Status
Call number
Collection
Publication
Description
Vikings of the Sunrise ranks as a masterpiece of Pacific studies. From the pen of one of the greatest Māori thinkers and writers of his generation, the settlement of the Pacific Ocean comes to life. The book ranges across the Pacific Ocean and the people who populated it, considering their physical and spiritual origins, and the ships they built to conquer this vast territory. It weighs evidence for different routes, retells myths of migration including the Māui series, recounts the author's visits to islands and atolls across the South Pacific, and overall establishes the 'vikings' of the Pacific among the greatest-ever ocean voyagers. First published in 1938, Vikings of the Sunrise is here reproduced in an enhanced facsimile edition, including photos and maps compiled by the author on his voyages, and a new foreword by anthropologist Paora (Paul) Tapsell. Oratia Books is pleased to bring Vikings of the Sunrise back into print for modern readers as part of our NZ Classics series.… (more)
User reviews
“The early missionaries labored to destroy belief in the Polynesian concepts of the world and the origin and power of the local gods. In this they were helped by the natives themselves who, eager to accept and adopt new ideas, broke almost completely with their old religion… Priests and scholars who had accepted the new teaching refused to pass on the concepts and the legends of their old cult. Thus the continuity of oral transmission was broken.” (page 169)
“In central and eastern Polynesia, the marae, because it carried a religious as well as a secular function, was dismantled and abandoned on conversion to Christianity; but in New Zealand, the marae still functions as the social center of the people… May the marae long continue to function, for so soon as it is abandoned, so soon will the maori lose his individuality.” (page 290)
Amazing adventure story of island life in ancient Polynesia. Legendary heroes, myths, gods, influence of Christianity, changing times, firsthand accounts from locals. All told by traveler, military leader, doctor, anthropologist etc… Sir Peter Buck. Half Maori, half Irish, he interprets culture of Polynesia with English; forming a descriptive, real, wondrous book.