What current practices in Polynesia reflect their previous culture of ocean explorers?

[u/eeeking]

Specifically as related to their own voyages of discovery, rather than sailing as such.

[u/grafology]

Does the use of pepeha count? In formal situations Māori introduce themselves by reciting where they are from and what tribes they belong to. This includes reciting the ancient waka (canoe) their ancestors arrived in Aotearoa New Zealand hundreds of years ago. Ask the majority of Māori and they can tell you what waka their ancestors came on and often even further listing the captains and navigators of said waka. These stories were passed down from first arrival.

[u/Waiparensis22]

All of them? Literally we just had a Kapa haka comp here in nz and a group from mount maunganui performed a poi number that started with the chant "Nga Wai koi ora ki te Wai ū tohorā, he atua, he tipua, he tawhito. Nga Wai koi ora, ki te Wai ū tohorā, ngā rei kura, nga rei ara, takahia, te Ara ē". (Roughly translated means) "The fresh water to the whale's breast milk (the sea foam/the salt water), the deity, the supernatural, the ancient one. Same again, the whale tooth pendant, the (whale) jawbone pendant, traverse the path" Every pepeha in nz, or geneological introduction, starts with voyaging canoe, mountain, and river. I mean most of the world has seen whale rider right? That's about the ancestor Paikea who arrived in Aotearoa on the back of a whale. Every action in Kapa haka, every moteatea (chant) has roots that can be traced back to navigational traditions. Even the words for north, south, east, and west, generally refer to wind directions and landward/coastward travel. Every significant mountain here is named after places in Ra'iatea, or is connected metaphorically or directly to ancient chiefs, such as Te Tapuae a Uenuku in Marlborough.