Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
Also forwarded with the letter - as 'proof of this Man's abilities' - was this map made by
'Tooka-Titter-anue Wari-Ledo, a priest of that country'. Tuki originally drew it in chalk on
the floor and transferred it to paper using a pencil. King then inked over the outlines, and an-
notated it. The Governor compared it favourably with Captain Cook's chart of New Zealand
- a scientific coastal survey, with few interior features. Tuki's accomplishment is of a differ-
ent kind from Cook's: it communicates his mental map of his homeland and records what was
important to him. Within the framework of physical place, he evokes different dimensions of
experience: social, political and mythical.
West is at the top of the map. North Island (at right) where Tuki lived is drawn larger than
South Island, which he had never visited but about which he had heard; the wheel symbol
within the latter indicates a lake with good stone for hatchets. No other lakes are shown, nor
the mountains and geysers that we now associate with New Zealand. The map is concerned
less with topography - or with mathematical accuracy - than with the networks and legends
that were important from a Maori perspective. The notes about chiefs and clans describe who
lived where, with whom they were feuding and to whom they were related. Trees left of top
centre represent a kauri forest near a clan friendly with Tuki's people. At the far right, marked
by a sacred tree, is Cape Reinga where spirits entered the underworld after death, having trav-
elled the mythical pathway marked by the double-dotted line across North Island.
As a map that crosses between the temporal and spiritual realms, this is not drawn to
scale. The Maori measured earthly journeys not by space but by time. The travelling distance
between Tuki's home on Doubtless Bay and Huru's at the Bay of Islands was two days by
land and one by canoe. Their voyage from Norfolk Island would take only twelve days by
Royal Navy ship when eventually, after six months, they were returned home. This map re-
mains as tangible evidence of an encounter between Maori and a British official, 50 years
before organised European settlement of New Zealand.
