Polynesia: Difference between revisions
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It is theorized that the original Polynesian migration followed the seasonal paths of [[bird migration|birds]]. Not only does their oral tradition place importance on the flight of birds, but there are also range marks on shore pointing to distant islands in line with these [[flyway|flyways]]. The route used from Tahiti to New Zealand follows the migration of the [[Long-tailed Koel]], just as the voyage from Tahiti to Hawaii matches the track of the [[Pacific Golden Plover]] and the [[Bristle-thighed Curlew]]. |
It is theorized that the original Polynesian migration followed the seasonal paths of [[bird migration|birds]]. Not only does their oral tradition place importance on the flight of birds, but there are also range marks on shore pointing to distant islands in line with these [[flyway|flyways]]. The route used from Tahiti to New Zealand follows the migration of the [[Long-tailed Koel]], just as the voyage from Tahiti to Hawaii matches the track of the [[Pacific Golden Plover]] and the [[Bristle-thighed Curlew]]. |
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It is also known that Polynesians employed shore-sighting birds as did many seafaring peoples. They would commonly take with them one of the [[Frigatebird|Frigatebirds]]. These birds refuse to land on the water as their feathers will become waterlogged, making it impossible to fly. When the Polynesians thought they were close to land they would release this bird which would dependably fly towards land or else return to the boat. |
It is also known that Polynesians employed shore-sighting birds as did many seafaring peoples. They would commonly take with them one of the [[Frigatebird|Frigatebirds]]. These birds refuse to land on the water as their feathers will become waterlogged, making it impossible to fly. When the Polynesians thought they were close to land they would release this bird which would dependably fly towards land or else return to the boat. |
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The Polynesians were the first people to develop navigating by the stars into a fine art. They used a thirty-two point [[pelorus (instrument)|pelorus]], also called a dummy compass, which they probably adopted from the Arabs before they colonized into the Pacific from India. The pelorus was marked for stars which rose and set at nearly equally spaced points on the horizon. The Polynesians imagined the heavens as the interior of a dome where a star proceeded along a path which passed over certain islands. They knew over a hundred and fifty stars. Each star was given a name and it was known where and when it rose and set, as well as which islands it passed over. Thus Polynesian navigators were able to sail toward the star they knew to be over their destination temporarily and as it moved westward with time they would then steer towards the succeeding star which would have then moved over the target island. The Polynesians, with the pelorus and their impressive knowledge, were able to follow the shortest route over thousands of miles without any further instrumentation or charts. In fact, as they steered for such a star they actually were following the [[great circle]] to their destination. This method is in principle more perfect than [[compass]] navigation. |
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The Polynesians also used wave and swell formations to navigate. Many of the habitable areas of the Pacific Ocean are groups, or chains, of islands (or atolls) in long chains—hundreds of miles (kilometers) long. These chains have predictable effects on ocean waves and on currents that follow ocean trenches. They learned the effect various islands had on their shape, direction, and motion and were able to recognize them as landmarks. This was greatly important as the depth of the Pacific made [[sounding|soundings]] useless. They also were able to locate islands by certain cloud formations as well as the reflections shallow water made on the undersides of clouds. Since the Polynesians did not draw charts, they had no words for absolute measures of distance. Instead, they measured the time it took to sail between the islands in "canoe-days." |
The Polynesians also used wave and swell formations to navigate. Many of the habitable areas of the Pacific Ocean are groups, or chains, of islands (or atolls) in long chains—hundreds of miles (kilometers) long. These chains have predictable effects on ocean waves and on currents that follow ocean trenches. They learned the effect various islands had on their shape, direction, and motion and were able to recognize them as landmarks. This was greatly important as the depth of the Pacific made [[sounding|soundings]] useless. They also were able to locate islands by certain cloud formations as well as the reflections shallow water made on the undersides of clouds. Since the Polynesians did not draw charts, they had no words for absolute measures of distance. Instead, they measured the time it took to sail between the islands in "canoe-days." |
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Revision as of 12:23, 23 April 2006
- This article is about the wider region in the Pacific. For the territory informally referred to as Polynesia, see French Polynesia.
