New research is revealing Māori connections to Antarctica, detailing the exploration of a seventh-century explorer who ventured far south - possibly as far as the frozen continent.
The research paper is part of a project between Manaaki Whenua Landcare Research and Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu researchers, led by Dr Priscilla Wehi from Manaaki Whenua.
Researchers scanned the literature and lined it up with oral histories to provide a record of Māori presence in early Antarctic exploration.
The research followed the voyage of Hui Te Rangiora (also known as Ūi Te Rangiora) who sailed between the islands - including possibly Antarctica.
"In some narratives, Hui Te Rangiora and his crew continued south. A long way south. In so doing, they were likely the first humans to set eyes on Antarctic waters and perhaps the continent," the paper, published in the Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand, said.
Part of the voyage is retold in a late 19th-century publication by surveyor and ethnologist Stephenson Percy Smith.
In the publication, the sights thought to have been seen by Te Rangiora are recounted.
"The monstrous seas; the female that dwells in those mountainous waves, whose tresses wave about in the waters and on the surface of the sea; and the frozen sea of pia, with the deceitful animal of that sea who dives to great depths foggy, misty, and dark place not seen by the sun. Other things are like rocks, whose summits pierce the skies, they are completely bare and without any vegetation on them."
Researchers say this account describes sub-antarctic flora and fauna as well as geography.
The "tresses" are suggested to be Southern Ocean bull-kelp.
"We found a connection to Antarctica and its waters have been occurring since the earliest traditional voyaging, and later through participation in European-led voyaging and exploration, contemporary scientific research, fishing, and more for centuries," said Dr Wehi.
She says further research will reveal more concrete evidence which will become publicly known as tribal researchers and iwi work together to share the narratives.
