Abstract

Different voyaging communities in the Pacific use a variety of non-instrument navigational techniques for way-finding across long distances. The use of a star compass has been well documented for several groups. Wind compasses are less well documented and appear to be less utilized throughout the region. This article seeks to understand the Vaeakau-Taumako wind compass as it compares to other wind compasses, as well as how wind and star compasses and other navigational techniques compare to each other as cognitive frameworks for navigation.

Highlights

  • Like magnetic and star compasses, a wind compass is a cognitive construct.1 It uses an abstract representation of space in which the circular horizon is divided into a finite number of named, discrete, and systematically spaced points

  • This article seeks to understand the Vaeakau-Taumako wind compass as it compares to other wind compasses, as well as how wind and star compasses and other navigational techniques compare to each other as cognitive frameworks for navigation

  • It explores how that wind compass relates to a broader set of concepts and practices that we term a “navigational toolkit.”

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Summary

Richard Feinberg Department of Anthropology

Different voyaging communities in the Pacific use a variety of non-instrument navigational techniques for way-finding across long distances. The use of a star compass has been well documented for several groups. Wind compasses are less well documented and appear to be less utilized throughout the region. This article seeks to understand the Vaeakau-Taumako wind compass as it compares to other wind compasses, as well as how wind and star compasses and other navigational techniques compare to each other as cognitive frameworks for navigation

Introduction
Austronesian Star and Wind Compasses
Te lapa
Reflected Waves
Concluding Thoughts

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