The Maori are a Polynesian people, the indigenous people of New Zealand.
The self-name "Maori" means "ordinary" / "natural". So in Maori myths, mortal people are designated, in contrast to deities and spirits. The Maori have a legend about how they arrived in New Zealand in 7 canoes from their ancestral home of Gawaiki. Modern research indicates that then uninhabited New Zealand was settled by Polynesians around 1280 AD. By that time, all the current habitats of mankind were already inhabited. The ancestral home of the Maori and all Polynesians is the island of Taiwan near mainland China. People came directly to New Zealand from the islands of East Polynesia.

map of Polynesian migration to New Zealand:

Maori and the giant moa bird. The photo collage was made in 1936. Moas were slaughtered by the Maori long before Europeans arrived in New Zealand. According to unconfirmed evidence, individual representatives of these birds were still encountered in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.

Less than 4 centuries after the settlement of New Zealand, the first Europeans appeared here. It was the Dutch navigator Abel Tasman. The meeting of the Maori and Europeans, which took place in 1642, ended tragically: the Maori attacked the landing Dutch, killed several sailors, ate them (the Maori practiced cannibalism) and disappeared. Frustrated by the incident, Tasman named the place Killer Cove.

Modern Maori. Photo by Jimmy Nelson

Again, the foot of a European set foot on New Zealand only 127 years later: in 1769, the expedition of James Cook arrived here, which marked the beginning of the colonization of New Zealand by the British. James Cook himself escaped Maori teeth, but was killed and eaten by another Polynesian people - the Hawaiians.

By 1830, the number of Europeans in New Zealand reached 2 thousand with 100 thousand Maori. Maori traditionally did not have commodity-money relations and trade, but practiced barter. The British bartered land from the Maori in exchange, for example, for firearms.

artist Arnold Frederick Goodwin - First plow in New Zealand

Between 1807 and 1845, the so-called Musket Wars broke out between the tribes of the North Island of New Zealand. The impetus for the conflict was the spread of firearms among the Maori - muskets. The northern tribes, in particular the longtime rivals Ngapuhi and Ngati Fatua, were the first to receive firearms from the Europeans and inflicted significant damage on each other and neighboring tribes. In total, 18 and a half thousand Maori died in these wars, i.e. about a fifth of all native New Zealanders. By 1857 there were only 56,000 Maori in New Zealand. In addition to wars, diseases brought by Europeans caused great damage to the local population.

Maori men. Photos of the early 20th century:

In 1840, Great Britain and part of the chiefs of the Maori tribes signed a written agreement, called the Treaty of Waitangi, in accordance with the provisions of which the Maori transferred New Zealand under the guardianship of Great Britain, but retained their property rights, and Great Britain received the exclusive right to purchase land from them. However, even after the signing of the treaty between the Maori and the British, military skirmishes arose.

Maori chiefs:

Maori cuts the flagpole with the British flag. 1845

The British attack the Maori village. 1845

Artist Joseph Merrett. Maori (1846)

artist Joseph Merrett. Four Maori girls and a young man (1846)

maori girl

Maori girl (1793)

Maori man and girl:

maori girls:

In 1891, the Maori made up only 10% of the population of New Zealand and owned 17% of the land, mostly of low quality.
In the 30s of the 20th century, the number of Maori began to increase, largely due to the introduction of a family allowance for Maori, issued at the birth of a child.

Maori married couple, early 20th century

Maori girls in European clothes

maori girls

maori grandfather

maori grandmother

Now, according to the 2013 census, 598.6 thousand Maori live in New Zealand, which is 14.9% of the country's population. About 126,000 Maori live in Australia and 8,000 in the UK.
Despite the fact that the Maori language, along with English, is the official language of New Zealand, most Maori prefer English in everyday life. About 50,000 people are fluent in the Maori language and about 100,000 understand the language but do not speak it.
Christianity has supplanted traditional Maori beliefs and today most Maori are Christians of various branches, including syncretic cults created among the Mori themselves. About 1 thousand Maori profess Islam.

children in the New Zealand Museum at the exposition of Maori culture

Meri Te Tai Mangakahia (1868-1920) - Maori feminist who fought for the rights of Maori women

Despite all attempts to equalize whites and Maori, the indigenous population of New Zealand remains the most backward social group in the country, yielding not only to whites, but also to migrants from Asia. The Maori have the lowest level of education, they make up half of all prisoners in New Zealand (despite the fact that they make up only 14.9% of the state's population). Finally, Maori have a lower life expectancy than other New Zealanders. This is due to the fact that Maori have a much higher percentage of alcoholism, drug addiction, smoking and obesity.

modern Maori woman:

modern Maori man:

modern maori girls:

New Zealand actor Manu Bennett. The blood of the Maori warriors flowing in his veins helped the actor convincingly play the stern gladiator Crixus in the American TV series Spartacus: Blood and Sand (2010) and its sequels.

Maureen Kingi is the first Maori to win the Miss New Zealand title. It happened in 1962

Artist Edward Cole. Maori girl with apples (30s of the 20th century)

Polynesia is a constellation of relatively small and very small islands in the vast ocean. Mountainous islands, with rivers and waterfalls, and flat coral atolls with lagoons, where it is good to fish and swim. Polynesia also includes the two large islands of New Zealand, located far to the south. Geographically, Polynesia can be represented as a giant triangle with the peaks formed by Hawaii, New Zealand and Easter Island. Inside the triangle are the islands of Tonga, Samoa, Cook, Tahiti, Tuamotu and the Marquesas Islands. To the west of Polynesia, Micronesia stretches like a rectangle - another 2000 small and tiny islands and atolls scattered in the western part of the Pacific Ocean.

Polynesia and Micronesia are located in the tropics, in the zone of growth of the coconut palm, the symbol of Oceania. The exception is New Zealand. The two main islands of New Zealand, North and South, have a temperate climate and, before the arrival of Europeans, were covered with dense forests with giant pines. kauri and huge ferns. The North Island is famous for its volcanoes and geysers, while the South Island is famous for its stunning fiords and fabulous Southern Alps. This is where The Lord of the Rings was filmed.

6.2. The birth of the myth of Polynesia

The love of Europeans for Polynesia is love at first sight. Moreover, love is sensual. Sailors of the 18th century it took half a year to reach Polynesia from Europe. Civilization ended in the port of Rio de Janeiro, followed by the deserted coast of Patagonia, Cape Horn and a long journey across the Pacific Ocean. Then, out of the tropical haze, like a fairy tale, an island appears with "mountains dressed to the very tops with lush forest, and with a magnificent waterfall falling from a steep slope." The ship approached the shore, the smell of unfamiliar flowers is in the air. A boat with swarthy, half-naked islanders and island women set sail from the shore. They greet the sailors. The boat is getting closer. One of the girls climbs onto the deck of the ship. Here, she stands under the burning eyes. ... But let's give the floor to the narrator:

“... the girl carelessly dropped the clothes that covered her, and revealed all her charms, those that Venus showed the Phrygian shepherd, charms that, of course, had the unearthly forms of this goddess.”

So, on April 2, 1768, Louis Antoine de Bougainville, the leader of the round-the-world expedition, mathematician, musketeer and writer, met with the Polynesians. Bougainville was not the first European to see Tahiti; he spent only ten days on the island, but they inspired him to write the brightest pages of a travel magazine that became a European bestseller. Bougainville writes about Tahiti in enthusiastic terms. The island seems to him an earthly paradise:

“I thought I was transported to the Garden of Eden; we passed over lawns overgrown with beautiful fruit trees, and crossed by streams, creating a constant pleasant coolness, but without all the inconveniences high humidity. We met companies of men and women sitting in the shade of fruit trees ... everywhere we met hospitality, lightness, innocent joy, a clear view of general happiness.

Bougainville was especially admired by the islanders. They combined bodily perfection, innocence of soul and Homeric simplicity of morals:

“In terms of the pleasantness of features [women] are not worse than most European women, and as for the beauty of the body, they have every reason to compete with any of them. ... I have never seen people better built and with members more proportional; nowhere to find a better model to draw Hercules or Mars. ... An islander with a magnificent figure, lying under a tree, invited us to sit on the grass. We accepted the invitation: then he leaned towards us and began to sing a song with a gentle melody, no doubt in the spirit of Anacreon, to the accompaniment of a flute, which the Indian blew through his nose: it was a charming scene worth Boucher's pencil.

The Bougainville notes captured the imagination of Europeans. After all, then there were popular ideas about noble savage, living according to the laws of nature. American Indians were nominated for their role, but they were embarrassed by the torture of prisoners and scalping. Bougainville found noble savages in Polynesia. More importantly, he found beautiful and accessible savages. This is how the imprinting of the myth took place - the imprinting of an image, albeit a false one, but surprisingly stable.

John Weber. Princess Poedooa, 19-year-old daughter of a chief from the island of Raiatea. 1777. In the XVIII century. artists depicted Polynesians as similar to Europeans. Wikimedia Commons.

Later, navigators wrote about the Polynesians - Cook, Krusenstern, Kotzebue, La Perouse, and writers - Melville, Stevenson, Pierre Loti, Mark Twain, Jack London, Somerset Maugham, even the artist Paul Gauguin. Gauguin also painted them wonderfully. Bougainville's impressions of "people before the fall" were greatly exaggerated. The Polynesians were quite sinful people - thieving, arrogant, lazy, often treacherous and cruel and, on many islands, cannibals. Ideas about their exceptional beauty were dispelled. One thing was confirmed - the sexual emancipation of the islanders. However, through the efforts of the missionaries, the Polynesians were made into Christians, and the pagan freedom of morals is or is becoming a thing of the past. Nevertheless, the myth of a sensual paradise on the islands of bliss lives on.

Appearance, origin

What are they, Polynesians? Anthropologically, Polynesians occupy an intermediate position between the larger races. They, like southern Caucasians and Australoids, have black Wavy hair, although there are straight and occasionally curly, like the Papuans. The beard grows medium, there is little hair on the body. The skin color is yellowish-brown - darker than that of swarthy Europeans and is comparable to the pigmentation of the Egyptians, Sikhs, Indonesians. With a wide, slightly flat face and high cheekbones, the Polynesians resemble Mongoloids, but the eyes are not narrow and without epicanthus. The nose is wide, like Melanesians and Negroes, but the bridge of the nose is high and the back of the nose is straight, which gives the face a Caucasoid appearance. The lips are thicker than those of Europeans, but thinner than those of Melanesians.

Polynesians are usually tall and powerfully built. A 2009 study showed that the average height of men in Samoa and Tonga is 180 cm. Polynesians living in the United States (in best conditions), the average height of men is 185.7 cm - the same as that of Montenegrins, the tallest people in Europe and, possibly, the world. At the same time, Polynesians are massive. Their body proportions are not elongated, tropical, but reminiscent of North Asian peoples. They are stocky, with a long body and relatively short legs. Polynesians tend to be overweight, especially at an older age. Among them, there are many patients with type 2 diabetes, however, the insulin content is close to normal, that is, their diabetes is a consequence of obesity. The Polynesians have turned into fat people today, thanks to the transition to imported products. The entire 19th century Europeans admired the powerful, but not fat, bodies of Polynesian athletes.

The physique of Polynesians contradicts the ecological laws of Bergman and Allen, according to which: 1. In warm-blooded animals of the same species, individuals with large body sizes are found in colder areas; 2. In warm-blooded animals, the protruding parts of the body are shorter, and the body is more massive than the colder climate. As an explanation, the hypothesis of hypothermia of the Polynesians during many months of sea voyages is proposed. Constant air humidity, splashes and waves, wind, cause hypothermia even in the tropics. Polynesians traveled as families, so everyone was selected. As a result, increased muscle mass, providing heat production, and the proportions of the body changed to avoid heat loss.

Samoan on a palm tree. His thighs are covered with an old nea tattoo, now popular among young people. The tattoo is done for 9 days with a boar's tusk attached to a drumstick. 2012. Polynesian Cultural Center. Photo: Daniel Ramirez (Honolulu, USA). Wikimedia Commons.

A few words about the physical type of the Micronesians. Eastern Micronesians are slightly different from Polynesians. As a rule, they are not tall, but of medium height and less massive. Melanesian admixture is noticeable in the contact zone with Melanesia. In western Micronesia, the population is more Filipino than Polynesian.

