Polynesian maritime navigators

"supreme chief" of Easter Island

thumb|Detail of Kupe and his wife Kūrāmarotini from the statue on the Wellington waterfront Kupe was a legendary Polynesian explorer who, according to Māori oral history, was the first person to discover New Zealand. He is generally held to have been born to a father from Rarotonga and a mother from Raiatea, and probably spoke a Māori proto-language similar to Cook Islands Māori or Tahitian. His voyage to New Zealand ensured that the land was known to the Polynesians, and he would therefore be responsible for the genesis of the Māori people.

thumb|Ice floes in the Southern Ocean Ui-te-Rangiora or Hui Te Rangiora is a legendary Polynesian navigator who sailed to the Southern Ocean and is sometimes claimed to have discovered Antarctica in the early seventh century on the vessel Te Ivi o Atea. The legend originates from the island of Rarotonga in the Cook Islands archipelago, but this island was not populated until the tenth century.

Polynesian navigator

right|240px|thumb|Stern of Port (nautical)|portside hull and center [[steering oar]] right|240px|thumb|Hōkūle‘a, under tow, in Ōshima District, Yamaguchi|Ōshima channel, Yamaguchi-prefecture, Japan

Micronesian navigator from the Carolinian island of Satawal and a teacher of traditional, non-instrument wayfinding methods for deep-sea voyaging

Native Hawaiian navigator

Māori navigator and ship builder (1932–2019)