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There are very few things that we can show as the application of the hard sciences, mostly due to the fact that we take these applied principles for granted. But what if these principles became a matter of life and death? In the days of the Polynesian wayfinders, this is exactly the situation, where mistakes can lead you to isolation in an unforgiving ocean.
But dark as it may be, Disney somehow still manages to put a happy face on it... |
"It's called 'wayfinding', princess, and it's not just sails and knots, it's seeing where you're going in your mind. Knowing where you are, by knowing where you've been."
Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson, as Maui from Disney's Moana
Through a multi-disciplinary effort, recently enhanced by the contributions of modern Polynesians eager to experience their past, a picture is emerging of the development of a seafaring culture oriented toward oceanic exploration.
The islands scattered along the north shore of New Guinea first drew these canoe people eastwards into the ocean. By 1500 B.C., these voyagers began moving east beyond New Guinea, first along the Solomon Island chain, and then to the Banks and Vanuatu Archipelagos. As the gaps between islands grew from tens of miles at the edge of the western Pacific to hundreds of miles along the way to Polynesia, and then to thousands of miles in the case of voyages to the far corners of the Polynesian triangle, these oceanic colonizers developed great double-hulled vessels capable of carrying colonists as well as all their supplies, domesticated animals, and planting materials. As the voyages became longer, they developed a highly sophisticated navigation system based on observations of the stars, the ocean swells, the flight patterns of birds and other natural signs to find their way over the open ocean. And, as they moved farther away from the biotic centers of Southeast Asia and New Guinea, finding the flora and fauna increasingly diminished, they developed a portable agricultural system, whereby the domesticated plants and animals were carried in their canoes for transplantation on the islands they found.
The islands scattered along the north shore of New Guinea first drew these canoe people eastwards into the ocean. By 1500 B.C., these voyagers began moving east beyond New Guinea, first along the Solomon Island chain, and then to the Banks and Vanuatu Archipelagos. As the gaps between islands grew from tens of miles at the edge of the western Pacific to hundreds of miles along the way to Polynesia, and then to thousands of miles in the case of voyages to the far corners of the Polynesian triangle, these oceanic colonizers developed great double-hulled vessels capable of carrying colonists as well as all their supplies, domesticated animals, and planting materials. As the voyages became longer, they developed a highly sophisticated navigation system based on observations of the stars, the ocean swells, the flight patterns of birds and other natural signs to find their way over the open ocean. And, as they moved farther away from the biotic centers of Southeast Asia and New Guinea, finding the flora and fauna increasingly diminished, they developed a portable agricultural system, whereby the domesticated plants and animals were carried in their canoes for transplantation on the islands they found.
Once they had reached the mid-ocean archipelagos of Fiji, Tonga, and Samoa, these seafarers - the immediate ancestors of the Polynesians - were alone in the ocean, for only they had the canoes and navigational skills needed to push so far into the Pacific. The gaps between islands widen greatly in the eastern Pacific and the prevailing winds become less and less favorable for sailing to the east. Nonetheless, the archaeological evidence indicates that they sailed eastward to the Cook, Society, and Marquesas Groups, and from there crossed thousands of miles of open ocean to colonize the islands of Hawai'i in the north, Easter Island in the southeast, and New Zealand in the southwest, thus completing settlement, by around 1000 AD, of the area we know today as the Polynesian Triangle.
When the Southeast Asian sailors started out on their odyssey they were not yet identifiably Polynesian. Only after many years of learning how to voyage long distances, and to survive on the high islands and atolls they found in the sea, did the ocean-oriented Polynesian culture take on its classic form.
In addition to a highly developed sailing and navigational technology, that culture included a uniquely oceanic world view and a social structure well adapted to voyaging and colonization. Polynesian societies combined a strong authority structure based on genealogical ranking that was useful for mounting long expeditions and founding island colonies.
When the Southeast Asian sailors started out on their odyssey they were not yet identifiably Polynesian. Only after many years of learning how to voyage long distances, and to survive on the high islands and atolls they found in the sea, did the ocean-oriented Polynesian culture take on its classic form.
In addition to a highly developed sailing and navigational technology, that culture included a uniquely oceanic world view and a social structure well adapted to voyaging and colonization. Polynesian societies combined a strong authority structure based on genealogical ranking that was useful for mounting long expeditions and founding island colonies.