The origin of the Polynesians (and Micronesians) is still a matter of controversy. If we discard the fantastic ideas that the Polynesians are the descendants of the Egyptians, the Sumerians, the lost tribe of Israel, and even the inhabitants of the sunken continent of Mu, the Pacific Atlantis, then there is every reason to connect their origins with Southeast Asia. Heyerdahl's hypothesis about the arrival of Polynesians from America is not confirmed genetically. Polynesians and Micronesians speak Austronesian languages, as do the peoples of Indonesia, the Philippines, Madagascar, the natives of Taiwan, and the Melanesians. In Polynesia, there are 30 closely related, often mutually intelligible, languages; in Micronesia - about 40 languages ​​and dialects.

Data on the genetic links between Polynesians and Melanesians are contradictory. Analysis of maternally transmitted mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and paternally transmitted Y-chromosome DNA (Y-DNA) showed that Polynesians and Micronesians, like Melanesians, arose from the mixing of East Asians (Mongoloids) with Papuans . But the Polynesians and Micronesians are dominated by Asian ancestors, while the Melanesians are Papuan. Moreover, in different proportions on the maternal and paternal lines. Polynesians have 95% mtDNA of Asian origin, but only 30% Y-DNA (melanesians have 9 and 19%). The significant Papuan contribution on the paternal side of the Polynesians was explained by matrilocal marriages, when the husband becomes a member of the wife's community. Another work denies the role of the Papuans in the origin of the Polynesians. In an extensive study using autosomal DNA microsatellite markers, Polynesians and Micronesians have been shown to have only minor Papuan admixture and are genetically similar to Taiwanese and East Asians. Melanesians, on the other hand, are genetically Papuans with a small (up to 5%) Polynesian admixture.

In the section on the Melanesians, the archaeological Lapita culture was mentioned, which appeared in northwestern Melanesia around 1500 BC. e. The aliens who sailed from the island of Taiwan spoke the Austronesian language (or languages). Significantly, they were not immune to malaria, which is common in New Guinea and Melanesia. Within 500 years, the Lapit culture spread to eastern Melanesia, reaching the malaria-free islands of Fiji and Tonga (1200 BC) and Samoa (1000 BC), the border islands of Polynesia. In the course of voyages to the east, the settlers improved the technique of shipbuilding and the art of navigation.

It was then, apparently, that the Polynesians themselves were formed. In the IV-III century. BC e. they settled in Central Polynesia - Tahiti, Cook Islands, Tuamotu, Marquesas Islands. Easter Island was discovered and settled by Polynesians in the 4th century BC. n. e., and Hawaii in the 5th century. Polynesians arrived in New Zealand in the 11th century. n. e. Simultaneously, the settlement of Micronesia proceeded. The earliest, 2000-1000 BC. e., Western Micronesia was mastered. Austronesians settled there from the Philippine and South Japanese islands. Eastern Micronesia was settled at the beginning of the new era by Austronesians of the Lapit culture who lived in Melanesia. Later there was a resettlement of Polynesians from the east. Thus, a great feat in the history of mankind took place - the development of the islands of the Pacific Ocean.

culture

The Europeans who "discovered" Polynesia considered the islanders savages, not finding metals and weaving in them. For clothing, the Polynesians used hibiscus bark fibers and tapu- matter from the pressed bast of paper mulberry bark. Often on tapu applied patterns - painting and stamping. Clothing consisted of a loincloth or skirt. The leaders wore cloaks and helmets made of bird feathers and shells. The Maori of New Zealand did not have the opportunity to do tapu from the bark of tropical trees. They mastered the weaving of cloth and ropes from New Zealand flax fibers. Linen cloaks, decorated with feathers, were especially colorful. In cool weather, the Maori wore coats made of dog fur.

Men and women decorated themselves with flowers tiare(Tahitian gardenia). They still wear flower necklaces, wreaths or a flower behind their ears to this day. If behind the right ear, then you are alone and looking for acquaintances, if behind the left - you are busy and ask not to worry, if behind both - you are married, but ready for exploits. Polynesians tattooed their face and body. The priests did the tattoo. The status of a person could be determined by a tattoo. Only the leaders and their relatives had the right to cover the whole body with patterns. In women, the tattoo was limited to the corners of the lips, only in the Marquesas Islands, where the status of women was high, they tattooed the body.

The residential buildings of tropical Polynesia and Micronesia are of the same type - rectangular houses with a gable roof made of poles, grass and leaves, a pillar structure, usually without walls. Instead of walls, when it became cool, mats were used. Sometimes the houses were placed on an earthen elevation or a stone foundation. The latter was more common in places of worship. The Maori of New Zealand lived in palisaded villages. Residential houses were semi-dugouts. They were built from logs, the roofs were covered with bark and earth. Public buildings were built above ground; they were decorated with magnificent carvings and wooden sculptures.

Unlike the Melanesians, the Polynesians and Micronesians knew how to build with stone. On Easter Island, the Polynesians erected huge stone statues. In Micronesia, megaliths and roads paved with slabs have been found. In the lagoon of the Micronesian island of Pohnpei is Nan Madol, "Micronesian Venice". It's a whole city on the water. There, on artificial islands, stone structures dating back to the 12th-13th centuries were built. The structures are the burial places of leaders. The Micronesians of the island of Yap used money in the form of stone discs, the size of a millstone. Nobody touched them, they conditionally passed from hand to hand.

The Polynesians and Micronesians were famous for their seafaring skills. For swimming in the ocean, catamarans were used - single-hull boats with a balance beam or twin boats. For long-distance voyages boats, more precisely, boats 20 m long, were built from hewn boards fastened with cables. Large boats took up to a hundred people. Often, to increase the carrying capacity, a boardwalk was laid on the transverse bars between the boats. The boats were under oars and sail. The speed of large boats downwind was 11–18 km/h. In terms of maneuverability, they were not inferior to European ships.

The Polynesians navigated by the stars and sea currents. The navigators were the priests. They knew the location of the islands of Polynesia. When Cook visited Tahiti, the navigator drew him the location of the archipelagos of Central Polynesia. When visiting Tonga, the priests listed Kuku with the names of 150 islands. The Micronesians made real navigation charts. They were secret and encrypted. For long-distance voyages, the Polynesians sent fleets, sometimes from dozens of ships. Lined up in a semicircle, the ships sailed at a visual distance from each other, increasing the total viewing area. This is how families, clans, entire tribes moved, along with domestic animals and plants.

Religious beliefs

The Polynesians lived in a world created by gods and heroes who died and were reborn as gods. In terms of brilliance, Polynesian mythology is on a par with the myths of ancient Greece and India. According to Polynesian myths, everything began from the black Nothing, which, after a series of transformations, gave rise to the Cloudless Sky. The child of the Cloudless Sky was the Egg, from which the supreme god Tangaroa was born. Bored in solitude, Tangaroa created the world, the main gods and people from the shell of the Egg. There are many gods, and they differ in rank. Above all are the main gods: they helped Tangaroa create the world. Then come the leaders who became gods after death. Often they are the children of the union of gods and earthly women, which often happened when the world was young. Even lower are the gods and goddesses responsible for the professions - the gods of carpenters, boat builders, net makers and even thieves. Sometimes a dozen gods are responsible for one profession. In last place are evil demons, spirits and ghosts.

Polynesians believed in an afterlife. The spirits of the dead communicate with those close to them. The close connection between the world of the living and the world of the dead permeates the entire culture. The living honor their ancestors, the souls of the dead help the living. Each family could have a family god - one of the revered ancestors. The service to the gods was carried out by priests, who enjoyed great honor. In Polynesian mythology, the sexual principle is clearly expressed. Like the Olympian gods, the Polynesian gods are embroiled in endless love affairs with each other and with mere mortals. The gods not only enter into communication with mortals, but help people copulate. In addition to the gods of fertility, there is the goddess Hovea Lolo Fanua, who is directly responsible for sexual intercourse. The eroticism of Polynesian myths often strikes with fantasy. Such is the Hawaiian myth of the goddess Pele and the rapist Kamapua.

The goddess of volcanoes, the beautiful Pele, was wandering in the mountains of the island of Hawaii when she noticed that Kamapua, a low-ranking god of fertility, known for his lustful disposition, was creeping up on her. In a calm state, Kamapua looked like a handsome young man, but as soon as he got excited, he turned into a boar. Now he looked like a pig man and was advancing on Pele. The goddess was not of strict morals, she loved to go naked and seduce men, but the half-boar seemed disgusting to her. She rejected him. This further inflamed Kamapua, who could not stand refusals. The case turned to rape.

Fortunately, her sister Kapo, the goddess of witchcraft, known for her dangerous temper, immediately learned about Pele's misfortune. Kapo was a powerful goddess, but even she was unable to move from one island to another in an instant. Wasting no time, she lifted her skirt, grabbed the vagina, easily separated it and threw it at the rapist. The detachable vagina was the Capo's magical gift. With a whistle, the vagina flew towards Hawaii and hit the boar-man with terrible force in the face. From the blow, Kamapua flew 200 kilometers to the island of Oahu, where, having drawn a furrow on the rocks with his member, he ingloriously landed on the stones. According to another version, the flying vagina simply aroused Kamapua and distracted his lust from Pele.

The Micronesians, unlike the Polynesians, do not have a developed mythology. There are no myths about heroes reborn as gods. The souls of the dead go to the island of the dead, to heaven, or underground. Living people are haunted by the spirits of cannibal giants, very strong and stupid. They live in the forest and devastate villages, forcing people to leave them. Sometimes a hero is born who conquers evil spirits. A similar story is known among the Melanesians. There are popular myths about a divine girl who came out of the sea or descended from the sky and remained on earth because a man hid her wings or tail. The hero marries her, but sooner or later the girl gains her strength and flees. Sometimes her husband manages to detain her.

6.4. Food

Polynesians and Micronesians were engaged in hoe farming. They grew taro, yams, sweet potatoes, sugar cane, coconut palm, breadfruit, banana. The coconut palm came to the islands on its own; the Polynesians took most of the cultivated plants with them from Southeast Asia; yam (sweet potato) they brought from America. In turn, the Polynesians brought chickens to South America. The Polynesians were skilled farmers. When growing taro, they used artificial irrigation. In Western Micronesia, rice was grown, imported from the Philippines or Indonesia.

The seafarers who settled in Oceania took with them Asiatic dogs, pigs, chickens and rats. All of them were used for food. But not everywhere these animals have taken root. There were no pigs in the Cook Islands, dogs in the Marquesas Islands, pigs and chickens in New Zealand, only chickens (and rats) took root on Easter Island, and there were no domestic animals at all on Mangareva and Rapaiti (Central Polynesia). Of the wild mammals on the islands of Polynesia, only fruit-eating bats and rats introduced by humans and feral pigs were found.

The bird world was much more diverse. Birds were diligently hunted for food and beautiful feathers. An important place was occupied by the collection of bird eggs. I must say that man exterminated many species of birds in Oceania even before the advent of Europeans, putting small islands on the brink of ecological disaster. Even the large islands suffered from the predatory instincts of the people. In New Zealand, the Maori exterminated gigantic moa, ostrich-like birds, reaching four meters in height. Having lost prey, the huge New Zealand eagle, with a wingspan of more than three meters, also died out.

The main source of animal protein was the sea. Coastal waters abound with fish. There are especially many fish near coral reefs and in lagoons. Mollusks nest here, crabs and octopuses crawl, edible algae grow. If you have skills, it's hard to stay hungry. And the Polynesians and Micronesians were experienced fishermen. They caught fish with nets, sometimes huge ones, speared them during the day and, by the light of torches, at night, they caught fish with hooks, paralyzed with poison, set traps, and even kept fish and shrimps in coastal ponds. The ponds where the fish fell at high tide were separated from the sea by a lattice with cells, which made it possible to get rid of juveniles and select large fish. The islanders caught freshwater fish, especially in New Zealand, where there are many rivers and lakes.

Seafood was often eaten raw. Fish or shrimp were left overnight in a mixture of sea water and lemon juice, or in coconut milk, fresh and fermented. Now these dishes are listed in the menu of expensive restaurants. The main part of the food - root vegetables, sea turtles, pigs, dogs, large fish, was wrapped in leaves and simmered or steamed in earthen ovens, imu. Bats, birds and rats were baked on hot stones. The kitchen with the stove was always located outside the dwelling. The Polynesians and Micronesians lost pottery, but food was sometimes boiled with hot stones in tightly woven baskets.

