Marquesan culture
We were not able to dig deep into the culture of the Marquesas (called Fenua Enata or Land of Men in the Marquesan language), which shares some aspects of cultures of the other islands of Polynesia but also differs somewhat from other parts of the islands and archipelagos. Marquesans might claim their culture is older but in some respects, it is certainly different.
The Marquesas Islands were colonized by seafaring Polynesians as early as 300 AD, thought to originate from Tonga. The dense population was concentrated in the narrow valleys, and consisted of warring tribes, who sometimes cannibalized their enemies.
Much of Polynesia, including the original settlers of Hawaii, Tahiti, Rapa Iti and Easter Island, was settled by Marquesans, believed to have departed from the Marquesas as a result more frequently of overpopulation and drought-related food shortages, than because of the nearly constant warfare that eventually became a prominent feature of the islands' culture. Almost the entire remainder of Polynesia, with the exception of a few areas of western Polynesia as well as the majority of the Polynesian outliers, was colonized by Marquesan descendants centered in Tahiti.
v Tiki -
v Patutiki - This is the art of tattooing which has great significance in the islands. In the very old days it was predominant, with mens’ and women’s bodies being heavily tattooed often over nearly every inch of skin. Then, along with many other rites and rituals, in the latter part of the 19th century, the missionaries banned the practice and it nearly died out. However, some people ignored the ban and others carved the symbols which had been tattooed on skin into wooden bowls and other ornaments to preserve the patterns and symbols for a time when the ban might be lifted. In view of the huge loss of life brought about by the disease introduced by the advent of Europeans and the effects of the ban it is a miracle that all traces of the art of Patutiki were not lost. The entire meaning of the symbols and patterns etched on the skin is bound up with the Tiki and also with fertility, strength, wisdom and various abilities such as hunting, fishing, dancing, etc. It is far from just decoration as it might be in the West. Now Patutiki is taught in schools and practiced widely among the population. It is a rite of passage for both boys and girls and is a process which is begun in early teens but may continue incrementally over the person’s whole lifetime. At about age 14, boys are interviewed by the chiefs and their elders to assess if they are ready. If they have shown that they have learned enough of the ways of the community, they may be considered ready for Patutiki. The process of first tattooing is painful and may take up to two weeks. A number of young people may have their first tattoos at the same time. When complete, the young people are covered in tapa, the material made form the soaked and beaten bark of banyan trees. At a ceremonial occasion, they will throw off their tapa covering and proudly show off their new tattoos to the assembled community. Tattoos may cover all parts of the body including the face and the patterns and symbols may be dictated by the elders of the receiver if the tattoos.
v Umuhei - is a contraction of 2 Polynesian words: «Umu» meaning aphrodisiac and «Hei» meaning wreath. It is actually a mixture of aromatic plants and fruits such as Pineapple, Ylang- Ylang, Blue Ageratum, Miri, Rea Tahiti and Sandalwood.
This aromatic vegetable bouquet is made by the Marquesas women for generations, and is macerated in coconut oil or Monoi to maintain its strong scent with a devastating effect on men. Women use to wear it on hair and skin to develop their sensuality and awaken the male senses.
v Dance and Song – the ‘Haka’ - it is very difficult to find any authoritative writings on the 'haka' its words or its real meaning. Many of the sounds are not words at all but what might be described as guttural, breathy grunts coming directly from the diaphragm. The word description does not properly convey the power, excitement and even raw attraction of these sounds. It takes quite some time to acquire the technique to produce these evocations. They may convey confusion to the enemy or many other meanings but the under-lying meanings have probably been lost with time. Just the sounds, themselves are preserved.
v Legends Lore and Myths - the stories and myths are many and they have been handed down verbally as very little, if any, has been written down and they do not always coincide with one another. Gods with different names in different tribes and localities are invested with different stories, histories, origins and powers. The severe reduction of the population when the European diseases decimated the islands meant that many of the traditions and lore was lost. The missionaries also frowned upon this un-Christian belief structure and thus the passing of it from one generation to another was stunted.
v Va’a – canoe building, sailing and navigation - this, to me is one of the most fascinating aspects of the whole Polynesian culture. The construction of these huge vessels, sometimes carrying 50 or more people and their supplies is jut remarkable. Then, sailing the vessels over thousands of miles of open sea and finding their destinations is, in today's GPS age. just unimaginable. Here is an extract from a Wikipedia entry:
Va’a have been traveling the Pacific Ocean for more than 4,000 years. In around 2,000 BC a wave of seafaring people emerged from Asia and ventured out into the Eastern Pacific Ocean, for the first time in Human history. The earliest va’a are thought to have originated at this time and we now know that ancient Polynesians and their ancestors settled the most remote islands of the Pacific in single and double hull va’a. These canoes were often sailing vessels and could be much larger than today’s racing V6. When the first Europeans arrived in Polynesia, sailing va’as of up to 30 meters in length were recorded, designed for long ocean passages.
