Traditionalism, Interaction, and Long-Distance Seafaring in Polynesia

Click to increase image sizeClick to decrease image size Notes It is important to distinguish capability from frequency; a decline in the latter through prehistory is often cited as a corollary but it need not be so. My E-letter on the Collerson and Weisler paper, sent October 2007 to Science, was rejected (Brian White, personal communication January 28, 2008) with the comment, "We are currently only posting those letters most likely to promote positive and stimulating discussion online." Finney (2006 Finney, B. R. 2006. "Ocean sailing canoes". In Vaka Moana: Voyages of the Ancestors. The Discovery and Settlement of the Pacific, Edited by: Howe, K. R. 102–153. Auckland, NZ: David Bateman. [Google Scholar]:132) also criticized my suggestions about paddling, but they come directly from his own work (Horvath and Finney 1976:54). Islands named Pounamu and Teatea on lists obtained in central Polynesia have suggested to Salmond (2006:262; see also Irwin 2006 Irwin, G. J. 2006. "Voyaging and settlement". In Vaka Moana: Voyages of the Ancestors. The Discovery and Settlement of the Pacific, Edited by: Howe, K. R. 57–91. Auckland, NZ: David Bateman. [Google Scholar]:90) that Tahitians retained names for New Zealand, but Dening (1963) Dening, G. M. 1963. "The geographical knowledge of the Polynesians and the nature of inter-island contact". In Polynesian Navigation: A Symposium on Andrew Sharp's Theory of Accidental Voyages, Edited by: Golson, J. 102–153. Wellington, NZ: The Polynesian Society. [Google Scholar] and others noted that these names only appeared after Tahitians had traveled around the Pacific on British and Spanish vessels.