Unit 2 The Asia–Pacific world The Polynesian expansion across the Pacific Between c. 700 and 1756, Polynesian peoples settled thousands of islands across a wide area of the Pacific Ocean. This region is now known as the Polynesian Triangle. As they spread throughout the region, Polynesians formed unique societies on each of the islands they settled. Each Polynesian society had its own traditions, spiritual beliefs and ways of life, but they also shared some common features. All Polynesian societies depended on the sea for their ocean-going canoes to travel great their food and for trade with other societies. distances across the Pacific, discovering Because of this, Polynesian peoples became new uninhabited islands as they went. expert sailors and navigators who used chapter Source 1 An artist’s impression of Polynesian voyagers sailing to New Zealand16 16A 16B DRAFT16C How did Polynesian settlers How was Māori society What were the most significant spread across the Pacific and organised and what was daily Māori cultural achievements? where did they settle? life like? 1 Important achievements of the Māori included 1 The Polynesian peoples travelled great distances sustainable management of natural resources and a rich 1 Traditional Māori villages were ringed with strong across the Pacific Ocean in search of new wooden walls and further protected with ditches, arts tradition. How do you think these achievements homelands. What skills and techniques do you contributed to the survival of M ori people and their moats or towers. Why do you think Māori people ā think they would have needed to arrive safely at fortified their villages? How does this aspect of culture? their destinations? Māori culture compare with other civilisations? 338 oxford big ideas humanities 8 victorian curriculum chapter 16 the polynesian expansion across the pacific 339 16A How did Polynesian settlers spread across the Pacifi c and where did they settle? A 19th-century artist’s impression of the arrival 16.1 The Polynesian of the Great Fleet in c. 1600 c. 1722 Aotearoa (New Zealand) As resources run out First European contact with the on Rapa Nui, there is Rapa Nui people. Dutch admiral expansion across the c. 1350 warring between clans, Jacob Roggeveen names Rapa According to myth, the and the people practise Nui ‘Easter Island’. ‘Great Fleet’ arrives and cannibalism. Pacifi c: a timeline Maori people begin to settle in Aotearoa c. 1744 The British explorer c. 1500 Captain James Cook Food begins to run visits Rapa Nui. out on Rapa Nui. c. 1100 Fighting starts. The M ori myth suggests the Polynesian c. 2000–1500 ā last moai is erected. explorers Toi and Whatonga arrive in First travellers begin to move from Asia through the islands, moving A new religion c. 1769 Aotearoa (New Zealand). east towards what becomes the Polynesian Triangle. Tonga is settled. begins, called the Cook claims Birdman Cult. New Zealand for c. 1000 Great Britain. Rapa Nui’s environment suffers from overuse. Deforestation starts. 2000 2000 BCE c. 1500 c. 1000 c. 500 c. 500 c. 1000 c.1500 CE c. 950 Māori myth suggests Chief Kupe sails to New Zealand and names it ‘Aotearoa’. Moas were hunted to extinction. 1642 c. 1000 The Dutch Samoa is settled c. 1400 explorer Abel Most species of the moa, a Tasman claims fl ightless bird of New Zealand, Aotearoa, or c. 1000 are extinct after being hunted ‘New Zealand’, Polynesians move further east and settle the islands of Hawaii and as a source of food. for Holland. Rapa Nui (Easter Island). The Rapa Nui people make huge stone statues called moai. A Māori man Check your learning 16.1 Lapita pottery Remember and understand 4 Why do you think the Rapa Nui people practised c. 1500 cannibalism? Evidence from discoveries of Lapita DRAFT 1 Give the English names for the islands of Rapa Nui pottery suggest the ancestors of and Aotearoa. Evaluate and create Polynesian peoples reach the Bismarck Archipelago, north of New Guinea. 2 What were moa and what happened to them? 5 Conduct some internet research to fi nd out more Apply and analyse about Lapita pottery. Present your fi ndings in a paragraph, describing how it was made and its links 3 Use the timeline to work out the year in which to the Polynesian expansion across the Pacifi c. each of the following islands was discovered by Polynesians. Place them in chronological order, from earliest to most recent. Source 1 A timeline of key events in Rapa Nui Hawaii Aotearoa Tonga Samoa Polynesian expansion across the Pacifi c Moai on Rapa Nui (Easter Island) 340 oxford big ideas humanities 8 victorian curriculum chapter 16 the polynesian expansion across the pacifi c 341 16A How did Polynesian settlers spread across the Pacifi c and where did they settle? Check your learning 16.2 16.2 Geography and natural Remember and understand features of Polynesia 1 What are the boundaries of the Polynesian Triangle? 