Bridging Maritime Language Borders: A Strategic Alliance of Birds of a Feather: Birdie Stories Reveal Polynesian Perspectives
Birds occupied a special place in traditional Polynesian societies. A new study by Raphael Richter-Gravier analyzed 300 oral narratives to uncover how Polynesians made sense of avian ecology and behavior through imaginative stories. Focusing on tales of inter-species relationships, Manu Duality: Separation, Competition and Deception in Polynesian Bird Stories highlights birds as characters able to think and feel like humans.
The masterpiece examines animal behaviors like a rivalry between the Toroa (Southern royal albatross) and Kākāpō in Aotearoa. In a game of hide-and-seek, the camouflaged green Kākāpō repeatedly evades detection by the strikingly plumaged albatross. This imaginative scene provides an origin story for the albatross’ life at sea, bested by the forest-dwelling Kākāpō.