Ancient Hawaii - Origins

Ancient Hawaii, by Herb Kawainui Kane:
ORIGINS

Eia Hawai'i (Behold Hawai'i)
Collection of
Michael and Diane McLean

Wence the Polynesians? Their language, animals and plants bespeak an ancient origin in Southeast Asia, where a native people may have been displaced by more powerful neighbors and forced to take to the sea, developing a maritime culture as they moved eastward through the many islands of what is now Indonesia. Archaeologists have found distinctive "Lapita" pottery 4,000 years old, and fragments of obsidian possibly 6,000 years old, marking a 2,300 mile "voyaging corridor" from Borneo eastward along the northern shore of New Guinea to the Admiralty Islands and New Britain in Melanesia-evidence of a people with seafaring skills superior to those of the present inhabitants.

Melanesia had been inhabited by dark-skinned peoples long before their arrival, New Guinea for more than 30,000 years. We may call the newcomers Proto-Polynesians, a people changing culturally and physically, becoming but not yet Polynesian. Although they shared a culture, they may have lived in many groups, some exploring northward into the area of small islands now known as Micronesia and contributing to the ancestry of Micronesians, others acquiring Melanesian genes during periods of settlement along the northern coast of New Guinea or in the many islands of Melanesia. The trail of Lapita pottery leads eastward to Fiji, apparently settled by a people of mixed Proto-Polynesian and Melanesian ancestry.

Map of Micronesia

Searching farther to the east, others found uninhabited islands in Samoa—where finds of pottery are 3,000 years old—and Tonga. Here in this "Cradle of Polynesia," perhaps no more than a few canoe loads of Proto-Polynesians arrived. Over centuries they evolved the distinctive physical and cultural traits now regarded as Polynesian.

Later explorations continued the habit of moving eastward. Unable to sail against the prevailing easterly winds, they would have waited for periods of unsettled weather when wind shifts, brought about by the passage of low pressure troughs, enabled them to make their easting on winds varying from the north, west, or south. The Tahitian Islands and the Marquesas Islands were discovered, and became new homelands which spawned explorations to the outer limits of Polynesia. Hawai'i was discovered to the north at some time before 1,900 years ago, Easter Island (Rapa Nui) to the southeast, and New Zealand (Aotearoa) to the southwest-the three corners of a triangle equal in size to the combined surfaces of North and South America.

The discovery of Hawai'i could not have resulted from an accidental drift voyage of helpless storm-wrecked fishermen; the way north demanded close-reaching against the wind through three different regions of prevailing winds and ocean currents. A coconut cannot drift from the South Pacific to Hawai'i through these zones. Those who sailed were on a purposeful voyage of exploration. They knew the dangers; they knew of canoes which had sailed and never returned; but their ancestors had always found new islands in their ocean world, and the spirits of their most powerful ancestors would guide them now.

Migration Map #1

They may have been driven by population pressures, a famine caused by a period of drought, or a lost battle. They may have been led by an ambitious chief, perhaps one whose older brothers had left him with few expectations at home. Not all voyages were driven by necessity. South Pacific legends also tell of explorations made purely for adventure or to satisfy curiosity about the girls of another island.

No less than twenty four species of plants upon which their culture depended were brought by canoe. Their domestic animals were the pig, a chicken of iridescent red and black plumage, and a small dog. A species of small black rat probably arrived as a stowaway.

These plants and animals were of a Southeast Asian origin with the exception of the sweet potato. Believed to be of South American origin, its wide distribution in Polynesia suggests that it arrived at a very early time. The Polynesian term for sweet potato, kumara,is also a Peruvian Indian term (in Hawaiian kumara has become 'uala). Whether it was brought by Indians on a raft, or as a prize taken home by early Polynesian explorers, we will never know. The raft theory, launched by Thor Heyerdahl's Kon Tiki voyage, involves a one-way trip and may seem the most economical. But Indians were accustomed to sailing within the comforting presence of a continent. Those on a raft blown out to sea would have struggled to get back to land, no doubt consuming any vegetable on board. Polynesians were open-ocean sailors, knowing only islands, and accustomed to conserving rations and protecting plants from seawater over long voyages.

Winds and Ocean Currents

South of Easter Island an exploring canoe might find winds upon which to reach eastward. Beyond Easter Island, winds and current begin a long curve toward the northeast that would carry a canoe to Peru. Off Peru, the current wheels to the northwest under the Southeast Tradewinds. With such prevailing winds, a swift canoe might sail to Peru and return to Polynesia in less time than a raft could sail one way.

Wherever Polynesians explored and established new settlements, they carried an ancient memory of an original homeland in the west. The name, Havaiki, may refer to Savai'i in Samoa, or some place farther west. It was given to Havai'i (later Ra'iatea), and Hawai'i. After death, many believed their spirits would leap from the westernmost point of their island and fly back to the ancient homeland of their ancestors.

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