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The Voyaging Canoe
The Polynesians' primary voyaging craft was the double canoe made of two hulls connected by lashed crossbeams. The two hulls gave this craft stability and the capacity to carry heavy loads of migrating families and all their supplies and equipment, while a central platform laid over the crossbeams provided the needed working, living, and storage space. Sails made of matting drove this ancient forerunner of the modern catamaran swiftly through the seas, and long steering paddles enabled Polynesian mariners to keep it sailing on course. A medium-size voyaging canoe 50 to 60 feet long could accommodate two dozen or so migrants, their food supplies, livestock, and planting materials. |
Evidence & Oral Traditions
Until the development of modern archaeological research programs in Hawai'i and New Zealand during the 1950s, the most prominent lines of inquiry into the Polynesian settlement issue involved the study of the languages of the Pacific and the tales Polynesians told of the voyaging exploits and migrational feats of their ancestors.
Joseph Banks and James Cook used word comparisons to establish that the languages spoken on different Polynesian islands were nearly identical, and that these languages were related to those stretching across the Pacific to Southeast Asia. In his journal, for example, Banks lists Tahitian and New Zealand Maori words side by side to show that the two languages are nearly identical, and then (using lists of words from languages in Melanesia and Indonesia) uses the same method of vocabulary comparison to trace a linguistic relationship westward all the way to Southeast Asia.
Subsequent explorers and the scientists who sailed with them collected more island vocabularies and extended these comparisons, while philologists in Europe and America systematically compared the languages of the Pacific and Southeast Asia. Their findings confirmed that Cook and Banks had been on the right trail. All the languages of the Pacific islands (except those spread over the interiors of New Guinea and adjacent islands) were indeed related and formed part of a great language family centered in island Southeast Asia. They also confirmed that this language family was not only spread over the Pacific Ocean, but had also been carried across the Indian Ocean to this great island of Madagascar off the African coast. As such, these linguists established the existence of what was the most widely spread language family in the world until Europeans began to sail beyond the Mediterranean and North Atlantic.
Today this group of related languages is usually referred to as the Austronesian family. The spreading of this language family by seafarers from Southeast Asia seemed obvious to the linguists and other students of the problem, simply because everywhere that Austronesian languages were spoken there were also ocean-going canoes.
While language studies support the theory of Cook and Banks that the Polynesians originated there, these studies did not shed much light on the precise location of the original homeland, or on the migrational routes followed in entering and then spreading over the Pacific, nor could they say anything about how the Polynesians had been able to sail so far into the ocean. During the late 1800s and early 1900s a major effort was mounted to examine the traditions of epic voyages told by the islanders themselves in hopes that they could provide the clues needed to reconstruct the Polynesian migration.
Scholars working in New Zealand, for example, found a wealth of traditions about the discovery of their land, and the coming of colonizing canoes from Hawaiki, the legendary homeland which these scholars identified with the Society and Cook Islands. In contrast, those working in Hawai'i found in Hawaiian traditions a wealth of tales connecting Hawai'i with Kahiki, which, arguably, is the Hawaiian way of pronouncing Tahiti. These are not just about single voyages, but tell of the adventures of chiefs and priests who sailed repeatedly back and forth between the two centers. One of the best known of these legends is that which tells of eight different voyages made by Mo'ikeha, a chief who lived (according to genealogical reckoning) sometime around the 12th century, and his sons.
Professional anthropologists began to study the Polynesian problem in earnest during the period between the two world wars. Through surveying the remains of stone temples and other structures, and comparing the cultural traits and physical characteristics of the islanders, these anthropologists sought to shed further light on Polynesian origins, but with little success. Without a program of sub-surface archaeology to work out the routes, sequences, and chronologies of settlement, and without a method for finding out how the Polynesians could have sailed and navigated over such a great expanse of ocean, Polynesian studies were stalled.
Until the development of modern archaeological research programs in Hawai'i and New Zealand during the 1950s, the most prominent lines of inquiry into the Polynesian settlement issue involved the study of the languages of the Pacific and the tales Polynesians told of the voyaging exploits and migrational feats of their ancestors.