The islanders knew how to preserve food. Before being sent on sea trips, they prepared fish and vegetables for future use. Fish and octopuses were salted, then soaked to leave a faint taste of salt, and dried. Sweet potatoes, other root crops, and breadfruit were baked and dried. Baked and dried slices of breadfruit pudding and coconut cream (pulp coconut). In everyday life, they fermented in closed pits lined with leaves, puree from root crops, bananas, breadfruit, fruits. As needed, the pit was opened, the fermented mess was taken out, mixed with coconut milk, wrapped in leaves and baked in the form of a pudding.

Prepare in the same way poi, sourdough from taro tubers. Baked or boiled taro tubers are ground and mixed with water until a homogeneous mass is stored in vessels, covered with a layer of water on top. freshly prepared poi has a mild sweet taste. Connoisseurs prefer fermented poi sour taste, and eat it with salted salmon. Consistency poi determined by the number of fingers with which it is convenient to bring it to the mouth (one finger, two fingers, etc.). poi good for health, especially for digestion. It contains vitamins C, E, B1, B6, potassium, magnesium and iron. It is often given to children and the elderly. poi has probiotic properties.

Before the arrival of Europeans, the diet of the Polynesians and Micronesians, consisting of high-quality root vegetables (yam, taro), fish and seafood, breadfruit, coconuts, fruits and a small amount of meat, was well balanced and allowed people to be in excellent physical shape. The widespread craving for meat reflected demands for prestige, status, even fashion, or was of a ritual nature and was not associated with malnutrition.

The islanders enjoyed the taste of any meat. They were very fond of bats and rats grilled on coals. Dogs in gastronomic terms were valued above pigs. The dogs were of an Asian breed and could not bark. They were kept for food and for fur. But there were few dogs - they were more often eaten ariki, nobles, and leaders. The women sometimes nursed the puppies. In Tahiti, to improve the taste of meat, dogs were fed root crops and vegetables, in Hawaii - a special "dog" poi.

At all holidays, the main dish was pigs baked in earthen ovens. In everyday life, the islanders ate twice a day in the circle of relatives and without frills, but when feasts were arranged, which happened often, people from near and far villages converged on them. Then dozens of pigs were baked, they ate a huge amount of food and drank a lot. kava.

6.5. Cannibalism

The early Polynesians and Micronesians, as mythology attests, were cannibals. Traces of cannibalism can be found almost everywhere, but on most of the islands it disappeared before the arrival of Europeans. At the end of the XVIII century. cannibalism did not occur on most of the islands of Central and Western Polynesia and Micronesia. He went out of practice in Hawaii, although there is a suspicion that the Hawaiian leaders ate Captain Cook, who was killed in a skirmish, in order to seize his power, mana. On the other hand, until the middle of the XIX century. the Maori of New Zealand, the Polynesians of the Marquis, Cook, Easter Islands and the Micronesians of the Pohnpei Islands (central Micronesia) remained cannibals. On Mangareva, cannibalism flourished in the 17th-18th centuries, but stopped after a sharp drop in the number of islanders.

The inhabitants of the Marquesas Islands were especially famous. Their cannibalistic habits found their way into literature through Herman Melville's novels Typei and Moby Dick and Robert Louis Stevenson's notes In the South Seas, which gave rise to the well-known term "long pig". Of the Marquesans Stevenson writes:

“Among the Marquesans, cannibalism was intertwined with the very essence of their life; the long pig was both a bargaining chip and a shrine; she figured as a payment to the tattoo artist, served as a sign of social events and was the occasion and bait of the feast.

What are the reasons for the differences in the practice of cannibalism? Humanities scientists, for the most part, reject the importance of the environment, reducing the causes of cannibalism to the peculiarities of the cultural development of peoples. There is no need to argue about the role of cultural differences, although they are not particularly great between Polynesians, but demography and ecology should not be discarded. The fact is that in Polynesia cannibalism coincided with the zones relative overcrowding and environmental disasters.

Examples of environmental disasters are Mangareva and Easter Islands. There people have completely cleared the forests. Without trees, agricultural productivity plummeted. Then domestic animals died, and there was nothing to make boats from to fish. As a result, famine came, wars broke out, and cannibalism flourished. for food. An example of relative overpopulation is the Marquesas Islands. By the arrival of the Europeans, about 100 thousand people lived there (now - 8 thousand). The valleys of these mountainous islands were completely settled and cultivated. New land suitable for agriculture could be obtained only by taking away from the neighbors. Endless wars began between the tribes of neighboring valleys, and the practice of eating dead enemies flourished. out of revenge. Overpopulation was also the cause of the wars that destroyed in the 16th century. Micronesian state of the Pohnpei Islands, with its center in Nan Madol. In addition to stone temples and tombs, the surviving islanders inherited cannibalism.

Maori cannibalism was facilitated by the destruction of native birds ( ecological catastrophy) and the struggle for fertile land (relative overpopulation). The Polynesians who migrated from the tropics found a temperate climate in New Zealand; coconut palms do not bear fruit and breadfruit trees do not grow there. In the north of the North Island, where it is warmer, the aliens managed to grow taro and yams, but sweet potato grew best - kumara. Of the domestic animals, only the dog took root. The lack of Maori pork was compensated by increased hunting for birds, primarily for huge ostriches. moa. For 400 years, they exterminated all fifteen species of moa and by the 17th century. left without meat. In addition, kumara gave good yields only on certain soils of the North Island. The result was constant wars for land and cannibalism, as ritual - out of revenge, and for the meat.

The Maori example also shows that spiritual culture, and Maori myths, are often compared with the myths of the Hellenes, acquaintance with Christianity, literacy, do not prevent cannibalism. In the middle of the XIX century. Maori used European farming techniques, bred potatoes for sale to the British, and mastered literacy. Even before the start of the Anglo-Morian wars of the 1860s-1870s. they created an independent "Country of the King", introduced common laws there and started their own flag. At the beginning of the war, the Maori allowed the colonists to safely leave the “Country”, without touching anything from the abandoned property (the British behaved in a completely different way). However, in the midst of the war, cases of cannibalism were not uncommon. Especially terrified Tamaikoha, the leader ngai-tama, - eater of the hearts of the British.

6.6. Family and marriage

Polynesians lived in large patriarchal families or family communities. In kinship, descent along the lines of father and mother was taken into account. Everyone knew their ancestry. This has been taught since childhood. The children of the nobles memorized and remembered 20–30 generations of their ancestors. The Polynesians also knew distant relatives. Even today, Maori can name up to 200 relatives. In Eastern Polynesia (Marquis Islands, Tahiti, Tuamotu, Cook Islands) and Hawaii, there was a Hawaiian kinship system, when all brothers of the father and mother are considered fathers, and all sisters of the mother and father are considered mothers. The children of these fathers and mothers are brothers and sisters.

Marriage taboos concerned close relatives according to the Hawaiian kinship system. The circle of relatives who were subject to marriage bans varied among Polynesians from different archipelagos. On some islands, marriages between all relatives, including adopted children, brothers and sisters, were forbidden. On others, marriages of children of brothers and children of sisters, but not children of a brother with children of a sister. Such a marriage was not only allowed, but considered preferable. Among the aristocrats of Hawaii and Tahiti, consanguineous marriages encouraged to keep the land and the purity of the blood.

Polynesian societies were divided into noble - Arikov, Aliyev, Aryan(depending on the dialect), and ordinary community members - rangatira, raatira. Marriages between nobles and commoners were forbidden. In Tahiti before the introduction of Christianity, a child born from a relationship arica and raatira, killed. There was an untouchable caste in Hawaii. It was impossible to eat with them, sleep next to them, even the shadow of the untouchable defiled the noble ones. The Maori of New Zealand and the Cook Islands had POW slaves. Slaves were not considered untouchable, but they were not suitable for marriage either.

In Hawaii, Tonga, Tahiti and Samoa, the nobles had a complex system ranks; from their midst stood out tribal leaders who are highly respected. The marriage of a leader with a simple woman was considered unacceptable. For such a marriage, the leader could be forced to abdicate the throne. Hawaiian kings (chiefs) were ordered to marry their own sisters (as in Ancient Egypt). The ritual justification was the desire to preserve and increase mana(mystical power) inherent in members of the royal family, so as not to dilute it with someone else's blood, but, on the contrary, double it, combining it in offspring mana father and mother. A child who received a double mana, equated with the gods.

Polynesian men were considered spiritually superior to women. According to Polynesian beliefs, people have spiritual power, mana. The most powerful on earth mana at the leaders. It is in their head and genitals. mana inherent in men, what is their fundamental difference from women, except for women of royal families and priestesses. The vast majority of women do not have mana. But they have magical powers during menstruation and are able to conjure a man. In real life, men and women differed not so sharply. Men fished, women gardened, prepared clothes from tapas, and made mats. Husband and wife made all important economic decisions jointly.

Men and women existed separately. They ate separately and slept separately. Small children played together, but from the age of five or six, boys and girls walked in separate companies. This continued with the youth. In some places, special houses were built for unmarried young men, where they lived. Even when the boy and girl were lovers and had children together, they did not show up together, but met and had sex under the cover of night or in secluded corners of the island. Social detachment persisted among the spouses. They were united by sexual and economic interests, but in public the husband spent time in the men's company, and the wife in the women's company.

Polynesians enter into marriages relatively late - at 17–20 years old. Celibacy was considered abnormal. In the event of a divorce or death of a spouse, remarriages are possible. Marriages are preceded by an initiation rite and a period of premarital liaisons. At the age of 12-13, boys undergo an initiation rite: they cut their foreskin and learn how to behave with women. Girls after the onset of menstruation are also instructed in the technique of sex. Premarital sexual intercourse continues until the age of 16–20. Although the parents of ordinary community members agreed in advance on the marriage of their children, they were often confronted with the fact of an established union, and all that remained was to approve it. The aristocrats were much stricter. The girls were not allowed to make free love, and the parents themselves picked up grooms and brides for their children. Pedigree, personal qualities and material wealth were taken into account. The wedding was organized by the family and clan of the groom.

Patrilocal marriage dominated, when the newlyweds settled in the house where the groom and his father lived. If the house is small, then the young people were placed under the kitchen shed, and then the father helped his son build a new house. Marriages are usually monogamous, but polygamy was common among chiefs and aristocracy. Among ordinary community members, there was a marriage of a man with two sisters or a woman with two brothers. In the Marquesas Islands there was polyandry. A woman, often of high rank, could have a main husband and one or more auxiliary husbands, pekyo. Pekyo occupied a subordinate position and helped with the housework. There were, however, cases when pekyo became a man of high rank, who was seized by a passion for a married beauty. Sometimes, a husband had several wives, and they pekyo.

Among the Micronesians, family and marriage relations were diverse. In Eastern and Central Micronesia, they approached the Polynesian, less often Melanesian, in Western Micronesia - the Philippine. Like the Polynesians, the basic unit of society is the extended family. On most of the islands, the genus was maternal, on the western ones it was paternal. The population was divided into leaders, noble and ordinary. Marriage was usually preceded by an active sex life. The marriage was arranged by the parents of the bride and groom. Matrilocal marriage prevailed - after the wedding, the husband went to live with his wife's family. In Western Micronesia, on the islands of Palau and Yap, marriage was patrilocal - the wife went to live with her husband. As in Melanesia and Polynesia, the Micronesians had men's, and in some places women's, public houses, where the opposite sex was forbidden to enter. In Western Micronesia there were secret men's and women's unions.

6.7. Sexual Traditions

The sexual emancipation of the Polynesians, especially the Tahitians, shocked the first European travelers. These travelers include James Cook, who visited on a ship Endever Tahiti in 1769 Cook is not a romantic like Bougainville; his look is sober, but there is no racism in the assessments. With restrained humor, he describes the episode that followed the service in the English camp in Tahiti (Cook calls the Tahitians Indians):

“Such was our matins; our Indians decided that it was fitting to have a very different kind of vespers. A young man, almost six feet tall, performed the Rite of Venus with a little girl of eleven or twelve years old, right in front of our people and a lot of natives, without the slightest feeling that he was doing something indecent or obscene, but, as it turned out, in full accordance with the mores of these places. Among the spectators were several women of high rank, in particular, Oberea, who, to be precise, helped the ceremony, giving the girl instructions on how to act, which the latter, despite her young age, apparently did not need at all.

Of other customs of the Tahitians, Cook writes emotionally:

“It cannot be said that among these people chastity was highly valued. One can understand when sisters and daughters are offered to foreigners as a sign of courtesy or for a reward, and when adultery, even of a wife, does not lead to punishment, except for a few harsh words or perhaps light beatings, which we have observed. But the extent of the dissolute sensuality to which these people have reached is not known to any people whose customs are described from the time of the creation of the world to this day; scope unimaginable.