2 What are the different climates on the islands of Polynesia? Polynesia is part of what is more broadly classifi ed fi shing, growing crops such as yams and taro, and as Oceania. Oceania includes all the islands in the raising animals such as pigs, dogs and chickens. Apply and analyse central and south Pacifi c Ocean. Polynesia includes Hawaii, New Zealand and remote Easter Island are 3 Use Source 1 to write a statement about the all the islands within what is generally called the volcanic islands, not coral islands. Societies here geographical location of the Polynesian islands, Polynesian Triangle. The three corners of the triangle developed agriculture on a much larger scale because and the size of New Zealand and its location are Hawaii in the north, Easter Island (also called of the rich volcanic soil. They also lived by hunting, compared with that of other islands. Rapa Nui) in the east and New Zealand in the south. fi shing and gathering edible plants. 4 Sources 2, 3 and 4 show the natural environments Samoa, Tuvalu and Tonga mark the triangle’s western of different parts of Polynesia. Suggest how edge. the different environments would have affected people’s ways of life. There are many different natural environments in Polynesia – from tiny islands with tropical climates, Evaluate and create to the heavily forested South Island of New Zealand 5 In a group, fi nd out about the climates of Samoa, with its snow-capped peaks. There is not much Hawaii, New Zealand and Rapa Nui. Summarise vegetation on the hundreds of coral reefs that have your fi ndings in a table. Individually, write a formed islands (which are called ‘atolls’). In the past, Source 3 South Bay and the Seaward Kaikouru Range, South paragraph comparing the climates of these places. Polynesians on these coral islands mainly lived by Island, New Zealand Source 2 An atoll in the Tahiti islands 140°E 160°E 180° 160°W 140°W 120°W 20°N 20°N Hawaii PHILIPPINE NORTHERN MARIANAS SEA MARSHALL PACIFIC OCEAN ISLANDS L IN FEDERATED E PALAU IS STATES OF L (USA) A MICRONESIA N Howland D Equator 0° New Guinea Baker S 0° PAPUA Jarvis (USA) NAURU K I R I B NEW GUINEA A T I INDONESIA SOLOMON PHOENIX ISLANDS MARQUESAS TUVALU ARAFURA ISLANDS Tokelau ISLANDS SEA Torres Strait (NZ) American Rotuma Samoa TuamotuFrench Polynesia SAMOA (USA) COOK CORAL SOCIETY Archipelago(France) VANUATU FIJI Vanua Levu ISLANDS Viti Levu NIUE ISLANDS SEA TONGA Aitutaki Tahiti Reao 20°S Tongatapu 20°S New Caledonia Rarotonga AUSTRAL MangarevaDRAFTTropic of Capricorn ISLANDS (France) Pitcairn AUSTRALIA Island (UK) Rapa Rapa Nui Lake Eyre (Easter Island) (Chile) TASMAN NEW N ZEALAND 40°S SEA 40°S 0 2000 km 140°E 160°E 180° 160°W 140°W 120°W Source 1 The Polynesian Triangle Source: Oxford University Press Source 4 Crater of the volcano Rano Raraku on Rapa Nui (Easter Island) 342 oxford big ideas humanities 8 victorian curriculum chapter 16 the polynesian expansion across the pacifi c 343 16A How did Polynesian settlers spread across the Pacific and where did they settle? 16.3 Theories about Polynesian expansion The Polynesian expansion across the Pacific took South-East Asia. But other theories suggest origins in place over a long period of time. Historians do not the opposite direction, from South America. always agree on exactly how or when the Polynesians Who is correct? According to one argument, the spread throughout the area. Most historians do travellers came from an area such as modern-day believe that the Polynesian expansion happened over Peru, floating across the ocean on rafts created from Source 3 A Mayan a period of more than 2000 years and covered a large balsawood common to that area. The people who statue in Central part of the Pacific region. Many disagree on where support this idea argue that the regular wind patterns America. The Mayans the Polynesian peoples came from – some historians and ocean currents would enable this type of travel, were a powerful Central American have even tried to copy the sea voyages they think while making travel in the opposite direction a great civilisation in ancient the Polynesians undertook in order to prove their deal more difficult. They also sometimes suggest that Source 2 Moai on Rapa Nui times. theories. there are similarities between Aztec, Inca and Mayan stone sculptures and the stone statues of Polynesia Settlers from the west East or west? such as the moai on Rapa Nui. Despite Heyerdahl’s voyage, more recent using double-hulled canoes to cross the vast distances One of the biggest disagreements is which direction archaeological evidence strongly supports the view between land masses.