Joseph Banks and James Cook used word comparisons to establish that the languages spoken on different Polynesian islands were nearly identical, and that these languages were related to those stretching across the Pacific to Southeast Asia. In his journal, for example, Banks lists Tahitian and New Zealand Maori words side by side to show that the two languages are nearly identical, and then (using lists of words from languages in Melanesia and Indonesia) uses the same method of vocabulary comparison to trace a linguistic relationship westward all the way to Southeast Asia.
Subsequent explorers and the scientists who sailed with them collected more island vocabularies and extended these comparisons, while philologists in Europe and America systematically compared the languages of the Pacific and Southeast Asia. Their findings confirmed that Cook and Banks had been on the right trail. All the languages of the Pacific islands (except those spread over the interiors of New Guinea and adjacent islands) were indeed related and formed part of a great language family centered in island Southeast Asia. They also confirmed that this language family was not only spread over the Pacific Ocean, but had also been carried across the Indian Ocean to this great island of Madagascar off the African coast. As such, these linguists established the existence of what was the most widely spread language family in the world until Europeans began to sail beyond the Mediterranean and North Atlantic.
Today this group of related languages is usually referred to as the Austronesian family. The spreading of this language family by seafarers from Southeast Asia seemed obvious to the linguists and other students of the problem, simply because everywhere that Austronesian languages were spoken there were also ocean-going canoes.
While language studies support the theory of Cook and Banks that the Polynesians originated there, these studies did not shed much light on the precise location of the original homeland, or on the migrational routes followed in entering and then spreading over the Pacific, nor could they say anything about how the Polynesians had been able to sail so far into the ocean. During the late 1800s and early 1900s a major effort was mounted to examine the traditions of epic voyages told by the islanders themselves in hopes that they could provide the clues needed to reconstruct the Polynesian migration.
Scholars working in New Zealand, for example, found a wealth of traditions about the discovery of their land, and the coming of colonizing canoes from Hawaiki, the legendary homeland which these scholars identified with the Society and Cook Islands. In contrast, those working in Hawai'i found in Hawaiian traditions a wealth of tales connecting Hawai'i with Kahiki, which, arguably, is the Hawaiian way of pronouncing Tahiti. These are not just about single voyages, but tell of the adventures of chiefs and priests who sailed repeatedly back and forth between the two centers. One of the best known of these legends is that which tells of eight different voyages made by Mo'ikeha, a chief who lived (according to genealogical reckoning) sometime around the 12th century, and his sons.
Professional anthropologists began to study the Polynesian problem in earnest during the period between the two world wars. Through surveying the remains of stone temples and other structures, and comparing the cultural traits and physical characteristics of the islanders, these anthropologists sought to shed further light on Polynesian origins, but with little success. Without a program of sub-surface archaeology to work out the routes, sequences, and chronologies of settlement, and without a method for finding out how the Polynesians could have sailed and navigated over such a great expanse of ocean, Polynesian studies were stalled.
Hokule'a: The Rediscovery
In 1973, Ben Finney and a group of Polynesian specialists and canoe enthusiasts formed the Polynesian Voyaging Society to build a large voyaging canoe to attempt the Hawai'i - Tahiti round-trip in order to test the feasibility of making long-distance, navigated voyages in a voyaging canoe guided solely by traditional navigation. The canoe, christened Hokule'a, which is Hawaiian for the bright star Arcturus that passes directly over the island of Hawai'i, was launched in l975. Other than the findings at Huahine, journal notes and illustrations from early European expeditions, and verbal information from chants and legends, there was little evidence to help determine the actual size and shape of the ancient voyaging canoes. Furthermore, the lack of traditional materials and skills in modern Hawai'i meant that the canoe had to be partially built of modern materials. Archaeologists, maritime historians, and anthropologists collaborated on the design of a vessel that would simulate an ancient craft in shape, weight, and performance. Because no Polynesians knew how to navigate in the ancient manner, Mau Piailug, a traditional navigator from the Caroline Islands of Micronesia, was chosen to guide the canoe. His method of navigating by the stars and swells was closely similar to extinct Polynesian methods.