A very large number of noble people of Otaheiti [Tahiti] of both sexes, have formed a society in which any woman is available to any man, which ensures uninterrupted diversity as long as there is a desire to seek it. The diversity is so frequent that the same man and the same woman rarely cohabit with each other for more than two or three days. These societies are known as areoi; and their members hold meetings where no one else can attend; where men have fun wrestling, and women ... dance Timorodi… to awaken desires, which are often said to be in place and satisfied. However, it is still relatively harmless. If any woman should happen to give birth to a child… then the poor child is strangled at the moment of birth… Sometimes, it is true, it happens that the passion that prompted a woman to join this society recedes when she becomes a mother… but even then she is not allowed spare the baby's life if she does not find a man willing to acknowledge his paternity. If this is done, the murder is prevented, but both the man and the woman, after this act, are considered to belong to each other; they are ostracized from society and deprived of the right to claim privileges and pleasures areoi in future".

Cook saw the outside of the activity areoi. mystical society areoi originated in Tahiti and spread to the Tuamotu and the Marquesas Islands. Members of society who considered themselves descendants of the god Oro had the right to impose taboos. Areoev revered and feared. Only noble men and women were accepted into society. Women took a vow to kill the children born (although the child could be saved by losing the status areoi). There were seven degrees of initiation, distinguished by tattoos. Areoyam the lower degrees were given the lead in dances and games, with which they traveled from one island to another, presenting episodes from the life and love of the gods. It was they who stood out for sexual promiscuity. Areoi constantly moved from place to place, spending their lives in festivities and feasts. Residents were required to support them. When areoi leaving, there were devastated fields and gardens.

The origin of the areoi is associated with the legend of the passion of the god Oro for an earthly girl. Oro, descending from the sky along the rainbow, fell in love with the girl Vairaumati. The son that was born to them laid the foundation for the areoi. Paul Gauguin painted the paintings “Her name is Vairaumati” and “The Areoi Seed” on the theme of the myth, depicting his mistress Tehura as Vairaumati. They think that the union areoi has its origins in the secret societies of the Melanesians, with whom the ancestors of the Polynesians were in contact. Similar legends and societies existed among the Micronesians.

Paul Gauguin. Vairaumati, friend of the god Oro. Paul Gauguin, Tahiti, 1897. Wikimedia Commons.

According to travelers and missionaries, on all the islands, the favorite pastime of the Polynesians was sex. The Polynesians appreciated everything that makes it pleasant. They bathed in springs and streams three times a day, rinsed their mouths and hands with water before and after meals, oiled their hair and rubbed their bodies. manoi- coconut oil infused with flower petals. Flowers were everywhere - in the hair, in the form of wreaths and garlands around the neck. All men and women removed armpit hair. The beards were partially plucked and kept in order. Hairstyles were the most varied; men paid attention to them no less than women. The hair on the head was often bleached or dyed red. Light skin was valued and noble women "bleached" it indoors.

And now the Polynesians wear flowers; even while dancing. Wikimedia Commons.

Men often lengthened the penis. Back in the 1930s in Samoa, the penis was stretched by placing it in a “fingertip” made of woven plant fibers. A load was hung from the "fingertip". Over time, the penis lengthened by several centimeters. In the old days on the island of Mangai (Polynesia), the clitoris was enlarged for girls: mothers massaged and sucked it. On the island of Pohnpei (Micronesia) in girls who had not yet reached puberty, the clitoris and labia minora were enlarged, providing them for stretching and sucking by old impotent men. Sometimes ant stings were used for the same purpose.

The sexual life of Polynesians was studied in detail in the 1950s. Donald Marshall on Mangai. This is a tiny, only 8 km wide island of the Cook Archipelago, located in the very center of Polynesia. Thanks to a happy coincidence, the people of Mangai have preserved their culture. True, they no longer wage wars and do not practice group copulation of warriors and their wives in the land of pagan temples. Now, the Mangay people are Christians, but the lifestyle that existed before the arrival of Europeans has remained almost intact, and little has changed in sexual traditions.

The topic of sex occupies a prominent place in the communication of the islanders - in the form of hints, jokes, gossip. The leader of the community must have a loud voice and a "good sense of humor", that is, a large supply of bawdy sayings and stories. Without "humor" not a single common deed is done. Like all Polynesians, the Mangays get excited on the genitals and neighboring parts of the body. Men are indifferent to the female breast, but immediately react to the rotation of the female hips during the dance, the naked body and, especially, the look tubercle of Venus. The Mangais have an excellent knowledge of the anatomy of the male and female genitalia and have many names for their parts, for example, five synonyms for the clitoris and several more names for the clitoris of various shapes.

As children, the Mangays play sex, but in secret. In public, boys and girls are in different companies. Both boys and girls masturbate. Their parents stop them, but do not punish them. At the age of 11-13 years, the foreskin is incised in front of the boys. Within two weeks, the boy recovers and receives instructions from the master who performed the operation. The mentor teaches how to do cunnilingus, suck breasts, come to orgasm with a partner. The tutor then takes the boy to an experienced woman for a practical lesson. Often, as in ancient times, a woman goes with a boy to the sea, where they have sex to the sound of the waves. At the same time, girls who have started menstruating are being taught by knowledgeable women who teach them ability to get an orgasm. Now young people are ready for sex, and begin to engage in it with enthusiasm.

Preparation for sexual intercourse is technically perfect, but brief. No time is wasted on hugs and tenderness. The young man tries to excite the girl as quickly as possible with the help of cunnilingus and nipple sucking. A man "wasting a woman's time" is called a "soft cock". Usually, after about five minutes, a man enters a woman. At the first intimacy, the girl evaluates the ardor of the new lover, sometimes putting him to the test. For example, without washing for several days, she forces her lover to do cunnilingus, or to have sexual intercourse without touching her body, except for the genitals. And, of course, the main thing is to achieve a mutual orgasm.

After the first act, the partners, if young, begin to prepare for the second run. Here preparation takes more time, and the young man works hard. But again, the main thing is the quality of sex and the orgasm of partners. Further relationships depend on mutual satisfaction - whether the partners become lovers or part. Among the Mangays, as among all Polynesians, sexual intercourse is not the crown of affection, still less of feelings, but a prerequisite from which affection can develop.

Positions during sex among Mangais are ordinary. Most often, the man is on top, in the “missionary position”. But the top can be a woman. It is not uncommon for the woman to stand leaning over with the man behind, or the lovers to lie on their side, the woman in front, the man behind. Less commonly, both lie on their side face to face. Sometimes a woman lies on her stomach, and a man is on her. Partners have sex and standing up. Mangay people love oral sex - separate or mutual, in position 69. Anal sex and mutual masturbation are performed during menstruation, which is considered dangerous for men. Mangay prefer a well-moistened vagina and, if lubrication is not enough, they use saliva or chewing gum from plants. During intercourse, a woman tries to be active - "so that all parts of the body move." That is why Mangay people do not like sex with European women. In addition, they find white women less clean than Polynesians.

Boys and girls often change partners. It is believed that if you have sex with one lover for too long, you can get pregnant. Between the ages of 13 and 20, girls have at least 3-4 lovers; often, much more. Boys - at least 10 mistresses. Sexual giants, with a penis tattoo on their thigh or a vagina on their own penis, have 60-70 mistresses. Boys form groups to assess the sexual qualities of their girlfriends, switch lovers, and discuss the best ways to sneak into the house of the girl who is to be copulated there at night, a practice known as motoro.

The task of the young man at nightfall is to wait until the noise in the house subsides and everyone falls asleep, then carefully open the door and, without creaking, crawl to the bed of his beloved. The task is not easy. In the Mangai house, everyone sleeps on mats in one large room - on the one hand, the father with his sons, on the other, the mother and daughters. The arrival of a seducer is not always welcome: a girl can scream and call her father - then beatings are indispensable. Therefore, a young man who is not particularly confident in himself seeks the location of the girl in advance. Whoever is more impudent goes recklessly - he persuades the girl on the spot (not without the risk of waking up the family) or, covering her mouth with his palm, immediately gets down to business. The Mangay people believe that if a young man has penetrated a girl, "she has no voice to scream." In most cases, the adventure ends successfully, and the young man leaves the house before morning. Similar night hikes exist in Samoa, Rorotonga and Tahiti. It is part of the general Polynesian culture.

It should not be thought that parents are always fast asleep or deaf. Usually they are well aware of what is happening in the darkness on the mat, from where laughter, rustles and groans are heard. But the daughter needs to find a husband, and motoro- the inevitable stage leading to marriage. Ultimately, girls get married and boys get married. Married life begins, that is, sexual life together. Married couples have sex regularly, although the frequency of intercourse decreases with age. At 18, Mangays have 3 orgasms a night, 7 days a week; at 28 years old - 2 orgasms per night, 5-6 days a week; at 38 years old - 1 orgasm, 3-4 days a week; at 48 - 1 orgasm, 2-3 days a week. Similar estimates were obtained in Central Polynesia.

Mangais love sex during pregnancy. Then the female organs become "wetter, softer, fatter and bigger." With pregnant wives, husbands practice sex from behind and do it almost until childbirth. It is widely believed that sex during pregnancy makes the path easier for the baby. Marital infidelity among the Mangays is of two types. Married women from time to time approach men with whom they first knew the joys of sex, or infidelity is caused by the long absence of a spouse. This type of infidelity is associated with the Polynesian belief that a normal person should have regular sexual life. Mangais are not alien to marital jealousy: there are known cases of suicide when a deceived husband or wife climbed onto a palm tree and rushed down. Sometimes jealous wives, in order to take revenge on their husbands, stop feeding their children and bring them to death.

Despite the availability of unmarried girls, rape is not uncommon on Mangai. In the old days, warriors had the right to rape the women of ordinary community members. Nowadays, youth sex prevails, when a group of 2 to 12 guys rapes a girl they like. Mangay people do not consider rape a big crime: the punishment is less than for stealing a pig. They do not understand the extent of the violence itself - after all, there are girls who do not mind being raped at all. In addition, according to tradition, violence can be stopped if a tired girl puts her hair in her mouth.

In old age, there are many impotent people among the Mangays. As an old manga man used to say: “there are six pipes with liquid for men, when the pipes are empty due to overflow, a condition sets in. dash». Thira in Polynesian it means the mast of a ship, but the mast is a synonym for the penis. The man starts from the stage tiraora,"living member" when he has an insatiable desire for women and the ability to satisfy them. Then comes the stage tiramoe,"sleeping member", when it is impossible to achieve an erection. Third stage - tiramate,"dead penis" when there is neither erection nor ejaculation. Finally, the fourth stage tyrant aro,"hidden member", when the member is pulled inside the body. Impotence also occurs in young men. It is treated by fumigation with the smoke of medicinal herbs and abstinence, although without much success. Marshall concludes that young Mangays have sex much more often than Europeans, but in old age there is a retribution in the form of frequent impotence.

Marshall observed cases of transvestism among the Mangais, when young men and men (often with the appearance of hermaphrodites) dress as women and perform women's work. He found no homosexuals among them. This is not the case in the rest of Polynesia. Homosexual transvestites are well known: Hawaiians, Tahitians and Marquesans call them swing, Samoans - fuafafine, Tongans - fucality. They have had and are having sex with men. In the XVIII century. Tahitian chiefs took mahu into a wife. Modern mahu continue to dress in women's clothing and perform women's work. They have oral sex with men. Known homosexuality, not associated with transvestism. Hawaiian and Tahitian aristocrats kept boys for sex. Male and female homosexuality is not uncommon among Maori, adolescents in Samoa and the Marquesas Islands, and among the Micronesians of the Marshall Islands.

6.8. Polynesians and Micronesians today

The love of Europeans turned out to be disastrous for the Polynesians. Too close contacts led to massive illnesses and death of immunologically unprotected islanders. 90% of the Hawaiians and the inhabitants of the Marquesas Islands died out, the number of Tahitians and Maori decreased. Except love, there were guns. In the Mariana Islands, the Spaniards exterminated 90% of the Chamorro Micronesians; modern Chamorros have only a fraction of the blood of the indigenous people. In New Zealand from 1843 to 1872 there were bloody Anglo-Maori wars. The surviving Polynesians and Micronesians fell into the hands of missionaries who made every effort to deprive them of their unique culture. Natives in the tropics must be fully dressed, they were forbidden folk dances and, moreover, extramarital sex.

