Moving Through the Ancient Cultural Landscape of Mangaia (Cook Islands)

Authors

  • Michael P.J. Reilly Te Tumu, School of Māori, Pacific and Indigenous Studies, University of Otago

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15286/jps.127.3.325-357

Keywords:

landscape, movement, Mangaia, Cook Islands, directions, pathways, journeys

Abstract

A cultural landscape is pregnant with memories of the past that are remembered and retold through oral traditions. These memories include the movements of the ancestors through their natural world: how they orientated themselves within their landscape, the paths they took to travel from one place to another and the many kinds of journeys they embarked upon, such as ritual and mourning processions, expeditions to war, escapes to refuges, trips to access natural resources or jaunts to enjoy entertainments. This paper explores these movements as they are remembered within the cultural landscape of Mangaia in the Cook Islands.

Author Biography

Michael P.J. Reilly, Te Tumu, School of Māori, Pacific and Indigenous Studies, University of Otago

Michael Reilly is a Professor in Te Tumu, School of Māori, Pacific & Indigenous Studies at the University of Otago, Aotearoa New Zealand. A graduate in Māori Studies and Pacific Islands History, he is especially interested in the historical traditions of East Polynesia, notably Mangaia and Aotearoa New Zealand. He is lead editor of Te Kōparapara: An Introduction to the Māori World, published by Auckland University Press in 2018.

Patrick Vinton Kirch in the Mussau Islands of Papua New Guinea during archaeological fieldwork in 1986.

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Published

2018-10-02

Issue

Vol. 127 No. 3 (2018): September 2018

Section

Articles

License

Copyright © 2022 by the Polynesian Society (Inc.)

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