In 1973, Ben Finney and a group of Polynesian specialists and canoe enthusiasts formed the Polynesian Voyaging Society to build a large voyaging canoe to attempt the Hawai'i - Tahiti round-trip in order to test the feasibility of making long-distance, navigated voyages in a voyaging canoe guided solely by traditional navigation. The canoe, christened Hokule'a, which is Hawaiian for the bright star Arcturus that passes directly over the island of Hawai'i, was launched in l975. Other than the findings at Huahine, journal notes and illustrations from early European expeditions, and verbal information from chants and legends, there was little evidence to help determine the actual size and shape of the ancient voyaging canoes. Furthermore, the lack of traditional materials and skills in modern Hawai'i meant that the canoe had to be partially built of modern materials. Archaeologists, maritime historians, and anthropologists collaborated on the design of a vessel that would simulate an ancient craft in shape, weight, and performance. Because no Polynesians knew how to navigate in the ancient manner, Mau Piailug, a traditional navigator from the Caroline Islands of Micronesia, was chosen to guide the canoe. His method of navigating by the stars and swells was closely similar to extinct Polynesian methods.
Hokule'a
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Mau Piailug (right) and Nainoa Thompson
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Navigator Mau Piailug used the rising points of the stars, supplemented by observations of the sun, moon, and ocean swells, as a natural compass to guide the canoe. Even when days of solid cloud cover hid the stars, sun, and moon from sight, Mau was able to keep the canoe on course and keep in his mind an accurate picture of the canoe's progress toward Tahiti. And, obligingly, small, white fairy terns skimming over the sea, told Mau that the atoll of Mataiva, just to the north-northwest of Tahiti, was near before it could actually be seen. Once this atoll had been reached, it was easy to orient the canoe for the short sail to Tahiti.
The fact that the canoe sailed from Hawai'i to Tahiti and back, and that Mau had been able to navigate to Tahiti without instruments, effectively demonstrated how Polynesian canoes and traditional navigational methods were up to the task of planned, long-distance voyaging. This voyage served to turn the tide against the Sharp hypothesis of accidental voyaging, and to develop a new appreciation for voyaging canoes and traditional ways of navigation.
As significant as these findings are to revising our view of Polynesian prehistory, the unique feature of this project has been the degree and character of the participation of Polynesians. Not only have hundreds of Hawaiians and other Polynesians sailed on Hokule'a, but in seeking to rediscover their maritime heritage they have greatly expanded the anthropological significance of the project. It was primarily the Hawaiians who, searching to rediscover their own maritime roots, took the lead in the project by extending the experimental approach far beyond the initial voyage of 1976. In so doing, they have provided realistic information on sailing over a number of legendary voyaging routes in Polynesia, which has served to greatly enhance the understanding of the discovery and settlement of the islands.
That modern Polynesians have taken the lead in demonstrating the capabilities inherent in the technology and methods of their ancestors is doubly fitting, for not only do they have the desire and talent for voyaging, but they stand to benefit most by this effort to reestablish the deserved nautical reputation of their ancestors. Assisted by their Micronesian teacher and advisor, Mau Piailug , who recently received an honorary doctorate from the University of Hawai'i for his efforts to revive Polynesian seafaring knowledge, the Hawaiians, Marquesans, Tahitians, Cook Islanders, Maori, Tongans, and Samoans who have sailed Hokule'a around Polynesia have been instrumental in changing scientific perceptions of their migratory past, and have brought to their fellow Polynesians a renewed pride in their heritage as oceanic voyagers.
The complex cultures of ancient Polynesia are largely gone. The incursions of modern technology, the demands of the world economy, and the impingement of foreign ideologies - religious, political or otherwise, have radically altered once integrated and largely self-sufficient societies. In some parts of Polynesia, the transformation from the old order is more complete, particularly in Hawai'i and New Zealand, where Polynesians are minorities in their own land.
Many contemporary Polynesians seem to be culturally adrift, neither fully participant in the modern cultures which have engulfed them, nor firmly anchored to even a memory of the ancient ways of life that once sustained their people. In this situation, the reconstruction and sailing of ancient voyaging canoes becomes more than adventurous and anthropologically-fruitful excursions into the past. These projects become ways culturally-uprooted Polynesians can themselves rediscover the means by which their islands were discovered and settled, indeed their ancient cultural heritage as a uniquely oceanic people. That is why the Hokule'a project so captured the Hawaiian imagination, and why its passage through Polynesian seas has so excited Tahitians, Cook Islanders, New Zealand Maori, and other islanders. In fact, Hokule'a has not sailed alone in those seas. Not only has the project spawned a veritable renaissance in Hawaiian sailing canoes, but it has inspired Tahitians and New Zealand Maori to reconstruct their own voyaging canoes and sail them over legendary sea routes.
