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There are Tahitian legends about Pitcairn Island, referred to as Hitiaurevareva, showing that there was travel to and from the island in the past. There are Man
by doublec 5y ago
There are Tahitian legends about Pitcairn Island, referred to as Hitiaurevareva, showing that there was travel to and from the island in the past. There are Mangarevan legends also. In the Tahitian legend of Rata, which would be familiar to NZ Māori and other Polynesian people, he goes from Tahiti to Pitcairn to rescue his mother. Tupaia who guided Captain Cook around the pacific, and who acted as translator, drew a map of the Islands he knew and visited and this included Pitcairn. Tupaia was a contempory of the Tahitian women who went on the Bounty to Pitcairn so he had been there in recent history before the Bounty arrived. One of the Tahitian men on the Bounty knew of the island and helped guide Fletcher there. I often wonder why no Polynesians went back after the Bounty settled.
- DoreenMichele 5y agoI wonder if those oral traditions are being recorded and shared somehow. I assume you are talking about oral histories from locals.
- doublec 5y agoThe Tahitian legends are documented in the book "Ancient Tahiti" by Teuira Henry. "Ancient Tahitian Society" by Douglas Oliver also mentions it. "Vikings of the Sunrise" by Te Rangi Hīroa (Sir Peter Buck) mentions the Mangarevan legends. There's also other accounts around. I first saw it written on a sign at the archaeological remains of an old Marae in Mo'orea. The histories of Pitcairn are kept alive through cultural studies taught by the islanders to the school kids.
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- bravura 5y agoYes double, where did you learn this? It's fascinating
- doublec 5y agoHere's one account of a legend involving Pitcairn: https://stranded.io/2020/05/24/a-tahitian-legend-of-hitiaurevareva/ https://stranded.io/2020/05/24/a-tahitian-legend-of-hitiaure... Here's a great account of Tupaia's map: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00223344.2018.1512369 https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00223344.2018.1... Also see the books in my sibling comment.