Tupaia 1725 December 26 1770 was a Tahitian Polynesian navigator and he was originally from the island of Ra'iatea in the Pacific Islands. His remarkable navigational skills and Pacific geographical knowledge were used by James Cook when he took him aboard HMS Endeavor as guide on its voyage of exploration to Terra . Tupaia traveled with Cook to New Zealand, acting as the expedition's interpreter to the Polynesian Maori, and Australia. He died in December 1770 from a shipborne illness contracted when Endeavour was docked in Batavia for repairs ahead of its return journey to England .Tupia was not just a navigator he was all so a maori priest and many othar things.