Second half of the 20th century brought new misfortune to the islanders. This time, in the form of imported food. Cheap and fatty canned meats, no less fatty semi-finished products from waste, chips fried in margarine, Big Macs, sweets, and finally cola and beer hit the body of people who have lived on a balanced vegetable and fish diet for centuries. Junk food, combined with the loss of physical effort from farming and fishing, led to massive obesity among Polynesians and, to a lesser extent, Micronesians. As a result, type 2 diabetes has become epidemic. Maori are 6 times more likely to die from diabetes than whites in men and 10 times more likely in women. The situation is similar among other Polynesians. There are fears that, unless urgent action is taken, Polynesians, Australian Aborigines, and Indians in the United States and Canada will die of diabetes by the end of the 21st century.

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Geographical position: Polynesia- (from the Greek "many islands") - a subregion of Oceania, consisting of more than 1000 islands scattered across the Pacific Ocean. The territory forms a triangle. The peaks of which are: the Hawaiian Islands in the north, Easter Island in the southeast, and New Zealand in the southwest.

The islands are mostly of volcanic or coral origin. Volcanic islands are mountainous (height over 4000 m), coral-flat, low-lying. The islands of Hawaii and Samoa have active volcanoes. Most of the islands are surrounded by coral reefs.

The area of ​​Polynesia (without New Zealand) is 26 thousand sq. km

The population of Polynesia is 1.2 million people.

Natural and climatic conditions:Polynesia located on the subequatorial, tropical, subtropical and to a lesser extent in temperate zones. Temperature all year round stays at the same level, from +24 to +29 degrees Celsius. There is a lot of precipitation - up to 2000 mm per year. Frequent storms and typhoons.

Animal and vegetable world Polynesia is very different from the continental and is characterized by its endemicity. Evergreens are diverse: araucaria, rhododendrons, crotons, acacias, ficuses, bamboo, pandanus, breadfruit. Land animal world poor, there are no predators at all on the islands and poisonous snakes. But coastal waters are very rich.

The south of French Polynesia and Pitcairn are located in the zone of humid subtropics. It can be a little cold, the temperature is sometimes released up to +18 C. And New Zealand is located in a temperate climatic zone and partly in the subtropical, it is colder here, the climate is more similar to English.

Ethnic composition of the population: large peoples of Polynesia - Hawaiians, Samoans, Tatites, Tongans, Maori, Marquesians, Rapanui, Tuamotuans, Tuvaluans, Tokelauans, Niueans, Pukapukans, Tongarevans, Mangarevans, Manihians, Tikopians, Uveans, Futunans, etc.

Languages: respectively Hawaiian, Samoan, Tahitian, Tongan, Easter, Tokelau, Tuvaluan. Mangarevansky and others.

Characteristic features of the Polynesian languages ​​are a small number of sounds, especially consonants, an abundance of vowels. The languages ​​of the Polynesians are so close that the Tahitians, for example, could understand the Hawaiians, although they were separated by a huge space.

POLYNESIANS- a group of related peoples, the indigenous population of Polynesia and Outer Polynesia - some small islands of East Melanesia, the islands of Kapingamarangi and Nukuoro in Micronesia: Tonga, Samoa, Uvea, Futuna, Tuvalu, Tokelau, Niue, Pukapuka, Rarotonga, Mangay, Tongareva, Manihiki, rakhanga, Tahitians, Tubuans, Rapa, Paumotu, Napukantsy, Mangareva, Marquesans, Rapanui, Hawaiians, Maori, Tikopia and others. The total number of 1120 thousand people. They speak the Polynesian languages ​​of the East Austronesian (Oceanian) group of the Austronesian family. During the colonial period (since the 19th century), the active penetration of European languages ​​​​began. Only about half of Polynesians use Polynesian languages ​​in everyday life; the rest - only at traditional ceremonies and on solemn occasions. In the pre-colonial period, writing was, apparently, only among the Rapanui. In colonial times, local writing systems based on the Latin alphabet developed in a number of regions (Tahiti, Samoa, New Zealand). Polynesians are predominantly Catholics and Protestants.

The settlement of Polynesia by Polynesians began in the last quarter of the 2nd millennium BC. The ancestors of the Polynesians moved from Fiji to Tonga by 1200 BC, and from there to Samoa by 1000 BC. Apparently, the settlement of Polynesia could also go through Micronesia, but this route was of secondary importance. The Indians of South America, according to some assumptions, could have some influence on the ethnogenesis of the Polynesians. The settlement of East Polynesia and the small islands of East Melanesia came from Samoa.

Head of the family. Tonga Island

The center of the formation of the East Polynesian culture was the Marquesas Islands, inhabited at the beginning of our era, from where the Polynesians went to Easter Island (Rapanui, by the 5th century AD), the Society Islands and Hawaii (by the middle of the 1st millennium AD), New Zealand and the islands Cook (by the end of the 1st millennium AD) and others. In the pre-colonial period in the most developed regions (Tonga, Tahiti, Hawaii, Samoa), early state formations took shape, an intensive process of ethnic consolidation was going on, which at the turn of the 18th-19th centuries entered into final phase.

In general, in Polynesia, the formation of individual peoples ended in the 19th-20th centuries, when the islands of Polynesia became colonial possessions of Great Britain, the USA, Germany, and France. The processes of ethnic consolidation intensified with the emergence of independent states among the Polynesians (Western Samoa, Tonga, Tuvalu).

At the end of the 18th century, the process of decomposition of the primitive communal system in Polynesia was completed. According to the level of social development, 3 groups of Polynesians are distinguished. The Hawaiians, Tongas, Tahitians, Samoans had a complex system of ranks, a layer of nobility was clearly distinguished, from which the leaders came and who controlled social labor. In terms of culture, the nobility differed significantly from ordinary community members; there was a developed etiquette, in particular, the communication of persons of different ranks required the use of special lexical formulas (“the language of leaders”). Ethnic consolidation here has reached the highest level in Polynesia.

Among the Rapanui, Maori, Mangareva, Uvea, Marquesas, Tikopia, Futuna, and others, society was divided into nobility and ordinary community members. The highest level of consolidation is the tribe. Unions of tribes were just emerging. The power of the chiefs was limited by the council. In terms of culture, the upper layer was somewhat different from the lower one. There was a developed etiquette.

Among the Polynesians of the islands of Puka-puka, Ontong-Jawa, Tokelau, social stratification was at a low level, real power was in the hands of the elders and heads of individual families. Almost the entire adult population participated in solving important issues. In the third and partially second groups, the leaders often combined political and religious functions. In the societies of the first group, there was a separation of religious and political power.

Polynesians lived in large patriarchal families or extended family communities. Bilinear relationship counting. Patrilocal marriage prevailed. During the colonial period, the original culture of the Polynesians was thoroughly destroyed, but some remnants of the way of life remain to this day. On many islands, capitalist production relations were formed.

The local intelligentsia appeared.

The national liberation movement is growing in the dependent territories.

The main traditional occupations are manual tropical farming, sometimes based on artificial irrigation (taro, yams, breadfruit, bananas, sweet potatoes, sugarcane, etc.), and fishing. Dogs, pigs and chickens were bred on some islands.

In a number of regions there was an intensified development of handicrafts - the construction of boats with a balancer, the manufacture of tapas, wood carving, in Eastern Polynesia - stone (the manufacture of statues, etc.). The Polynesians were famous for their seafaring skills.

Plantation farming is spreading among modern Polynesians, the manufacturing and mining industry is growing, the export of copra, bananas, cocoa, vanilla, etc., and semi-subsistence agriculture is also preserved. The local intelligentsia appeared. The national liberation movement is growing in the dependent territories.

traditional settlement scattered. The dwelling is rectangular, sometimes with rounded corners, with a gable roof made of poles, grass and leaves, in places on a stone foundation or raised earthen platforms.

They wore a skirt or apron made of pandanus, tapa or grass fibers or a loincloth. Sometimes the number of clothes worn indicated status and wealth. The type of clothing itself was closely related to the social position of a person (cloaks and helmets of the leaders among the Hawaiians). Ornaments from bird feathers, flowers, shells. The tattoo was widely known.

They ate mainly plant foods and fish. Meat, as a rule, was the food of the nobility (as was the drink kava) on special occasions. Food was cooked in earthen ovens. They knew how to preserve food.

Traditional beliefs are the cult of gods and leaders, belief in an impersonal force that brings good luck (mana). Taboo customs were associated with the leaders. Priests played an important role in the life of society.

In Eastern Polynesia, places of worship are open areas (marae), in Western Polynesia - temples ("houses of the gods").

Millenarian cults proliferated during the colonial period.

Developed musical and dance folklore (historical and genealogical legends, fairy tales, myths, songs, proverbs, sayings).

MANGAREVA-Polynesian people, the indigenous population of the Mangareva Islands (former Gambier), including the islands of Mangareva, Tarawai, Akamaru and Auken, as part of French Polynesia. Number in 1983 - 582 people. They speak the Mangarevan language of the eastern branch of the Austronesian family. polynesian culture religion traditional

Traditional farming: slash-and-burn manual agriculture (breadfruit, coconut, taro, yams, sweet potato, arrowroot, bananas, plantain, sugarcane, turmeric, tee, pandanus, paper mulberry). They catch fish with the help of lines and hooks from shells, coconut drupes, bones, for sharks - from wood; nets with sinkers, wicker traps, corrals, they beat with a spear, they catch with torches at night. They also catch crabs, octopuses, tridacna clams, pearl mussels, turbo. For fishing and movement between the islands using rafts under sail and small rowing boats. Until the 19th century, pigs were bred from domestic animals.

Crafts: carpentry (building houses, making boats, weapons, wooden sculpture), production of tapas from the bast of paper mulberry and breadfruit, weaving (baskets, bags, fans, slings, traps, wickerwork for roofing). The main tools of labor are a planting stake, stone axes, scrapers from shells.

The traditional weapons of the mangareva are a wooden club, a spear with a fishbone tip, a bow and arrows, and a wicker sling.

By the 30s of the XX century, they completely lost the traditional way of life and culture, they were engaged in the commercial production of bananas and mangoes.

Traditional food: popoi - fermented, baked and mashed breadfruit; roro is a thick liquid squeezed from the pulp of coconut: a paste of leaves and roots of cordelina terminalis (tee) and turmeric roots, stewed taro tubers and yams. Fish and marine animals were eaten baked or dried, sometimes along with booties. Food was wrapped in banana leaves and cooked in an earth oven. Meat food - pork and human meat on holidays. They never ate, unlike other Polynesians, rats and coconut cake.

The settlement is usually of a cumulus layout, sometimes surrounded by a stone wall along with vegetable gardens. Traditional buildings - sleeping huts, kitchens, houses for sick and pregnant women, community houses, temples, the dwelling of the leader - are rectangular in plan, pillar construction with a roof made of pandanus or palm leaves. Stone pavements were made in front of the dwelling. Community houses and temples had an open front facade on the long side. Temples sometimes had stone foundations. The lower parts of the supporting pillars and the ends of the rafters of public buildings were carved in the form of figures of gods. Inside they were decorated with painted tapa.

Men's clothing -- tapa loincloth around the waist; noble women, in addition, wore a large piece of tapa tied on the right shoulder, leaving the right arm and chest bare. Tattooing of the face and body was common, among the leaders - including the heels. Chiefs, priests and wealthy mangarevas wore a pendant made of a sperm whale tooth on their chests.

The warriors wore short banana leaf fiber skirts, a tapa turban and feather wreaths on their heads.

The settlement consisted of several family communities numbering 3-4 generations. Marriage is patrilocal, kinship is bilateral. By the arrival of the Europeans, the Mangareva were divided into simple community members ("Urumanu"), who cultivated the land; artisans, among whom carpenters (taura rakau) enjoyed special honor; the middle prosperous layer (pakaora); hereditary aristocracy (togo "iti), priests (taura), soothsayers ("akarata"), warriors ("aretoa") and hereditary leaders ("arariki").

They speak the Mangarevan language of the eastern branch of the Austronesian family. Writing since the 19th century based on the Latin alphabet. Believers are Catholics.

The pantheon is common Polynesian. Tu was considered the main one - the god of breadfruit, the patron of vegetation and fertility. Local gods are Atu-motua (Father-ruler) and Atua-moana (Ocean-ruler). Folklore includes genealogical legends, myths, legends, fairy tales, ritual texts.

