Polynesian Migration

Polynesia is a large grouping of islands scattered over the central and southern Pacific Ocean. The origins of the indigenous people of the Polynesian islands are the subject of some debate, as are the reasons for their migration from one island to another. In about 3000 B.C.E, people living in the Bismarck Archipelago (a chain of islands in the neighboring region of Melanesia) began making pottery, keeping domesticated dogs, pigs, and chickens, and growing vegetables. Their culture was known as the Lapita culture, and the people were likely ethnic Chinese. In about 1300 B.C.E., they began to spread eastward into Polynesia. Over the next 2,300 years, they brought their culture to several islands there, including New Zealand, where the Polynesian settlers became known as the Maori people. Their long voyages were made in canoes approximately 65 feet (20 meters) long. These canoes carried crews of at least five and up to 15, with a supply of vegetables, live chickens and pigs, and water stored in gourds that could be augmented by collecting rainwater in sailcloth.

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Navigators memorized the routes to other islands and taught them to young men who were learning the skill of navigating, in the form of songs and drawings. Their method was based first on their knowledge of the direction and times of rising and setting of the most prominent stars and planets. Voyages began at dusk. The navigator set a course in relation to the direction of prominent landmarks that were still visible and of the stars, and during the night he would steer by the stars. During the day he would steer by the Sun. The condition of the sea and direction of the wind also provided valuable information. In the tropical Pacific, the prevailing winds blow from the northeast to the north of the equator and from the southeast to the south of the equator. Because they blow for most of the time, the winds produce a large swell, with waves that all move in the same direction. Navigators could steer by the direction of their canoe in relation to the swell, and they would tow a length of rope in the water behind the canoe. If a sudden wave or gust of wind blew the canoe to one side, the rope would not be affected and its line would record the direction they should steer. Small pennants (flags) tied to the canoe indicated the wind direction, which was also useful. In addition, Polynesian sailors knew the paths followed by migrating birds and whales. They were familiar with ocean currents, the cloud patterns that formed over distant islands, and they watched for floating plant debris that indicated land just over the horizon.

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Polynesian navigation was remarkably skillful-but why were the Polynesians so restless? One possible clue can be found in the fact that despite living on islands surrounded by abundant stocks of fish, the people of the Cook Islands seldom eat fish. The seas around Rapa Nui support many species of edible fish, as well as lobsters and turtles. These have always been an important part of the Rapa Nui islanders’ diet, and island traditions forbade fishing at certain times of year, which prevented overexploitation of the stocks. As recently as the early twentieth century, however, the islanders believed that the fish living in deep water farther from shore were poisonous, and they refused to touch them.

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In 2009, Teina Rongo, a Cook Island marine biologist, aroused considerable interest among historians when he proposed that from time to time the fish on which Polynesians depended had turned poisonous and the islanders had suffered from a type of food poisoning called ciguatera. Robbed of their food supply, they had had no alternative but to move elsewhere. Ciguatera is caused by eating fish contaminated by a single-celled organism called Gambierdiscus toxicus . The poisoning is seldom fatal, although it can be; its symptoms include vomiting, blurred vision, a burning sensation on contact with a cold surface, and heartbeat irregularities. Common throughout the Tropics, this poisoning is most severe in people who have eaten carnivorous reef fish such as barracuda, snapper, and grouper. It may be that the waves of Polynesian migration were motivated by the need to find wholesome food.

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?Polynesia is a large grouping of islands scattered over the central and southern Pacific Ocean. The origins of the indigenous people of the Polynesian islands are the subject of some debate, as are the reasons for their migration from one island to another. In about 3000 B.C.E, people living in the Bismarck Archipelago (a chain of islands in the neighboring region of Melanesia) began making pottery, keeping domesticated dogs, pigs, and chickens, and growing vegetables. Their culture was known as the Lapita culture, and the people were likely ethnic Chinese. In about 1300 B.C.E., they began to spread eastward into Polynesia. Over the next 2,300 years, they brought their culture to several islands there, including New Zealand, where the Polynesian settlers became known as the Maori people. Their long voyages were made in canoes approximately 65 feet (20 meters) long. These canoes carried crews of at least five and up to 15, with a supply of vegetables, live chickens and pigs, and water stored in gourds that could be?augmented?by collecting rainwater in sailcloth.