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Wayfinders and Polynesian Navigation By: Bailee L
When thinking about sea bond explorers the people that
usually come to mind are Christopher Columbus, Ferdinand Magellan and Captain
James Cook but such people as Kupe, Hotu Matu’a and Mo’ikeha are never even
mentioned. These were legendary Polynesian voyagers who sailed by 1000 AD to
New Zealand, Easter Island, and Hawaii. Thousands of years before Europeans
even began ocean exploration, the Polynesians had successfully figured out a
way to navigate the ocean without the use of compasses or modern technology. When
Europeans arrived at the islands they were surprised to find many thriving
civilizations stuck in the Stone Age. Way finding was passed from generation to
generation, which helped spread ideas and languages; however, there is some
speculation on the specifics that are still being debated.
Way finders travelled to small islands using only their senses and knowledge passed by oral tradition from navigator to apprentice, often in the form of song. In order to achieve this great feat, they had to memorize the motion of specific stars, weather, times of travel, wildlife species (which would congregate at particular positions), directions of swells on the ocean, colors of the sea and sky, how clouds would cluster at some locations of islands and angles for approaching harbors. These techniques and canoe construction methods were kept as guild secrets. These guilds of navigators were kept in very high status. In times of famine or difficulty these navigators could trade aid or evacuate people to neighboring islands.
Polynesian navigators settled in islands in a sort of triangle with sides of 4,000 miles. They settled from the Hawaiian Islands in the north, to Easter Island in the east and New Zealand in the Southwest. It is theorized that some things like sweet potatoes were taken by Polynesians from the Americas back to the islands. Between 300 and 1000 BC Austronesian languages spread through the South East Asian islands. This spread of language has been traced to having start in Taiwan whose natives got there about 8000 years ago from South China and spread to the western edges of Micro and Melanesia . This spread of language and people were all because of way finders and Polynesians great navigators that figured out how to move in the sea using the waves, stars, and their knowledge.
One man, Thor Heyerdahl has a different theory of how Polynesians moved and where they came from. He argues that the Polynesians had migrated from South America on balsa-log boats. The presence of sweet potato in the Cook Islands has been used as evidence that Americans could have traveled to Oceania. Another explanation would be a biological dispersal or that plants or seeds could float across the Pacific without any human contact. In the last 20 years, the dates of human remains found in Mexico and South America have led some archaeologists to propose that those regions were first populated by people who crossed the Pacific several millennia before the Ice Age migrations. Current archaeological evidence however dates settlement of Oceania no earlier than approximately 3,500 years ago. With all of this debate it is hard to determine when Polynesians travelled from place to place, but one thing we do know is that they did.
Despite debates over the time that way finders travelled, the spread of language, ideas, and products are sure evidence that they did. Their traditions were passed down orally much as were traditions, poems and culture were all passed in Africa, Egypt and other societies. The spread of languages is very interesting because except for Easter Island, none of Polynesia had a written language. Other things like types of boats were also passed during this time, giving archeologists evidence at how the way finders travelled. Overall, way finders and Polynesian navigators are a mystery to history as not even the Europeans achieved such means of travel.
Way finders travelled to small islands using only their senses and knowledge passed by oral tradition from navigator to apprentice, often in the form of song. In order to achieve this great feat, they had to memorize the motion of specific stars, weather, times of travel, wildlife species (which would congregate at particular positions), directions of swells on the ocean, colors of the sea and sky, how clouds would cluster at some locations of islands and angles for approaching harbors. These techniques and canoe construction methods were kept as guild secrets. These guilds of navigators were kept in very high status. In times of famine or difficulty these navigators could trade aid or evacuate people to neighboring islands.
Polynesian navigators settled in islands in a sort of triangle with sides of 4,000 miles. They settled from the Hawaiian Islands in the north, to Easter Island in the east and New Zealand in the Southwest. It is theorized that some things like sweet potatoes were taken by Polynesians from the Americas back to the islands. Between 300 and 1000 BC Austronesian languages spread through the South East Asian islands. This spread of language has been traced to having start in Taiwan whose natives got there about 8000 years ago from South China and spread to the western edges of Micro and Melanesia . This spread of language and people were all because of way finders and Polynesians great navigators that figured out how to move in the sea using the waves, stars, and their knowledge.
One man, Thor Heyerdahl has a different theory of how Polynesians moved and where they came from. He argues that the Polynesians had migrated from South America on balsa-log boats. The presence of sweet potato in the Cook Islands has been used as evidence that Americans could have traveled to Oceania. Another explanation would be a biological dispersal or that plants or seeds could float across the Pacific without any human contact. In the last 20 years, the dates of human remains found in Mexico and South America have led some archaeologists to propose that those regions were first populated by people who crossed the Pacific several millennia before the Ice Age migrations. Current archaeological evidence however dates settlement of Oceania no earlier than approximately 3,500 years ago. With all of this debate it is hard to determine when Polynesians travelled from place to place, but one thing we do know is that they did.
Despite debates over the time that way finders travelled, the spread of language, ideas, and products are sure evidence that they did. Their traditions were passed down orally much as were traditions, poems and culture were all passed in Africa, Egypt and other societies. The spread of languages is very interesting because except for Easter Island, none of Polynesia had a written language. Other things like types of boats were also passed during this time, giving archeologists evidence at how the way finders travelled. Overall, way finders and Polynesian navigators are a mystery to history as not even the Europeans achieved such means of travel.