• christian2017
    1.4k
    How did the Polynesians get to Hawaii and the other islands in the Pacific?

    I believe time and geographical neighbors determines technology. Modern Nations all have roughly the same mathematics and roughly the same technology.

    You know what my conjecture is. It was aliens or god(s).

    Here is a short article or set of paragraphs on the subject:

    http://www.hawaiihistory.org/index.cfm?CategoryID=311&fuseaction=ig.page

    Over the span of 800 years, Polynesians explored 16 million square miles of ocean and settled on every habitable island in the Pacific. They brought their world view with them when they arrived in Hawai`i by voyaging canoe from the southern Pacific (primarily the Marquesas), settling the islands circa 300-600 AD. After they arrived in Hawai’i, the stories and chants they brought from western Polynesia soon grew to include events and details derived from their new home. The travelers also brought with them an array of plants and animals, including taro, ti, kukui, noni, olona, `uala (sweet potato), wauke, chickens, pigs and dogs.

    A second wave of Polynesian migrations took place circa 1000-1300 AD with voyagers traveling back and forth between Hawai`i and the Society Islands. Tahitian chiefs and priests, most notably the high priest Pa`ao, introduced new religious forms and social structure to Hawai`i. At this time, human sacrifice was established as an element of religious observance, restrictions of the kapu increased, and Hawaiian society became more stratified and rigid. Consensual rule through `aha councils, or councils of elders and experts, gave way to the rule of ali`i, the chiefly class whose position was confirmed by lineage. The population of the islands increased rapidly and chiefs undertook the building of large public works projects such as fish ponds, taro terraces, irrigation systems and heiau (temples). After 1300, long distance voyaging ceased, and Hawaiian culture and society continued to develop along its unique path.
  • Changeling
    1.4k


    Apparently they also travelled between Polynesia and South America and traded with the people there..
  • christian2017
    1.4k


    I've never heard that but i don't doubt it. How did they find Hawaii traveling in a small boat? Seems very risky. I've heard some claim they were well advanced in mathematics or atleast binary algebra and discrete mathematics (just 2 forms atleast).
  • Pfhorrest
    4.6k
    Short answer:



    Apparently the Chumash of California (my home) may have had prehistoric contact with the Polynesians as well, as the tomol (sewn-plank canoe) technology used by them is only known from one other place in the world: Polynesia.

    Also, the Chumashan language is unlike any of the surrounding languages, and their creation myth involves coming to the mainland from the local islands (via a Rainbow Bridge, probably unrelated to the Norse bifrost).
  • christian2017
    1.4k
    cool. I'll add that video to my journal. Do you have a summary of the video in written words? Even if the summary is 2 sentences long.
  • Pfhorrest
    4.6k
    The video is a joke response; it's a song called "I'm On A Boat" by The Lonely Island.

    The rest of my post isn't a joke.
  • christian2017
    1.4k
    oh i see. i actually have a theory that i came up with just a half hour ago. Sometimes people get depressed and they are willing to "go skydiving". A king sent 100 boats all in different directions (each with 2 or 3 of males and females), and some boats made it and some boats just had their inhabitants die at sea. The probability does increase with that method but i do understand that finding Hawaii using that method isn't definite.
  • christian2017
    1.4k
    Noah Harrari talked about this concept in "Sapiens". This belief that there is something beyond the grave drives people to coordinate. Perhaps where the Hawaians came from was overpopulated.
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