"Vaka Moana" is a story of origins and identity; a voyage across thousands of miles and hundreds of generations, and a testament to the ingenuity and bravery of humankind. Vaka Moana brings together the latest scholarship on the peopling of the Pacific, traditional voyaging and navigation, and the modern renaissance of voyaging that has brought a resurgence in interest in Pacific cultures.

Leading New Zealand and international scholars, writers and practitioners discuss the oral traditions of the great voyagers; the exploration and settlement of the Pacific (the last place on earth to be settled by people); the craft that made the journeys possible and the navigation methods that took people safely across empty oceans; the fateful meeting of two cultures Pacific and European in the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries; and the revival in traditional techniques of boat-building and long-distance voyaging and the reawakening of Pacific pride.