Va’a were originally developed by the Austronesian speaking peoples of the islands of Southeast Asia for sea travel, and were used to transport these peoples both eastward to Polynesia and New Zealand and westward across the Indian Ocean as far as Madagascar during the Austronesian migration period. Even today, it is mostly among the Austronesian groups (Malay, Micronesian, Melanesian and Polynesian peoples) that va’a are used.
Va’a for fishing are also used among certain non-Austronesian groups, like the Sinhala in Sri Lanka, where they are known as oruwa, as well as among some people groups in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
When Magellan’s ships first encountered the Chamorros of the Mariana Islands in 1521, Antonio Pigafetta recorded that the Chamorros’ sailboats far surpassed Magellan’s in speed and maneuverability.
The Polynesian Voyaging Society has two double hull sailing va’a, Hōkūle’a and Hawai’iloa, and sails them between various islands in the Pacific using traditional Polynesian navigation methods without instruments.
The technology has persisted into the modern age. Va’a can be quite large fishing or transport vessels, and in the Philippines, outrigger canoes (called bangka, parao or balanghai) are often fitted with petrol engines. The links between seafaring and outrigger canoes in the Philippines extend through to political life, in which the smallest political unit in the country still called Barangay after the historical Balanghai outrigger proas used in the original migrations of the first Austronesian peoples across the archipelago and beyond.
....... and the navigation
Va’a have been traveling the Pacific Ocean for more than 4,000 years. In around 2,000 BC a wave of seafaring people emerged from Asia and ventured out into the Eastern Pacific Ocean, for the first time in Human history. The earliest va’a are thought to have originated at this time and we now know that ancient Polynesians and their ancestors settled the most remote islands of the Pacific in single and double hull va’a. These canoes were often sailing vessels and could be much larger than today’s racing V6. When the first Europeans arrived in Polynesia, sailing va’as of up to 30 meters in length were recorded, designed for long ocean passages.
Va’a were originally developed by the Austronesian speaking peoples of the islands of Southeast Asia for sea travel, and were used to transport these peoples both eastward to Polynesia and New Zealand and westward across the Indian Ocean as far as Madagascar during the Austronesian migration period. Even today, it is mostly among the Austronesian groups (Malay, Micronesian, Melanesian and Polynesian peoples) that va’a are used.
Va’a for fishing are also used among certain non-Austronesian groups, like the Sinhala in Sri Lanka, where they are known as oruwa, as well as among some people groups in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
When Magellan’s ships first encountered the Chamorros of the Mariana Islands in 1521, Antonio Pigafetta recorded that the Chamorros’ sailboats far surpassed Magellan’s in speed and maneuverability.
The Polynesian Voyaging Society has two double hull sailing va’a, Hōkūle’a and Hawai’iloa, and sails them between various islands in the Pacific using traditional Polynesian navigation methods without instruments.
The technology has persisted into the modern age. Va’a can be quite large fishing or transport vessels, and in the Philippines, outrigger canoes (called bangka, parao or balanghai) are often fitted with petrol engines. The links between seafaring and outrigger canoes in the Philippines extend through to political life, in which the smallest political unit in the country still called Barangay after the historical Balanghai outrigger proas used in the original migrations of the first Austronesian peoples across the archipelago and beyond.
....... and the navigation
Traditional Polynesian navigation was used for thousands of years to make long voyages across thousands of miles of the open Pacific Ocean. Navigators travelled to small inhabited islands using wayfinding techniques and knowledge passed by oral tradition from master to apprentice, often in the form of song. Generally, each island maintained a guild of navigators who had very high status; in times of famine or difficulty, they could trade for aid or evacuate people to neighbouring islands. As of 2014, these traditional navigation methods are still taught in the Polynesian outlier of Taumako Island in the Solomons.
Polynesian navigation used some navigational instruments, which predate and are distinct from the machined metal tools used by European navigators (such as the sextant, first produced in 1730; the sea astrolabe, from around late 15th century; and the marine chronometer, invented in 1761). However, they also relied heavily on close observation of sea sign and a large body of knowledge from oral tradition.
Both wayfinding techniques and outrigger canoe construction methods have been kept as guild secrets, but in the modern revival of these skills, they are being recorded and published.
