Pacific Migration

Pacific Migration

7th Grade Social Studies

Pacific Island Studies

1. The Scientific Questions

For hundreds of years, the islands and people of the Pacific have been of interest to people of other countries and cultures. As you will learn in later chapters, explorers, whalers, merchants, missionaries, scientists, and others visited the islands. Many stayed, changing the lives of the people they found there. But when, why, how, and from where were these islands first settled? Scientists still debate the many theories that have been proposed to answer these questions.

While there are no written records of settlement, scientists can find clues in a rich tradition of legends and oral histories. These were passed down through the generations using methods such as storytelling, chanting, and dancing.

Racial studies compare physical characteristics to determine where islanders came from. These studies assume that people with the same skin color, facial features, type of hair, and body type are from the same place. Racial studies are not very accurate. (See section 4, on the founder effect.) A new science of DNA mapping, however, is proving very useful in tracing the settlement of the Pacific. In this method, scientists compare the genetic material of different populations to see which groups are related.

Another method is to study and compare the cultures of islands. Scientists look at tools, customs, and rituals in use today. They also dig to find tools and other items used long ago. Similar tools and customs may mean that people in different places are connected. Finding certain types of pottery shards (pieces), especially a style of pottery called Lapita, helps trace migrations. Only certain groups made pottery, and the art had mostly died out by the time Westerners arrived, except in parts of Melanesia. Lapita pottery has been found on many islands in the Pacific, helping scientists trace settlement and trading patterns.

Language studies use computers to compare the vocabulary and structure of two languages. Scientists want to see if they overlap, or use similar sounding words for similar meaning. These studies very accurately show links between people of different islands.

Language comparison of several Pacific Island words

Multiple Select

What are the four different ways scientists/historians tried to figure our how the Pacific Islands were settled?

• Legends and oral traditions

• Racial studies

• Studying historical readings/texts

• Cultural studies

• Language studies

Multiple Choice

What is Lapita pottery?

• A type of pottery with a particular design made by certain groups of people

• A pottery that was used to keep human remains like bones

• A type of pottery that made people think it was created by aliens

2. The Pattern of Migration

DNA studies suggest that Pacific islanders probably migrated from Taiwan, settling first in Southeast Asia. There is one opposing theory that they came from South America. The sweet potato is an American plant, but it is also found on Pacific islands. It is not native to Asia. Also, winds and currents make it much easier to sail east (from South America) to west than west (from Southeast Asia) to east. There is some place name overlap between Pacific and South American languages. However, language studies find more connections between the languages of the Pacific islands with the languages of Southeast Asia. There definitely was some contact between Polynesia and South America, but most scientists think that Pacific islanders sailed to South America and brought back the sweet potato. Recent DNA studies also tend to support an Asian origin for Pacific islanders and show no connection with South America.

Probably 40,000 years ago, dark-skinned hunter-gatherers known as Australoids settled in New Guinea and later the Bismarck and Solomon Islands. They may have been able to walk on land that existed where only ocean is today, but they still had to cross some open water. They were undisturbed for thousands of years. Then, 4,000 years ago, when the Egyptians were building their pyramids, lighter brown-skinned farmers known as Austronesians moved in. They could not completely wipe out or conquer the Australoids, but they settled in. The two groups began to intermarry. About 3,300 years ago some groups began moving into Vanuatu and New Caledonia. About the same time, different groups of Austronesians began moving directly from the Philippines and Indonesia into Palau, Yap, and the Marianas. After another 600 years (2,700 years ago) Austronesians began leaving the Melanesian islands. They moved into both western Polynesia and eastern Micronesia. Most of Polynesia beyond Tonga and Samoa was settled by 1,000 years ago.

Multiple Choice

Who were the two different groups that migrated to the Pacific Islands?

• Australoids

• Australians

• Austronesians

• Austroasians

Multiple Choice

How did the sweet potato get to the Pacific Islands?

• It floated on the ocean from South America to Hawaii.

• Birds carried it with them from South America to Hawaii.

• Pacific Islanders brought it back from South America.

The Reasons For and Methods of Migration

Why did these people move? How did they find new land? These have been hard questions to answer. The Australoids may have been seeking more game (animals to eat) as they moved into the large islands of Melanesia. The Austronesian farmers may have been pushed out of Southeast Asia by advancing Malay tribes. They may also have been deliberately seeking new islands to colonize.

But why, once they settled an island, did people continue to leave and search for new land? Scientists once believed that overpopulation was the main reason. Many Pacific islands are small and can support only a limited population. A small island could quickly become overpopulated. There would not be enough food for all the people. A war might break out between villages. The losing village would either be completely wiped out or forced to pay regular tributes of food to the winner. This would make life even harder. The losing chief might decide to leave. He would take his strongest, healthiest people, load up his canoes, and look for a new home.

Most of the evidence today, however, shows that population pressure was not a major reason for exploration, except perhaps on the smaller islands. The islands of Melanesia were very large and could support large populations. Some chiefs may have just been curious. Or they may have wanted new land, better trade, and status. In Polynesia, first-born sons inherited the land. Younger sons may have sailed to find land of their own. Similar to the Vikings of Northern Europe, the Austronesians used their seamanship to explore, colonize, and settle wherever they could. Of course the area they explored was much larger than that of the Vikings. Also, the Austronesians and their descendants were mostly finished with their exploration at the time the Vikings were just getting started.

And how could they find a new island? Western scholars for years refused to believe that Pacific islanders had the skills and knowledge necessary to deliberately find new islands. Many believed new islands were discovered by accident. Others believed that any searching was just random. Canoes sailed off in any direction until the crews either found land or died. This theory holds that there would have been many canoes that never returned or found new land, and many deaths. Actually, the evidence today shows that the direction of search was chosen very carefully. Searching against the winds, for example, is safer. If land is not found, it’s easy to return home with the wind.

As you shall see in the next chapter, Pacific islanders knew much about navigation. They made a purposeful, educated search for land. It was not accidental or random. They took with them the things they needed to survive on a new island. They noticed that birds headed into empty ocean and did not return for long periods. They also saw plants float in from afar. They knew land was out there. By the time Magellan came, in the 1500s, all Pacific islands were either settled or known about by islanders. There was also much contact among the different islands within island groups.

Open Ended

What were some reasons for Pacific Islanders to migrate and settle new islands in the Pacific?