Polynesia (from Greek: πολύς many, νῆσος island) is a large grouping of over 1,000 islands scattered over the central and southern Pacific Ocean.
Definition
The term "Polynesia" was first coined by Charles de Brosses in 1756, and originally applied to all the islands of the Pacific. Jules Dumont d'Urville in an 1831 lecture to the Geographical Society of Paris proposed a restriction on its use, and also introduced the terms Micronesia and Melanesia. This division into three distinct Pacific subregions remains in widespread use today.
Geographically, Polynesia may be described as a triangle with its three corners at Hawai'i, New Zealand, and Easter Island. The other main island groups located within the Polynesian triangle are Samoa, Tonga, and the various island chains that form the Cook Islands and French Polynesia. Two island groups outside of this great triangle are Rotuma and Tuvalu. Rotuma is a dependency of Fiji and is basically a Melanesian culture that has had strong Polynesian influence, while Tuvalu is Polynesian.
However, in essence it is an anthropological term referring to one of the three parts of Oceania (the others being Micronesia and Melanesia) whose pre-colonial population generally belongs to one ethno-cultural family as a result of centuries of maritime migrations. Then westerners came (more maritime migrations) and alternately abused and enslaved and intermingled with the population.
History
The spread of pottery and domesticates in Polynesia is connected with the Lapita-culture which around 1600-1200 B.C., started expanding from New Guinea as far east as Fiji, Samoa, and Tonga. During this time the aspects of the Polynesian culture developed, especially on the islands of Samoa and Tonga. Around 300 B.C., this new Polynesian people spread from Samoa and Tonga to Cook Islands, Tahiti-nui, Tuamotus, and Hive. This was supported by Patrick Kirch and Marshall Weisler when they performed X-ray fluorescence sourcing of basalt artifacts found on both islands [1] Around A.D. 300 or earlier, the Polynesians discovered and settled Easter Island. This is supported by archaeological evidence as well as the introduction of flora and fauna consistent with the Polynesian culture, which lives in the tropics, to this non-tropical island. Around A.D. 400 Hawai'i was settled by the Polynesians and around A.D. 1000 New Zealand was settled as well.
For information about colonisation and independence, follow the links for each nation.
Native Cultures of Polynesia
Polynesia divides into two distinct cultural groups, East Polynesia and West Polynesia. The culture of West Polynesia is conditioned to high populations. It has strong institutions of marriage, and well-developed judicial, monetary, and trading traditions. It comprises the groups of Tonga, Niue, Samoa, and the Polynesian outliers.
Eastern Polynesian cultures are highly adapted to smaller islands and atolls including the Cook Islands, Tahiti, the Tuamotus, the Marquesas, Hawaii and Easter Island; however, the large islands of New Zealand were first settled by Eastern Polynesians who adapted their culture to a non-tropical environment. Anthropologists term the Eastern Polynesian system of kinship the Hawaiian system. Religion, farming, fishing, weather prediction, catamaran construction, and navigation were highly developed skills, because the population of an entire island could hang on them. Trading consisted of both luxuries and mundane items. Many low-lying islands could suffer severe famine if their gardens were poisoned by the salt from the storm-surge of a hurricane. In these cases fishing, the primary source of protein, would not ease loss of food energy. Navigators, in particular, were highly respected and each island maintained a house of navigation, with a boat-building area.
Settlements by the Polynesians were divided into two categories. The hamlet and the village. Size of the island inhabited determined whether or not a hamlet would be built. The larger volcanic islands usually had hamlets, because of the many zones that could be divided across the island. Food and resources were more plentiful and so these settlements of four to five houses (usually with gardens) were established, so that there would be no overlap between the zones. Villages, on the other hand, were built on the coasts of smaller islands and consisted of thirty or more houses. Usually these villages were fortified with walls and pallisades made of stone and wood [Encyclopedia Britannica, 1995]. Because of a strong readiness to accept new ideas, and due to relatively large numbers of Christian missionaries in the islands, Polynesians readily adopted Christianity.
Polynesian languages are all members of the family of Oceanic languages, a sub-branch of the Austronesian language family.