Musical instruments - vertical drums with a shark skin membrane, horizontal slotted gongs, bamboo flutes, whistles made from pieces of bamboo, signaling instruments made from a newt shell.

MARQUESANS, Khivans (from Khiva - “distant countries”), the people of the Polynesian group, the indigenous population of the Marquesas Islands (as part of the “overseas territory” of French Polynesia). The number of 13 thousand people.

Economic and cultural types: Traditional occupations are manual slash-and-burn agriculture (taro, yams), fishing, pig breeding. Crafts - weaving, carving in wood and stone, dressing unpainted tapa, making boats of Polynesian and Melanesian types. Modern marquesans work for hire in agriculture, are engaged in the extraction of copra, in the fishing industry.

Features of material culture: Traditional houses of leaders - on stone platforms (up to 30 m long), with a large open veranda, decorated with carvings (anthropomorphic images).

The ethnogenesis of the Marquesans is probably connected with the migrations of the first centuries. AD and especially IV--VII centuries. From the west. Contacts with Europeans since the 18th century. Traditional social organization was based on tribes, which were led by paramount chiefs (hakaiki nui) and councils (hakatootina); social groups were distinguished - military leaders (toa), priests (taua), hereditary artisans (tukhunga). The nobles had polyandry.

Tattooing is common, women lighten their skin.

They drink kava.

Features of spiritual culture and religion: There were secret alliances, secret languages. The custom of twinning (enao, tayo - “brother”) with the exchange of names is widespread. Traditional beliefs included the cults of ancestors, the skulls of leaders, the veneration of the turtle, the Indian fig tree. Most of the Marquesans are Catholics, a significant number of Calvinists.

PAUMOTU(Tuamotu) - Polynesian people, the main population of the Tuamotu Islands, in French Polynesia (number 16.4 thousand people).

Economic and cultural types: The main traditional occupations are manual farming (pandanus, taro, yam, coconut palm) and fishing. Mother-of-pearl mining is developed; The Paumotus are also involved in the production of copra.

Features of material culture: In the past, each island was divided into districts inhabited by several patrilineal families (ngati). At the head of the ngati was a leader, sometimes elected (ariki, ariki nui), women were also elected. Depending on the social status, the methods of tattooing differed. The family is small, the relationship is bilateral, the marriage settlement is neolocal.

Features of spiritual culture and religion: French and neo-Tahitian languages ​​are widespread. Writing based on Latin graphics from the middle of the 19th century. There are speeches. Believers are Christians.

Part of the Paumotu moved to Tahiti during the internecine wars of the early 19th century; The Paumotus were influenced by the Tahitians, who are culturally close. According to legend, the ancestors of the Paumotu sailed from the land of Raro, possibly from the region of the Marquesas Islands.

Cults of numerous gods, guardian spirits, evil spirits, and ancestors are traditional. There were sanctuaries-marae with wooden cult sculpture (tiki), witchcraft. On the basis of Christian and Polynesian beliefs, a syncretic cult of the god Kiho (Kio, Io) developed. The processes of ethnic rapprochement between the Paumot and the Tahitians and other peoples of French Polynesia are intensifying.

TAHITIAN(Maohi) - Polynesian people, the indigenous population of the island of Tahiti and some other islands of the Society (in French Polynesia). The number of 130 thousand people, 7 thousand people also live in New Caledonia.

Economic and cultural types: Traditional occupations are manual farming (taro, yam, sweet potato, coconut palm), animal husbandry (pigs, dogs) and fishing. Traditional crafts are boat building, tapas, mats, etc., wood and stone carving. During the colonial period, a manufacturing industry emerged. Copra, vanilla, mother-of-pearl are being exported.

Features of material culture: The traditional settlement is a village. The traditional dwelling is rectangular, of pillar construction, with a gable roof made of poles and grass.

Clothing (skirts, aprons, raincoats and capes) made of tapas and mats. The nobility wore rich feather headdresses.

Food is mainly vegetable and fish.

The traditional social structure is characterized by the separation of higher and lower leaders, the nobility (arias), wealthy landowners (raatira), and ordinary community members. The leaders led individual tribes and tribal communities. Communities are neighbors. Marriage is monogamous, leaders have polygyny.

Features of spiritual culture and religion: They speak Tahitian or Neo-Tahitian (Neo-Tahitian) language of the East Austronesian group of the Austronesian family. Weak spoken division (not studied) is associated with the spread of the Tahitian language as a language of interethnic communication on the islands of Tuamotu, Marquesas, Mangareva, Tubuai. Writing based on the Latin alphabet since 1823. The Tahitians are Calvinists, some are Catholics.

The neighboring Rapa and Tubuai are close to the Tahitians, who are partially assimilated by the Tahitians. The Society Islands began to be settled by Polynesians by the middle of the 1st millennium AD. In the 2nd millennium AD, a tribal organization was formed on the island of Tahiti, headed by hereditary leaders. At the turn of the XVIII-XIX centuries, the ethnic consolidation of the Tahitians was completed. At the beginning of the 19th century, an early state formation was created on the island of Tahiti and nearby islands.

The traditional beliefs of the Tahitians are characterized by a developed pantheon of gods, the cult of leaders. The priesthood (opunui) constituted a hereditary caste. Belief in spirits and the cult of ancestors are widespread. Musical (drum, flute) and dance folklore is developed. Along with the intra-ethnic consolidation of the Tahitians, the process of inter-ethnic consolidation of the Polynesians of French Polynesia (Tahitians, Paumotu, Mangareva, Marquesans) is taking place.

TUBUAYANS(tubu, tubuai) - Polynesian people, the indigenous population of the Tubuai islands in French Polynesia. The number of 15 thousand people.

Economic and cultural types: The main occupations of the Tubuai are manual farming (taro, yams, coconuts, bananas, breadfruit) and fishing. Pigs and poultry are imported by Europeans. Tubuaytsy are skilled navigators, they know several dozen types of ships. Modern Tubuai are also employed in the production of copra and vanilla.

Tapa ornamentation, wood carving, including anthropomorphic on houses, oars, are developed.

Features of material culture: The Tubuays lived in patrilineal clans, whose unions were headed by chiefs (ariki). In the absence of a male heir, matrilineal inheritance was possible. The islands were headed by rulers associated with the dynasties of Tahiti, who often combined secular and religious functions. A group of priests (pure) stood out. Modern Tubuai live in small families with a neo-local settlement. The villages are headed by elected councils. On the island of Raivavae, stone sculptures reminiscent of the sculptures of Easter Island were discovered. Fortresses and fortifications are widespread (the island of Rapa).

Features of spiritual culture and religion: They speak the Tubuai language of the East Austronesian group of the Austronesian family. French is also widely spoken. The dialects of the islands of Tubuai, Rurutu, as well as Rapa, Raivavae, are distinguished, where features of a non-Polynesian substrate are noted. Neo-Tahitian language acquires great importance. Tubuaytsy are Christians (Protestants and Catholics), some adhere to traditional beliefs.

The islands were settled in 700 - 1100, according to legend - from the lands of Parutu and O "Gwiwa (presumably Tonga and Hiva-Oa). Settlement and strong influence from the Society Islands are most likely. Some of the Tubuai people come from the Cook Islands, Tuamotu. Polynesian traditions stably preserved due to relative isolation.

The Tubuai retain the cults of the supreme gods (Tangaroa, Rooteabu) and the cults of the gods of individual clans associated with the cult of ancestors. Aa is considered the ancestor of all Tubuai. Among the Tubuai, the processes of ethnic consolidation with the Tahitians and other peoples of French Polynesia are intensifying.

POPULATION OF POLYNESIAN

For two decades after the Kon-Tiki expedition, Heyerdahl continued to collect new evidence for his main concept.

The amazing voyage of a balsa raft from South America to Polynesia naturally attracted the attention of both scientists and the general public, but they learned about this voyage from a popular book and from a film. Newspapers were quick to portray Heyerdahl as a 20th-century Viking who not only braved the oceans but challenged the leading armchair scientists by declaring that the Polynesians came from South America, not Southeast Asia. Few have read his first scientific article, published six years before the Kon-Tiki expedition in the International Science collection in New York. In it, the author clearly stated that the first settlers in Polynesia were people who sailed on rafts from South America, then they were swallowed up by a second migration wave - immigrants from Asia, sailing through the North Pacific Ocean.

In the extensive monograph American Indians in the Pacific, Heyerdahl argues again and more confidently that although the roots of the Polynesian racial and cultural complex are to be found in Asia, the migration route was through the North Pacific rather than through Melanesia and Micronesia.

An exposition of these views formed the content of a report read by the author at the University of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia). The report was published in the Bulletin of the Museum of the University of Pennsylvania (vol. 4, E 1, pp. 22-29. 1961). ).)

Two hundred years ago, it was widely believed that the Polynesian tribes of the isolated islands of the eastern Pacific Ocean were American Indians, who, like the first Europeans, were carried there by the prevailing east winds and currents. (Recall that the American coast is in the east of the Pacific Ocean, and the Asian coast is in the west.) Polynesia. Without exception, all voyages in the South Seas began in the Humboldt Current and were made in the direction of the trade winds, that is, from South America to the west, to Polynesia. To return from there to America, one had to go first west to Indonesian waters, and then in a long arc north along the coast of Asia; only to the north of the Hawaiian Islands did the ship again meet American shores.

But in the time of Captain Cook, it was discovered that in the language of the Polynesian islanders and the Malay tribes there are common words and roots. Since then, it has become generally accepted that the Polynesian Neolithic tribes made what was inaccessible to Europeans with their sailboats - a journey to the east, from the Malay region to Polynesia.

A weighty linguistic argument was supported by the following facts: the Polynesians raised chickens, pigs, grew breadfruit, bananas, sugar cane, yams, taro, they used boats with balance beams. These are all undeniable elements of Asian culture, unknown in America.

Thus, ethnographically, the problem of the origin of the Polynesians was solved as if simply. However, in the 19th and 20th centuries, when anthropologists, archaeologists, and ethnologists began to delve into the study of the Polynesian problem, insurmountable obstacles and deep contradictions arose. Anthropologists such as Wallace (1870), Deniker (1900), Sullivan (1923) noticed fundamental differences between the Polynesian and Malay tribes. It turned out that the Polynesians differ sharply from the Malays in height, physique, the shape of the skull, nose, they have different hairiness of the face and body, a different hair structure, dissimilar eyes, skin color. And modern blood composition studies performed by the Melbourne Laboratory show that Polynesians cannot be direct descendants of Malay tribes or tribes from Southeast Asia - the difference in inherited blood factors is too great.

In December 1955, the American Journal of Physical Anthropology published a joint report by the most eminent English serologists (Simmons, Graydon, Semple, and Fry) who concluded: “There is a close genetic consanguinity between American Indians and Polynesians; such a relationship is not noted when comparing the blood of Polynesians with the blood of Melanesians, Micronesians and Indonesians, excluding the border zones where they directly adjoin. (I) Traces of Proto-Polynesian culture and physical type in the Malay region, no matter how archaeologists and ethnologists searched, could not be found. But they independently discovered important factors that disprove the possibility of the spread of Polynesian culture from the Malay center. The relative homogeneity of the peculiar Polynesian culture from the Hawaiian Islands in the north to New Zealand in the south, from Samoa to Easter Island, can only be explained by the fact that it developed in this area before spreading into the eastern Pacific. This also testifies to the relatively recent migration and spread of the Polynesian tribes over a vast area. Experts believe that the last major wave of settlers reached Polynesia in the 12th century.

However, neither in Indonesia, nor on the Micronesian-Melanesian Islands separating it from Polynesia, have any of the characteristic Polynesian tools been found. The exception is, perhaps, a certain type of stone adzes in the north of the Philippine Islands, and even then they fell out of use there and gave way to other tools more than two thousand years before the last migration of the Polynesians. Iron from the Malay Peninsula spread through Borneo and Java around 200 BC; meanwhile, metals were completely unknown in Polynesia.

