How did the Polynesians survive at sea?

Polynesians made contact with nearly every island within the vast Polynesian Triangle, using outrigger canoes or double-hulled canoes. The space between the paralleled canoes allowed for storage of food, hunting materials, and nets when embarking on long voyages.

What were some of the tricks used by Polynesians to navigate the ocean?

They had no maps, no sextants, no compasses, and they navigated by observing the ocean and sky, reading the stars and swells. The paths of stars and rhythms of the ocean guided them by night and the color of sky and the sun, the shapes of clouds, and the direction from which the swells were coming, guided them by day.

How did Polynesians preserve food?

Polynesians preserved food through fermentation and drying. Mashed, fermented starch such as breadfruit or taro were a particularly useful source of carbohydrates.

What did the Polynesians bring to New Zealand?

Reaching New Zealand The original migrants came from a region in East Polynesia which Māori later called Hawaiki. Bringing dogs and rats, taro and kūmara (sweet potato) to New Zealand, they found plenty of wildlife, including birds now extinct: the moa, a species of swan, and the giant Haast’s eagle.

How did Polynesians discover Hawaii?

1,500 years ago: Polynesians arrive in Hawaii after navigating the ocean using only the stars to guide them. 1778: Captain James Cook lands at Waimea Bay on the island of Kauai, becoming the first European to make contact with the Hawaiian Islands. A year later, Cook is killed at Kealakekua Bay on the island of Hawaii.

What do wayfinders do at night?

This is known as backsighting. But once on the open ocean, where there are no landmarks, only a flat surface of moving water, the wayfinder uses celestial bodies and ocean swells for direction. At night, stars appear to rise at points on the eastern horizon and to set at corresponding points in the west.

How did the Polynesians navigate using birds?

Bird Observation It is also known that Polynesians used shore sighting birds, bringing with them Frigate birds, who refuse to land on the water as their feathers would become waterlogged. When voyagers thought they were close to land they would release the bird. It would either fly towards land or return to the canoe.

How did the Polynesians migrate out into the Pacific?

Despite predominant easterly winds in the subtropical Pacific, Polynesian navigational skills and the aid of cyclic or seasonal changes in the winds and currents enabled dispersal from the western Pacific to islands as distant as Easter Island and Hawaii. …

How did the Polynesians navigate?

Traditional Polynesian navigators position themselves mainly by the stars, using what’s called a star compass. The ability to read the night sky is a great skill. A star compass is used to help memorise the rising and setting points of the brightest and most distinctive stars and planets to set direction.

What did Polynesians eat at sea?

Polynesian Expansionists—A Penchant for Protein Medium-sized vessels measured 15 to 18 meters in length and carried two dozen men; some even had moveable hearths lined with stone or coral so voyagers could cook safely at sea. They roasted meats and some plants, and they often ate fish raw or dipped in salt water.

How did the Polynesians navigate the Pacific Ocean?

The Polynesians were very observant. They noted the directions that waves came from and how they affected or rocked their canoes. They had a keen sense of ocean currents and variations in bird and sea life in different places in the Pacific.

What did Cook discover about the Polynesians?

Cook was also the first European explorer to consider seriously that the Polynesians could have intentionally explored and settled their island world without the aid of a nearby Southern Continent, Spanish ships, divine intervention, or other external agencies. “How shall we account for this Nation spreading itself so far over this Vast ocean?”

Did prehistoric people colonize Polynesia?

Another intriguing possibility is proposed in Geoffrey Irwin’s The Prehistoric Exploration and Colonization of the Pacific. Irwin suggests that those who settled Polynesia may have used a deliberate strategy of exploration that allowed them to find islands without an inordinate risk to their lives and with a high rate of survival.

What was the purpose of the Polynesian canoes?

The space between the paralleled canoes allowed for storage of food, hunting materials, and nets when embarking on long voyages. Polynesians used natural navigation aids such as the stars, ocean currents, and wind patterns.