Long-distance prehistoric two-way voyaging: the case for Aotearoa and Hawaiki

Did the first East Polynesian settlers of New Zealand, as opposed to discoverers, maintain even a short period of contact with their tropical homeland after arrival? While there is currently no evidence to suggest that contact was maintained the possibility has remained open. Recent revivals of Polynesian ocean voyaging and waka ama paddlingin New Zealand have given rise to a general belief that that Maori, like their kin in tropical Polynesia, never lost the arts of long-distance ocean voyaging. This paper, however, argues a contrary position and suggests that our isolation, size, abundance of resources, along with recent revisions to the date of initial settlement in New Zealand, further diminishes the possibility of contact with the tropical Polynesian homelands in the prehistoric past.