No less important is the fact that not a single Polynesian tribe knew either weaving or pottery. And these are two very significant signs of the spread of culture, which must necessarily be reckoned with. After all, ceramics and the loom were widespread cultural elements in almost all areas adjacent to the Pacific Ocean and were firmly established in Indonesia long before our era. The wheel, which was known from ancient times and was of such great importance in the Old World, was also unknown in Polynesia, despite the existence of paved roads. Betel chewing (more precisely, betel nuts with lime), a characteristic of Indonesian culture that has spread east to Melanesia, inclusive, disappears on the border of Polynesia; but here begins the ritual consumption of the drink kava, which is not known in Indonesia. (Kava is a drink made from the roots of wild pepper Piper methysticum; the roots were chewed, the resulting slurry was diluted with water and filtered.) Polynesians did not have palm wine, which has long been widespread in Indonesia, as well as other alcoholic beverages, until Europeans brought them . Strings musical instruments, whose world center of evolution was Asia and Indonesia, were absent from the Polynesians, although they loved music. bow and arrow like military weapon suddenly disappear on the border of Melanesia and Polynesia.

In 1955, the Swedish ethnographer Anell tried, by comparing fishing equipment, to find the origins of the Polynesian migration in the Malay Archipelago, but he also found common features. Anell concludes that the fishing skills of the Polynesians are not associated with Malaya, but with a more northern culture that developed in Northeast Asia (including Japan), from where its influence spread to North and South America, as well as to the islands of Polynesia and Micronesia.

Not without reason, in 1923, the most prominent American Polynesianist Sullivan, in a critical review of the prevailing theories of the origin of the Polynesians, and in 1939 the English ethnographer Williamson, concluded that there are no two coinciding theories and that researchers are completely at a loss about the center of origin of the Polynesian people and the ways of its migration. When the author of this review brought it up to 1952, it turned out that more than thirty scientists, trying to prove the recent exodus of Polynesian tribes from the Old World, published more than thirty different and mutually exclusive theories.

Most scientists assumed that in Polynesia in different time arrived independently of each other two (some said - three) nationalities with different cultures. At the same time, everyone relied on the Malayo-Polynesian linguistic kinship. But since the physical relationship of the Polynesians and Malays was excluded, and the linguistic similarity was indefinite and accidental (different roots were found in the languages ​​​​of different Malay tribes living far from each other), unlimited scope was opened for conjectures. Therefore, later researchers turned to the Asian mainland instead of Indonesia. Linguistic features certainly indicate that there was once some kind of contact between the Proto-Polynesians and the Proto-Malays, but it is doubtful that the ancestors of the Polynesians ever lived in the Malay region. And after all, the Malays, like the Polynesians, are not the original inhabitants of the islands they now inhabit. They certainly arrived in the archipelago from the mainland nearby, and the primary connection between Malays and Polynesians probably preceded this geographical movement.

Due to the apparent fragility and inconsistency of the Malayo-Polynesian theory, it was necessary to test the value of arguments proving the exodus of the Polynesians from Indonesia, such as the balance beam (the balance beam was combined with devices that gave boats stability on the turbulent rivers of Southeast Asia) and the so often mentioned domestic animals and cultivated plants. The result was, to say the least, unexpected.

The eminent Polynesianist Sir Peter Buck (Te Rangi Hiroa), a supporter of the Malayo-Polynesian theory, showed as early as 1938 that the early settlers in Polynesia did not know any of the Indonesian plants of interest when they reached their present habitats in the eastern Pacific Ocean. He found that important Old World food crops such as breadfruit, banana, yam, and taro (the best varieties) were not introduced from the west by the Polynesians. They were brought to Polynesia from Indonesia and from New Guinea by the old inhabitants of the intermediate region - the Melanesians. And already on the Fiji Islands, which are their extreme eastern outpost, Polynesians sailing from the east discovered plants of Indonesian origin. Buck believed that visitors from Polynesia arrived through the atolls of Micronesia, where the named plants were also not known.

In addition to the two main expeditions shown here, Heyerdahl visited the Marquesas Islands in 1937, the Galapagos Islands in 1953, and traveled extensively along the coasts of Central and South America.

We know that the pig and the chicken were also not known to the first inhabitants of Polynesia until, as Buck points out, they were introduced from the Fiji Islands, and this is reflected in the oral traditions. This may also explain the unexpected absence of such animals among numerous Maori tribes. They sailed to New Zealand from Polynesia proper, but became isolated from the population of the rest of the islands after the fourteenth century, that is, before the pig and chicken became known there. The Maori tribes (as well as the Moriori on the Chatham Islands), which broke away early from their trunk in Polynesia proper, turned out to be the only guardians of a purely Polynesian culture that existed until the 14th century, while inter-island contacts remained between the rest of the Polynesian tribes and trade continued between them until appearance of Europeans. It is noteworthy that by the time the Europeans arrived, not a single Maori or Moriori tribe yet knew the balancer - this ingenious invention that gives stability to plank boats.

In the rest of Polynesia, pig, chicken, and Melanesian cultivated plants have already spread from the neighboring islands of Fiji; the balancer was also mastered everywhere. Note that the Polynesians knew about the Melanesian type of a single balancer. The double balancer used in Indonesia did not reach Polynesia.

In short, a critical examination of the few arguments from the field of material culture, which were intended to support the linguistic evidence of the origin of the Polynesians from Indonesia, shows their flimsiness and deceptiveness. On the contrary, they have to be considered as negative evidence when one asks how Polynesian immigrants could come from Indonesia, cross the “buffer” Melanesian territory and settle in the eastern Pacific Ocean without learning anything about a single or double balancer, but learning about a pig and chicken.

Linguists and archaeologists have now established that all traces of a Polynesian settlement in Melanesia and Micronesia are associated with the arrival of Polynesians from the east - from Polynesia proper, and not from the west - from Indonesia. Involuntarily, the question arises: could open Indonesian boats of the Neolithic type up until the 18th century compete with European ships, travel 6,000 kilometers against the wind and currents through the hostile territory of Micronesia or Australo-Melanesia, without leaving any traces there ?!

The eminent navigator Bishop attempted to sail the Asiatic junk eastward for three consecutive years to replicate the alleged early Indonesian voyages to Polynesia. Even before Micronesia, he was driven back every time. He finally gave in and rightly declared in 1939 that such a migration was not feasible.

What could actually happen to a primitive ship that, without a map, went out into the expanses of the Philippine Sea in search of new lands? He was picked up by the Kuroshio current and carried away to Northwest America. Off the coast of Alaska - Canada, a branch of the current turns directly to the Hawaiian Islands. We know many cases when, already in later times, the Kuroshio current brought people to Northwestern America. In addition, it is known that during the period of the first European discoveries in the Pacific Ocean, the inhabitants of the Hawaiian Islands made their largest boats from driftwood from the American northwest coast.

Navigation on the simplest ships from Indonesia to Polynesia was possible only along a natural arc inscribed by the elements - through the northern part of the Pacific Ocean with a further turn to the Hawaiian Islands. Once you accept this simple fact, all problems disappear. There are no navigational obstacles. Ships bypass the hostile region of Micronesia and Melanesia, which stretches for 6,000 kilometers, and enter it only from the opposite side. If we consider the islands of Northwest America (for example, Vancouver and Queen Charlotte Islands, the Alexander Archipelago) as a springboard, then it becomes quite clear why pottery was not known to the Polynesian tribes. Along the entire northwest coast (which became a specific concept in American ethnography), pottery was not known until the arrival of Europeans, unlike almost all other areas fringing the Pacific Ocean.

The seaside tribes of this secluded area (for example, the Kwakiutl on Vancouver Island, the Haida on the Queen Charlotte Islands) used a stone-lined earthen oven; exactly the same oven we see in all the Polynesian tribes. The lack of a loom among the Polynesians can also be understood: the Northwest Islands are one of the few areas around the Pacific Ocean where it was not known until historical times. Unfamiliar with weaving, the seaside inhabitants of the Northwest carved out of wood and whale bone coarse beaters, such as were used throughout Polynesia, and made clothes from the soaked bast of certain trees softened by these beaters. The cloaks of the New Zealand Maori, who did not know the tropical trees from which tapu was usually made, are so strongly reminiscent of the bast cloaks of the Indians of the northwest coast that even experienced researchers do not immediately distinguish them. (Tapa is a Polynesian fabric made from the bast of the paper mulberry Broussonetia papyrifera.) The huge gap in chronology between the end of the Neolithic in Indonesia and the settlement of Polynesia is also easily covered by a springboard in the Northwest, where culture remained Neolithic until the arrival of Europeans and where the main tool of labor, as and throughout Polynesia, there was not an ax, but an adze, mounted on the same cranked handle for both regions. One of the most typical Polynesian adzes was discovered by archaeologists on the coast of Northwest America. Variants of other Polynesian products that are not found in Southeast Asia are also found here - peculiar stone beaters in the shape of a bell, the Latin letters D and T, developed locally from pestles, as well as characteristic clubs such as patu and mere made of polished stone or whale bone. (according to the classification of Polynesian fighting clubs, developed by several researchers, including Buck, the mere is a short, flat club with a thickened handle).

As in Polynesia, there was no combat bow with arrows. There were no stringed instruments; in both areas they were replaced by drums, rattles and wind instruments. Some carved anthropomorphic flutes are so similar between Maori and northwestern tribes that they may appear to have been made with the same hand. Large wooden canoes (the basis of the purely maritime culture of the tribes of the American northwest coast) carried up to a hundred people, and early travelers noted their striking resemblance to Maori war canoes. As in Polynesia, in the Northwest, for sailing on the high seas, two boats were sometimes tied together and covered with a common plank deck.

In addition to the fact that the ships in these two areas are similar in shape, size, method of joining side boards, separate manufacture of the bow and stern, topped with heads on swan necks, even the customs of their owners coincided. So, among some Maori tribes and tribes living in the North-West, it was customary to deploy warships stern first when approaching the coast, because only the gods were supposed to moor with their bows.

All these seemingly unexpected and, however, undoubted parallels and coincidences in the culture of the tribes inhabiting the coastal archipelagos of Northwest America and distant Polynesia have been repeatedly noted by early travelers and modern ethnographers. Many other striking analogies have been noted, from the composite wooden fishhook to carved wooden poles and gable-roofed clapboard houses that were entered between the spread legs of a totem pole.

The ethnographer Dickson emphasized in 1933 that Cook, Vancouver, and other early travelers were struck by the similarity of culture in these areas when they made their acquaintance with these areas of the Pacific. The same navigators who discovered the linguistic relationship between Polynesia and Indonesia established that the analogues of the material culture of the Polynesians are concentrated on the coast of Northwest America. Just as remarkable is the similarity of the social system, customs and beliefs, also noted many times in the literature.

Drawing attention to the archipelago in the North Pacific Ocean (north of the Hawaiian Islands) as a logical springboard on the path from East Asia to Polynesia, we do not dispute the previous assumptions about the homeland of the last Polynesian immigrants, but only offer a new version of the immigrant path. Linguistic kinship remains intact. So far, no linguistic arguments have been advanced linking the Polynesian settlers to the Melanesian or Micronesian route. From the point of view of linguistics, any geographical springboard is possible. True, there is no direct indication that any Proto-Malay language passed through the archipelago off the northwestern coast of America. But we must not forget that (unlike the Polynesian tribes isolated in Oceania) the language of the inhabitants of the coastal islands of Northwest America, after they arrived here from Asia, developed.

This can be confirmed by the fact that all the local tribes - Kwakiutli, Haida, Salish, Tsimshien, Tlingit and Nootka, despite the close racial and cultural kinship, speak different dialects. Perhaps it is this discrepancy that is the reason why modern researchers do not make serious attempts to find the ancient relationship of the languages ​​of the Northwest, on the one hand, and the Malay or Polynesian tribes, on the other. True, in the late nineties of the last century, something was done.

The English linguist Campbell in 1897-1898 expressed the opinion that the Haida language of the Queen Charlotte Islands, with the same justification as Polynesian, should be attributed to the Oceanian family. He believed that the Haida language developed on the basis of the language of immigrants from the region. South Seas. At the turn of the 20th century, the Canadian professor Hill-Toot published a linguistic study entitled "The Oceanian origin of the Kwakiutl. Nootka and the Salish of British Columbia…”. He argued that the languages ​​of these tribes of the Northwest give the impression of remnants of a once common language, which was related to the language of modern Polynesians. His works are noteworthy; in general, the whole problem needs to be re-examined thoroughly.

To the next, perhaps most important, question: does not physical anthropology allow us to consider the tribes of the Northwest as the missing link in the chain between physically different Indonesians and Polynesians? – can be answered in the affirmative. All the features that sharply distinguish the Polynesians from the Indonesian peoples - height, physique, shape of the head, nose, hair structure, hairiness of the face and body, pigmentation - surprisingly coincide with the typical features of the Haida and Kwakiutl inhabiting the south-central archipelago off the northwest coast. And already in recent years, blood factors have joined the number of the most compelling arguments in favor of the genetic relationship of the inhabitants of Polynesia and Northwestern America.

