Tupaia - Joan Druett
Another book I got from the school library as I was researching my Year 10 English module, Tupaia: The Remarkable Story of Captain Cook's Polynesian Navigator is a far more in-depth look at Tupaia than The Adventures of Tupaia was. Considering the time-frame of both releases, I have a strong suspicion that the other Tupaia book was based on this one.
This is much more a traditional 'historical biography' than The Adventures of Tupaia, starting with an examination of life in Tahiti pre-European contact, then moving forward to the arrival of the Dolphin - the first European ship confirmed to have visited the island, though the possibility of others having visited earlier is discussed. Tupaia's role in these early encounters is highlighted, and when he eventually decides to join the crew of the Endeavour - the third ship to have visited - we have some understanding of his motivations.
Having the main subject of a Western-style biography be someone of whom very few Western-style biographical sources exist makes the book an interesting exercise; Druett is forced to extrapolate from generalised sources in order to paint the picture of Tupaia's probable actions, but this is done fairly well. At times, indeed, Druett holds back from elaboration when some deeper context would be appreciated - particularly in her descriptions of Tahitian culture - but this allows the reader to be somewhat mystified along with the European explorers, and may actually be Druett's intent. Some insight is given, however, mostly to highlight the moments where the Europeans have blundered into something culturally offensive, and are simply failing to recognise it.
Upon arrival at New Zealand, Tupaia's importance to the expedition is repeatedly demonstrated. The fact that he was able to communicate with the native Māori population was, of course, a huge aid, but his ability to understand much (though not all) of the Māori culture was also very important. For someone of whom little has been written until recently, it is fascinating to see moments where, without Tupaia, the Europeans may have blundered too far and have disappeared from history unsung. At one moment Druett even finds Cook acknowledging Tupaia's importance; when arriving in the Bay of Islands, "A few chiefs came on board and engaged in deep conversation with Tupaia, only interrupted when an attempt was made by one of their underlings to steal the anchor buoy. Muskets were triggered, followed by a cannon shot, which sent them all fleeing: 'if it had not been for Tupia,' Cook wrote with unusual appreciation, they would not have returned to the ship, but Tupaia persuaded them that if they behaved peacefully, no more guns would be fired." (Pages 300-301).
A few other surprises from the book: Tupaia developed scurvy when refusing to eat a lot of the European food; the Europeans were far less moralistic than I expected for their era - the vast majority of them, including Joseph Banks, were more than happy to take advantage of the willingness of Tahitian women to trade for sexual favours (though Cook seems to have avoided this scandalous behaviour); Aborigines were much harder to trade with, as they didn't seem to value material possessions the way that the Tahitians and Māori had; 'tattoo' in the sense of skin colouring is a Tahitian word.
This is a fascinating book about a very important figure in early New Zealand exploration. Very thorough and very interesting.
Completed 5 April 2023.
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