2006-06-23 17:49:33 · 11 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Cultures & Groups ➔ Other - Cultures & Groups
Polynesian
2006-06-23 17:53:34 · answer #1 · answered by Angela V 3 · 6⤊ 2⤋
Hawai‘iloa is the hero of an ancient Hawaiian legend about the settling of the Hawaiian Islands. After having accidentally stumbled upon the islands, he returned to his homeland which he called Ka 'aina kai melemele a Kane, "the land of the yellow sea of Kane". He then organized a colonizing expedition that included his family and eight other skilled navigators. They settled on what is now the Island of Hawai‘i, named in his honor. The legend contains reference to his sons: Kaua‘i, O‘ahu, and Mau‘i, who settled on the islands that bear their names.
Probably beginning about 1000 B.C. or earlier, small groups of people from western Melanesia or southeast Asia migrated toward the Pacific into the western part of Polynesia. Their colonization attempts were highly successful for several reasons. A seafaring population, they had developed strong double-hulled outrigger canoes that could carry many people and supplies and travel great distances. They had well developed celestial and other navigational skills that not only allowed far-flung colonization efforts but also enabled round trips between parent and daughter colonies. Finally, they had perfected the horticultural, hunting, and fishing technologies needed to sustain fledgling populations on previously uninhabited islands. These colonists, who became the ancestors of a hybrid people known today as Polynesians, ultimately spread to all other islands of the Triangle.
The Hawaiians are a branch of these peoples inhabiting the eastern tier of islands in the Pacific Ocean. The other principal branches were the Maori of New Zealand and the Samoans, Tongans, Tahitians, Cook Islanders, and Marquesans. According to Anthropologist Patrick Kirch, there is strong evidence from a number of early Hawaiian archeological sites that initial colonization of some of the islands had occurred by at least the fourth or fifth centuries A.D. by people from the Marquesas Islands.
2006-06-24 00:56:43 · answer #2 · answered by Muinghan Life During Wartime 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Anthropologists believe that Polynesians from the Marquesas and Society Islands first populated the Hawaiian Islands at some time after AD 300-500, possibly as late as AD 1000. There are folk stories that indicate some Tahitians may have invaded and conquered the islands, killing off all or almost all the original inhabitants.
2006-06-24 01:00:00 · answer #3 · answered by blueowlboy 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
According to my Anthropology profesors, nobody knows for sure, but it's believed to be Asians that migrated out to the Pacific islands. Using nothing but stars and winds and canoe-like boat thingies, they traveled miles and mies and miles in open water for days. Why? I have no idea. Lack of food? Disease? War? Who knows?
2006-06-24 00:56:36 · answer #4 · answered by crazyallie 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If you mean "ethnic" background, they are Polynesian in origin, a subgroup of "Pacific Islanders".
2006-06-24 00:55:41 · answer #5 · answered by Traveller 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Pacific Islander is the name for their ethnicity..
2006-06-24 00:53:11 · answer #6 · answered by Frodo the space bard 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Polynesian. We know what she means!
2006-06-24 00:55:01 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Japanese and American? Is it not called Samoan?
2006-06-24 00:53:37 · answer #8 · answered by proud of it 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Ethical?
I think you mean ETHNIC.
2006-06-24 00:53:49 · answer #9 · answered by uofgleam 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
it is mixed, japanese, philippino, polynesian.
2006-06-24 00:55:23 · answer #10 · answered by dippset211@sbcglobal.net 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