Though many of the Polynesian islands are known for a long and fascinating history, the origin of life on the islands is not well known. As a result, theories abound about this period of Polynesian history. Who were the first settlers to reach the islands? Where did they come from?

In 1947, a Norwegian explorer, Thor Heyerdahl, set out to test his theory. Setting sail on a raft named Kon-Tiki, after a sun god, he attempted to reach Polynesia from South America. He believed that centuries ago, South Americans were the ones who originally colonized Polynesia. Until this point, many had assumed that the islands could only have been populated from the east, not from the west. Through this expedition, he aimed to show that it was possible, using the same materials and technologies that South Americans of that era would have had access to.

The Kon-Tiki raft was made of logs and other native materials in a native Peruvian style. It measured about 45 feet long, with a mast nearly 30 feet tall. The cabin, made of bamboo and roofed with banana leaves, closely resembled a tiki hut. The raft contained no metal materials, as metal would not have been used by South Americans trying to reach Polynesia in pre-Columbian days.

In April of 1947, he and five companions set sail. On the raft, they carried stores of water in bamboo tubes, as well as coconuts and other tropical foods. They also caught fish along the way to supplement their diet. Traveling for 101 days and over 4,300 miles in the Pacific Ocean, they reached the Tuamotu Islands, part of French Polynesia, in August. After reaching the islands, the crew were invited to the native village, where they enjoyed a feast with traditional dances. Later they traveled to Tahiti, before finally returning home. Today, the raft they sailed can be seen in the Kon-Tiki Museum in Oslo, Norway.

After returning from his voyage, Heyerdahl wrote a book about his experiences, titled “Kon-Tiki: Across the Pacific In a Raft.” Capitalizing on the tiki craze, which had reached its height during the 1950s, this book soon became a bestseller. It soon inspired a movie, which won an Academy Award in 1951. It remains the only feature film from Norway to be awarded this honor. Later, a TV series was produced based on Heyerdahl’s experiences.

Showing the lasting mystery of early Polynesian history, several others have tried to reach Polynesia in a raft since Heyerdahl’s experiment. In 1954, William Willis successfully reached American Samoa alone after sailing a raft from Peru. Heyerdahl’s expedition was recreated in 2006 by a Norwegian team sailing the Tangaroa, a raft named after the Maori sea god. They were able to sail successfully to Polynesia, and a documentary film is being assembled of their voyage. Despite these attempts, however, the settling of the Polynesian islands – separated by many miles of open sea – remains an unsolved mystery, capturing the imaginations of tiki aficionados across the globe.

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Category: Travel
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