Navigation relies heavily on constant observation and memorization. A navigator has to be constantly aware of their surroundings. Navigators have to memorize where they have sailed from in order to know where they are. The sun was the main guide for navigators because they could follow its exact points as it rose and set. At night time they would switch to using the rising and setting points of the stars. When there are no stars because of a cloudy night or during midday, a navigator would use the winds and swells to guide them. Through constant observation, navigators were able to detect changes in the speed of their canoes, their heading, and the time of day or night. Polynesian navigators employed a wide range of techniques including the use of the stars, the movement of ocean currents and wave patterns, the air and sea interference patterns caused by islands and atolls, the flight of birds, the winds and the weather.
Bird observation
Certain seabirds such as the white tern and noddy tern fly out to sea in the morning to hunt fish, then return to land at night. Navigators seeking land sail opposite the birds' path in the morning and with them at night, especially relying on large groups of birds, and keeping in mind changes during nesting season.
Harold Gatty suggested that long-distance Polynesian voyaging followed the seasonal paths of bird migrations. In "The Raft Book", a survival guide he wrote for the U.S. military during World War II, Gatty outlined various Polynesian navigation techniques for shipwrecked sailors or aviators to find land. There are some references in their oral traditions to the flight of birds, and some say that there were range marks onshore pointing to distant islands in line with the West Pacific Flyway. A voyage from Tahiti, the Tuamotus or the Cook Islands to New Zealand might have followed the migration of the long-tailed cuckoo (Eudynamys taitensis) just as the voyage from Tahiti to Hawaiʻi would coincide with the track of the Pacific golden plover (Pluvialis fulva) and the bristle-thighed curlew (Numenius tahitiensis).
It is also believed that Polynesians, like many seafaring peoples, kept shore-sighting birds. One theory is that voyagers took a frigatebird (Fregata) with them. This bird's feathers become drenched and useless if it lands on water, so voyagers would release it when they thought they were close to land, and would follow it if it did not return to the canoe.
The positions of the stars helped guide Polynesian voyages. Stars, as opposed to planets, hold fixed celestial positions year-round, changing only their rising time with the seasons. Each star has a specific declination, and can give a bearing for navigation as it rises or sets. Polynesian voyagers would set a heading by a star near the horizon, switching to a new one once the first rose too high. A specific sequence of stars would be memorized for each route.The Polynesians also took measurements of stellar elevation to determine their latitude. The latitudes of specific islands were also known, and the technique of "sailing down the latitude" was used.
Some star compass systems specify as many as 150 stars stars with known bearings, though most systems have only a few dozen (illustration at right).The development of sidereal compasses has been studied and theorized to have developed from an ancient pelorus instrument.
For navigators near the equator, celestial navigation is simplified since the whole celestial sphere is exposed. Any star that passes through the zenith (overhead) moves along the celestial equator, the basis of the equatorial coordinate system.
Swell
The Polynesians also used wave and swell formations to navigate. Many of the habitable areas of the Pacific Ocean are groups of islands (or atolls) in chains hundreds of kilometres long. Island chains have predictable effects on waves and currents. Navigators who lived within a group of islands would learn the effect various islands had on the swell shape, direction, and motion, and would have been able to correct their path accordingly. Even when they arrived in the vicinity of an unfamiliar chain of islands, they may have been able to detect signs similar to those of their home.
Once they had arrived fairly close to a destination island, they would have been able to pinpoint its location by sightings of land-based birds, certain cloud formations, as well as the reflections shallow water made on the undersides of clouds. It is thought that the Polynesian navigators may have measured sailing time between islands in "canoe-days".
The energy transferred from the wind to the sea produces wind waves. The waves that are created when the energy travels down away from the source area (like ripples) are known as swell. When the winds are strong at the source area, the swell is larger. The longer the wind blows, the longer the swell lasts. Because the swells of the ocean can remain consistent for days, navigators relied on them to carry their canoe in a straight line from one house (or point) on the star compass to the opposite house of the same name. Navigators were not always able to see stars; because of this, they relied on the swells of the ocean. Swell patterns are a much more reliable method of navigation than the actual waves which are determined by the local winds. Swells move in a straight direction which makes it easier for the navigator to determine whether the canoe is heading in the correct direction.
Routes
On his first voyage of Pacific exploration, Captain James Cook had the services of a Polynesian navigator, Tupaia, who drew a chart of the islands within a 2,000 miles (3,200 km) radius (to the north and west) of his home island of Ra'iatea. Tupaia had knowledge of 130 islands and named 74 on his chart. Tupaia had navigated from Ra'iatea in short voyages to 13 islands. He had not visited western Polynesia, as since his grandfather's time the extent of voyaging by Raiateans had diminished to the islands of eastern Polynesia. His grandfather and father had passed to Tupaia the knowledge as to the location of the major islands of western Polynesia and the navigation information necessary to voyage to Fiji, Samoa and Tonga.Tupaia was hired by Joseph Banks, the ship's naturalist, who wrote that Cook ignored Tupaia's chart and downplayed his skills as a navigator.
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