier.[9]

Tongan canoes, with sails and cabins, and two Tongan men paddling a smaller canoe from "Boats of the Friendly Isles" a record of Cook's visit to Tonga, 1773-4
  1. ^ Smith, Stephenson Percy (1899). "Part III". Hawaiki: the whence of the Maori, being an introduction to Rarotongan history. Vol. 8. The Journal of the Polynesian Society. pp. 10–11.
  2. ^ a b c Wehi, Priscilla M.; Scott, Nigel J.; Beckwith, Jacinta; Pryor Rodgers, Rata; Gillies, Tasman; Van Uitregt, Vincent; Krushil, Watene (2021). "A short scan of Māori journeys to Antarctica". Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand. 52 (5): 1–12. doi:10.1080/03036758.2021.1917633.
  3. ^ McFarlane, Turi (2008). "Maori associations with the Antarctic: Tiri o te Moana ki te Tonga" (PDF). University of Canterbury. Retrieved 11 October 2022.
  4. ^ Mulvaney, Kieran (2001). At the Ends of the Earth: A History of the Polar Regions. ISBN 9781559639088.
  5. ^ Anderson, Atholl; O’Regan, Tipene; Parata-Goodall, Puamiria; Stevens, Michael; Tau, Te Maire (September 2021). "On the improbability of pre-European Polynesian voyages to Antarctica: a response to Priscilla Wehi and colleagues". Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand. 52 (5): 599–605. doi:10.1080/03036758.2021.1973517. S2CID 239089356.
  6. ^ Hīroa, Te Rangi (1964). Vikings of the Sunrise. Whitcombe and Tombs Limited. pp. 116–117.
  7. ^ Anderson, Atholl; O’Regan, Tipene; Parata-Goodall, Puamiria; Stevens, Michael; Tau, Te Maire (2021). "A southern Māori perspective on stories of Polynesian polar voyaging". Polar Record. 57. doi:10.1017/S0032247421000693. S2CID 244118774.
  8. ^ "'Our ultimate duty': Defending the integrity of Māori tradition". Te Karaka. Retrieved 11 October 2022.
  9. ^ Ivanov, Lyubomir; Ivanova, Nusha (2022), The World of Antarctica, Generis Publishing, pp. 63–65, ISBN 979-8-88676-403-1