The fact that the canoe sailed from Hawai'i to Tahiti and back, and that Mau had been able to navigate to Tahiti without instruments, effectively demonstrated how Polynesian canoes and traditional navigational methods were up to the task of planned, long-distance voyaging. This voyage served to turn the tide against the Sharp hypothesis of accidental voyaging, and to develop a new appreciation for voyaging canoes and traditional ways of navigation.
As significant as these findings are to revising our view of Polynesian prehistory, the unique feature of this project has been the degree and character of the participation of Polynesians. Not only have hundreds of Hawaiians and other Polynesians sailed on Hokule'a, but in seeking to rediscover their maritime heritage they have greatly expanded the anthropological significance of the project. It was primarily the Hawaiians who, searching to rediscover their own maritime roots, took the lead in the project by extending the experimental approach far beyond the initial voyage of 1976. In so doing, they have provided realistic information on sailing over a number of legendary voyaging routes in Polynesia, which has served to greatly enhance the understanding of the discovery and settlement of the islands.
That modern Polynesians have taken the lead in demonstrating the capabilities inherent in the technology and methods of their ancestors is doubly fitting, for not only do they have the desire and talent for voyaging, but they stand to benefit most by this effort to reestablish the deserved nautical reputation of their ancestors. Assisted by their Micronesian teacher and advisor, Mau Piailug , who recently received an honorary doctorate from the University of Hawai'i for his efforts to revive Polynesian seafaring knowledge, the Hawaiians, Marquesans, Tahitians, Cook Islanders, Maori, Tongans, and Samoans who have sailed Hokule'a around Polynesia have been instrumental in changing scientific perceptions of their migratory past, and have brought to their fellow Polynesians a renewed pride in their heritage as oceanic voyagers.
The complex cultures of ancient Polynesia are largely gone. The incursions of modern technology, the demands of the world economy, and the impingement of foreign ideologies - religious, political or otherwise, have radically altered once integrated and largely self-sufficient societies. In some parts of Polynesia, the transformation from the old order is more complete, particularly in Hawai'i and New Zealand, where Polynesians are minorities in their own land.
Many contemporary Polynesians seem to be culturally adrift, neither fully participant in the modern cultures which have engulfed them, nor firmly anchored to even a memory of the ancient ways of life that once sustained their people. In this situation, the reconstruction and sailing of ancient voyaging canoes becomes more than adventurous and anthropologically-fruitful excursions into the past. These projects become ways culturally-uprooted Polynesians can themselves rediscover the means by which their islands were discovered and settled, indeed their ancient cultural heritage as a uniquely oceanic people. That is why the Hokule'a project so captured the Hawaiian imagination, and why its passage through Polynesian seas has so excited Tahitians, Cook Islanders, New Zealand Maori, and other islanders. In fact, Hokule'a has not sailed alone in those seas. Not only has the project spawned a veritable renaissance in Hawaiian sailing canoes, but it has inspired Tahitians and New Zealand Maori to reconstruct their own voyaging canoes and sail them over legendary sea routes.
Ponder this
Why didn't the Polynesians go further across the Eastern Pacific to colonise South America?
Crossing the Equator in order to reach the islands of Hawai'i, the first explorers would lose view of much of the constellations that had guided them before. Could it be that Polynesian wayfinding also uses rudimentary trigonometry to supplement their knowledge of celestial navigation?
Discuss
Why didn't Western celestial navigation develop similar dead-reckoning methods as the Polynesians did? It took until the 18th century for Europeans to develop a reliable way to determine longitudes (using chronometers instead of astronomy). Considering how scientific knowledge tend to converge, even from independent studies, why did it not happen in navigation?
Further readings
Pius "Mau" Piailug, was a Micronesian navigator from the island of Satawal, best known reviving wayfinding methods for open-ocean voyaging.
Nainoa Thompson, a Native Hawaiian navigator and the president of the Polynesian Voyaging Society. The first Hawaiian to practice the ancient Polynesian art of navigation since the 14th century.
Polynesian Voyaging Society, based in Hawaii established to research and perpetuate traditional Polynesian voyaging methods.
Never Lost: Polynesian Navigation, an interactive presentation of the methods used in Polynesian wayfinding.