See also
Economy of Polynesia
With the exceptions of New Zealand, Hawaii, and foreign controlled territories, the majority of Polynesian islands derive their incomes from foreign aid and remittances from those who live in other countries. Many Polynesian locations such as Easter Island supplement this with tourism money[2]. Some have more unusual sources of income, such as Tuvalu which marketed its '.tv' internet top level domain name[3]. Others still live as they did before Western Civilization encountered them.
Maritime development
At a time when European sailors were navigating by keeping a watch for the shoreline in daylight, Polynesians were navigating a vast extent of the Pacific Ocean. Polynesia comprised islands diffused throughout a triangular area with sides of four thousand miles. The area from the Hawaiian Islands, south and east to Easter Island, and west to New Zealand was all settled by one people, of a single culture and language. They employed a whole range of navigational techniques, including use of the stars, the movement of ocean currents and wave patterns, the air and sea interference patterns caused by islands and atolls, the flight of birds, the winds and the weather.
It is theorized that the original Polynesian migration followed the seasonal paths of birds. Not only does their oral tradition place importance on the flight of birds, but there are also range marks on shore pointing to distant islands in line with these flyways. The route used from Tahiti to New Zealand follows the migration of the Long-tailed Koel, just as the voyage from Tahiti to Hawaii matches the track of the Pacific Golden Plover and the Bristle-thighed Curlew. It is also known that Polynesians employed shore-sighting birds as did many seafaring peoples. They would commonly take with them one of the Frigatebirds. These birds refuse to land on the water as their feathers will become waterlogged, making it impossible to fly. When the Polynesians thought they were close to land they would release this bird which would dependably fly towards land or else return to the boat.
The Polynesians also used wave and swell formations to navigate. Many of the habitable areas of the Pacific Ocean are groups, or chains, of islands (or atolls) in long chains—hundreds of miles (kilometers) long. These chains have predictable effects on ocean waves and on currents that follow ocean trenches. They learned the effect various islands had on their shape, direction, and motion and were able to recognize them as landmarks. This was greatly important as the depth of the Pacific made soundings useless. They also were able to locate islands by certain cloud formations as well as the reflections shallow water made on the undersides of clouds. Since the Polynesians did not draw charts, they had no words for absolute measures of distance. Instead, they measured the time it took to sail between the islands in "canoe-days."
Island groups
The following are the islands and island groups, either nations or subnational territories, that are of native Polynesian culture. Some islands of Polynesian origin are outside the general triangle that geographically defines the region.
- American Samoa (overseas United States territory)
- Anuta (in the Solomon Islands)
- Cook Islands (self-governing state in free association with New Zealand)
- Easter Island (part of Chile, called Rapa Nui in Rapa Nui)
- Emae (in Vanuatu)
- French Polynesia ("overseas country", a territory of France)
- Hawai‘i (a state of the United States)
- Kapingamarangi (in the Federated States of Micronesia)
- Loyalty Islands (a dependency of the French territory of New Caledonia)
- Mele (in Vanuatu)
- New Zealand (called Aotearoa in Māori)
- Niue (self-governing state in free association with New Zealand)
- Nuguria (in Papua New Guinea)
- Nukumanu (in Papua New Guinea)
- Nukuoro (in the Federated States of Micronesia)
- Ontong Java (in the Solomon Islands)
- Pileni (in the Solomon Islands)
- Rennell (in the Solomon Islands)
- Samoa (independent nation)
- Sikaiana (in the Solomon Islands)
- Swains Island (politically part of American Samoa)
- Takuu (in Papua New Guinea)
- Tikopia (in the Solomon Islands)
- Tokelau (overseas dependency of New Zealand)
- Tonga (independent nation)
- Tuvalu (independent nation)
- Wallis and Futuna (overseas territory of France)
References
- ^ "History of Polynesian Archaeology". Retrieved November 18.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) - ^ "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Easter_Island". Retrieved November 18.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help); External link in|title=|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) - ^ "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Tuvalu". Retrieved November 18.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help); External link in|title=|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help)
Gatty, Harold (1999). Finding Your Ways Without Map or Compass. Dover Publications, Inc. ISBN 0-486-40613-X.