In both areas, Indonesia's dominant factor B is almost absent, factor O is high, and factor A is strikingly high. on the northern coast of East Asia and that the Malays acquired the dominant B gene after they settled in their current area.

In "Blood Types in Polynesians" (1952), Dr. Graydon, a prominent Australian authority on the subject, tested our assumption that Polynesians were related to Northwest Indians by examining other blood factors as well. He found that the blood of Polynesians and Northwest Indians was "strikingly similar" in other ways. And it is "clearly different" from the blood of Indonesians and Micronesians. He concluded: "The serological data presented in this article support a Polynesian-Amercanian relationship, and it is possible that the colonization of the Polynesian islands occurred to a large extent in waves from continental America."

Later (1954), the eminent British serologist Muran, in his monograph The Distribution of Human Blood Types, concluded the following: “Thus, observations of the blood group factors ABO, MNS and Rh are consistent with Heyerdahl’s theory.” I may add that after a year in Southeast Polynesia, I lived for several months among the Salish and Kwakiutl of the Northwest, and observed the remarkable physical resemblance of the Indians to the Polynesians. In the Bella Coola Valley (the central coast of British Columbia) curious cases happened to me: at every step I “met” people whom I knew on the islands of the South Seas.

Summing up, I suggest that the East Asian element in the Polynesian race and culture entered the Polynesian region through Hawaiian Islands, and the northwest coast of America should be considered as the most logical, possible and even necessary springboard.

However, neither in Indonesia nor in Northwest America, either separately or together, has it been possible to find a sufficiently convincing explanation for the entire Polynesian island culture. Most ethnographers believe that the Polynesian race and culture has two (some say three) components. In most of Polynesia, especially at Easter, on this secluded island closest to Peru, numerous signs of a different racial and cultural substratum are found. Therefore, according to the second point of my hypothesis, the ancestors of the current population of Polynesia, who arrived there at the beginning of the second millennium, were not the discoverers of these islands - they were ahead of the navigators of Andean origin. They are associated with special megalithic masonry and anthropomorphic stone sculptures on the outlying islands closest to America, the appearance of the Maori-Polynesian dog, the spread of 26-chromosomal cultivated American cotton in Polynesia, as well as sweet potato, bottle gourd and a number of other American elements in the Polynesian flora, including including the freshwater totora bulrush on Easter Island and the chili pepper that European navigators encountered in Polynesia.

Numerous elements of Polynesian culture can be traced back to this South American substratum, which has influenced even the fringes of Melanesia. A vivid example is the art of craniotomy, unknown in South and East Asia, as well as the typical ritual consumption of the drink kava with the enzyme of the salivary glands, which spread from Central and South America throughout Polynesia up to its western outskirts; here, along with this custom, there is an Asian custom of chewing betel.

The sling as a military weapon is unknown in Indonesia, but the prototypes of three specialized types of slings - ribbon, valve and slot - in the South Seas are Peruvian samples. Mummification was not known in Indonesia, but in Polynesia, despite the unfavorable climate, it was used, and the method is similar to the Peruvian one. Cloaks and mantles made of feathers - clothes of the nobility, characteristic of Polynesia - were not known in the Old World, but they are inherent in the cultures of the New World, including the culture of ancient Peru. Peculiar simple and composite fishing hooks of the Polynesians, not found anywhere in Indonesia, come across during the excavation of garbage heaps in the territory from Ecuador to Northern Chile. The complex Polynesian kipona - an ingenious mnemonic system of knots - cannot be compared with a simple rope with knots for counting, which was common throughout the world; but it exactly repeats the Peruvian quipu.

Many more examples can be given concerning the material culture, social characteristics and mythology of these two areas. However, it suffices here to point out that ceramics and the loom were clearly known in the Polynesian islands, despite the fact that the last wave of settlers came to Polynesia from an area where there was neither pottery nor weaving, and where only an earth kiln and a bast mallet were known.

It is now known that there was indeed a culture in Polynesia that was familiar with pottery. Both on the eastern and western outskirts of Polynesia, archaeologists have found shards of various red dishes, and the finds in the Marquesas Islands turned out to be the oldest so far. In the same archipelago and throughout Polynesia as far west as the Fiji Islands, the 26-chromosome American cotton has run wild; the current Polynesians do not need it, but the first settlers, of course, brought it to the islands for a reason.

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Despite the large territorial dispersal in numerous, often far from each other, archipelagos, all Polynesian peoples are quite close to each other in terms of their anthropological type, languages ​​and traditional culture.

The racial type of the Polynesians is very specific. He is characterized by dark brown skin, tall stature, broadly wavy hair, an average degree of development of the tertiary hairline, a slightly prognathous face and a medium-protruding, rather wide nose.

According to a number of researchers, the Polynesians in anthropological terms represent a contact type between the Mongoloid and Australoid races.

The Polynesian languages, as already noted, belong to the East Oceanic group of the Oceanic branch of the Austronesian family. In total, there are three dozen separate Polynesian languages.

The number of Polynesian peoples is somewhat larger - about 40, since in Polynesia different ethnic groups living on islands far from each other sometimes speak different dialects of the same language. The 14 Polynesian peoples do not live in Polynesia itself, but in Melanesia and Micronesia. Among the Polynesian ethnic groups there are five relatively large and well-consolidated peoples: New Zealand Maori (280 thousand people), Samoa (222 thousand), Tonga (94 thousand), Hawaiians (120 thousand) and Tahitians (82 thousand).

By the time of European colonial expansion in Polynesia, a special economic and cultural subtype, or even a type, which is called insular or oceanic, was widespread.

The main occupations of the Polynesians were, and still are, manual farming and fishing. The main cultivated crops are coconut palm, breadfruit, banana, taro, yam, sweet potato (in New Zealand), pumpkin, squash. The most common traditional agricultural tool was a wooden stake, which has now been replaced by a purchased iron shovel. Unlike Melanesia, in Polynesia, both men and women are engaged in agriculture, and in Tonga - even only men.

Domestic animals previously known were the non-barking dog of the local breed (bred only for meat), pigs and chickens. Now other domestic animals have appeared (for example, on Easter Island, sheep breeding has become the most important branch of the economy).

Fishing throughout Polynesia plays a very important role. Fishing tools are hooks, nets, Polynesians and dams are arranged, fish are beaten with a spear, shot at it from a beam, etc. Hunting is even less important in this region than in Melanesia.

Polynesians are skilled artisans. They make a variety of wood products, weave mats, bags, etc. First of all, the production of tala (more perfect than in Melanesia) is widespread, but weaving is completely absent. Pottery did not develop either. In some archipelagos, it was previously known, but then forgotten. The Polynesians did not know metal either. Tools, weapons, utensils were made of stone, bone, animal teeth, shells and wood. The most important weapons were clubs, spears, axes, wooden swords, slings, and stone axes.

Polynesians are known to be excellent seafarers. They crossed the water spaces, guided by the sun and stars, sea currents and constant winds, on boats of various types that had excellent seaworthiness (single, double, with one or two balancers).

Obviously, already the ancestors of the Polynesians, who migrated in the second half of the 2nd millennium BC. e. from Fiji to Tonga, had certain sailing skills. Centuries-old life on Tonga and Samoa, consisting of scattered small islands, the need to supplement their diet with marine fishery products contributed to the even greater development of the nautical art of the Polynesians, which allowed them to move to distant archipelagos.

The population of Polynesia still lives mainly in villages. Previously, small settlements predominated, but then, under the influence of missionaries who sought to gather them in one place in order to strengthen control over their flock, a tendency to enlarge the settlements began to be observed.

Traditional Polynesian housing has a pillar structure, rectangular or oval in plan. The walls of the house are usually woven from grass leaves, etc., sometimes they are absent, and then the dwelling consists primarily of a massive low-hanging roof of palm leaves or thatch.

Today, many Polynesians live in European-style houses built with modern materials.

Polynesian clothing consisted of a loincloth or apron for men and a skirt or apron for women. Tapa, grass, mats, plant fibers, sometimes bird skins, feathers served as the material for making clothes. Now such clothes can be seen only during the festivities, but cheap purchased clothes of the European type have firmly come into use. Various decorations are very common in Polynesia, and they are worn by both men and women. One of my favorite decorations is flowers.

Social stratification has gone as far in Polynesia as anywhere else in Oceania. In almost all archipelagos, hereditary leaders and the elite associated with them (ariki, arias, aliyas, etc.) stood out. Representatives of the nobility were divided into ranks and were usually related to each other by family ties. The leaders collected tribute from the rest of the population. Noble families owned the best lands on the islands. The next social stratum was free community members, followed by a group of non-free people, including slaves. In general, the social system of the Polynesians can be characterized as a class-caste one.

The main social unit was a large patriarchal family, usually considered the owner of the land. There was no equality between large families. Several large families living in the same village united in a territorial community. The latter was governed by a council in which the heads of patriarchal families played a decisive role.

Forms of ownership in Polynesia are varied. In addition to communal ownership of land, there was also private ownership of movable property.

The Polynesian archipelagos were characterized by a relatively weak development of exchange. In this regard, Polynesia was significantly inferior to lagging behind it in terms of the general level of social

economic development of Melanesia.

An interesting feature of Polynesia is the absence of a tribal organization in it. In the course of the decomposition of primitive society in this region, the clan did not take shape, although the large families that arose instead of it were, of course, patriarchal in nature.

The decomposition of the primitive communal system in Polynesia was accelerated in the course of military clashes between the leaders. At the end of the 18th - beginning of the 19th century. a number of Polynesian peoples (Hawaiians, Tahitians, Tongas) began to form early class states.

The traditional social system was preserved to varying degrees among various groups of Polynesians. It was completely destroyed among the Hawaiians, little remains of it among the Maori and Tahitians. In Tonga, Samoa, and other archipelagos of Polynesia, the old social order has largely been preserved.

In contrast to this, the traditional religion of the Polynesians has almost everywhere receded into the past, only in some places you can see its strongly modified remnants, remnants. Now the vast majority of the population of Polynesia is Christianized. Of the directions of Christianity, Protestantism, represented by different currents, is most widespread.

As for the former Polynesian religion, it has reached a fairly developed form. The class-caste system characteristic of the Polynesians corresponded to the hierarchy in the pantheon, where four supreme gods of nature stood out: Tangaroa (Tangaloa, Tagaloa, Kanaloa, etc.) Tanya (Kane), Rongo (Lono, Ro "o) and Tu ( Ku.) The souls of the dead leaders were included in the pantheon.Cosmological ideas have received significant development.

In Polynesia, in a peculiar form, existed known to us from Melanesia. belief in the impersonal power of mana. The greatest mana was attributed to the leaders, who often used the right of taboo associated with mana - the imposition of a ban on any thing that was of any interest to them.

The cult was performed by priests who were connected with the leaders by family ties and enjoyed great influence.

The range of positive knowledge of the Polynesians was very wide. They distinguished stars and planets, had correct ideas about the water spaces surrounding them and neighboring archipelagos, and made primitive maps from sticks. All this allowed the Polynesians to make long journeys.

The Polynesian ideas about their past (historical legends, genealogies of leaders and clans) also differed in depth.

In Polynesia, there were original schools with 4-5-year education, which had a class character. The inhabitants of Easter Island created their own ideographic script. Unfortunately, most of the tablets on which the Polynesians wrote were destroyed by a zealous missionary who saw devilish writing in local hieroglyphs. This makes it very difficult to decipher the recorded texts.

The folk art of the Polynesians was more developed than that of their western neighbors. Fine art is represented by stone carving (in Eastern Polynesia), wood and bone. The inhabitants of Easter Island used to carve huge statues out of soft stone.

Musical art also developed widely. Musical instruments, mainly percussion (gong and drum, rattles, rattles) and wind instruments (various pipes, flutes), but there are also strings (“musical bow”). Polynesians are very fond of songs, especially choral ones, and dances.

The listed forms of folk art are quite well preserved to this day in most of modern Polynesia. As for Polynesian folklore, it is, unfortunately, largely forgotten. Along with cosmogonic myths, the Polynesians knew historical legends, tales about the undeified cultural hero Maui and the heroes Tafaki and Rata, animal tales, proverbs, sayings, etc.