A History of Migration

More Africa to Asia

2010-07-16T01:25:00.007-10:00

Any discussion and information about migration from East Africa to India catches my ears, but when the destination stretches as far as Vietnam and the Philippines, even more so.

This video, featuring a speaker I've never heard of, is very interesting. It's the third part of a series.

So, that led me to do a quick search about blacks in Vietnam, and sure enough, some here is research by Runoko Rashidi: the black Vietnamese were known as the Champa, original conquerors of the region. They defeated the Chinese, who referred to them as k'un-lun (a phrase I've come across a few times online) and found their way to the Philippines later, theorizes H. Otley Beyer.

More of Rashidi's work reveals his conviction that the Agta of the Philippines — known more commonly as Negritos and Aeta — are descendants of those early seafarers from Africa by way of South India. (Note that the same South India/Andaman Islands connection is also theorized to be the connection point for the Ainu of Japan, according to DNA comparisons.)

"They were the aborigines of the Philippines, and for a long time had been master of Luzon. At a time not very far distant, when the Spaniards conquered the country, the Aetas levied a kind of blackmail from the Tagalog villages situated on the banks of the lake of Bay (Laguna de Bay). At a fixed period they quitted their forests, entered the village, and forced the inhabitants to give them a certain quantity of rice and maize....After the conquest of the Philippines by the Spaniards, the latter took upon themselves the defense of the Tagalogs, and the Aetas, terrified by their firearms, remained in the forests, and did not reappear among the Indians."

—Dr. Pedro A. Gagelonia, a Filipino scholar

Here's an interesting quote from the foreign minister of Papua New Guinea back in 1976:

"Africa is our motherland. All of the Black populations which settled in Asia over the hundreds of thousands of years, came undoubtedly from the African continent. In fact, the entire world was populated from Africa. Hence, we the Blacks in Asia and the Pacific today descend from proto-African peoples. We were linked to Africa in the past. We are linked to Africa in the present. We will be linked to Africa in the future."

—Ben Tanggahma

Wherefore thou ark?

2010-07-07T11:56:00.004-10:00

Going back to movie lore of the 1980s, which seems like a few blinks of the eye now, the Ark of the Covenant has stirred imagination and possibility. Go back a few millennia and it's impossible to discourage the mystery of where the original Ark was taken. How many places was it transported to? Was there really more than one version of the Ark?

There are all kinds of theories, but the one that would make most sense is likely one that took the relic far away from population centers. After all, in Hawaii, we have our mystery about the bones of great King Kamehameha I. Nobody has uncovered the location of his remains, and nobody's talking, either. If his mana, or power, from the bones of his body have remained a secret in such a small place for more than 200 years, imagine how well guarded the Ark is after far more time.

Wherever the ark(s), it's encouraging to know that through time, regardless of culture and religion, there remains a fascination with the 10 Commandments and their origins. My guess is that the Ark is in Ethiopia, a place quite far away from the original site of the Ark, at least in Old Testament times. If it is there, how much longer can it remain a mystery rather than a fact, especially in today's world of instant communication and media?

Maybe there really are copies upon copies of not one, but two versions of the Ark, as the theory goes, and they've been spread about the world, as many other claims go. But I'd say Ethiopia is where it is, if I were to guess. Just a hunch.

Rapa Nui: A warning from history

2010-06-25T11:39:00.002-10:00

One of the last islands to be inhabited/conquered/settled in Polynesia was Rapa Nui. So interesting in several ways. Though DNA shows islanders had Polynesian blood, masonry and the existence of sweet potato make it very likely that they either traded with South Americans (Peru) or voyaged there.

I don't care for anthropological theories that discount that possibility. Anything is possible with human willpower. Even the extreme theory that it was seafaring Chinese traders who brought sweet potato to Rapa Nui (I don't believe it, but...) is possible.

What's most interesting, though, is how Rapa Nui destroyed itself, prioritizing its behemoth stone structures so high that the land was deforested and society crumbled. Basically, a parallel of modern Western society in the making.

Genographic or xenophobic?

2010-06-25T11:02:00.010-10:00

On the surface, it seems odd that anyone would oppose a study of mankind's footprints and paths.

But National Geographic's Genographic Project will probably always face the element fear. There are tribes, particularly in Alaska, who fear potential consequences of the project. My interest is, of course, solely as a very curious individual who has always been interested in origins and migratory routes. Almost all my childhood friends are descendants of immigrants, if not immigrants themselves. Even Native Hawaiians were once new to these islands. We all came from somewhere else. But this New York Times story notes how the concern about discovering DNA denominators that cross oceans and mountains could have political repercussions, inadvertent as they may be in purpose.

"What if it turns out you're really Siberian and then, oops, your health care is gone?" said Dr. David Barrett, a co-chairman of the Alaska Area Institutional Review Board, which is sponsored by the Indian Health Service, a federal agency. "Did anyone explain that to them?"

There are all kinds of points and counterpoints to be made. It's unfortunate that the project may not proceed without obstruction. But ideals are simply temporary. Reality always kicks the gall out of idealists, and there is red tape — and sensitivity to an issue like health care — to weave through. A more recent word from the project's leader, Spencer Wells:

"Many of the crises we see in the 21st century, I would argue, have their roots in the dawn of the Neolithic," he says. "We spent an enormous amount of time as hominids and as primates living as hunter-gatherers. That is the natural way for us to live, and we're suddenly living in this profoundly unnatural way, and we're still in the process of adapting to it and working out how to live with it."

(See the series here.)

Origins of the Japanese

2010-06-19T10:43:00.022-10:00

This is probably one of the most readable and succinct pieces I've seen online about Japanese origins. I write that as plural because there is more than one major group of DNA in Japan.

During the last Ice Age, which ended approximately 15,000 years ago, Japan was connected to the continent through several land bridges, notably one linking the Ryukyu Islands to Taiwan and Kyushu, one linking Kyushu to the Korean peninsula, and another one connecting Hokkaido to Sakhalin and the Siberian mainland. In fact, the Philippines and Indonesia were also connected to the Asian mainland. This allowed migrations from China and Austronesia towards Japan, about 35,000 years ago. These were the ancestors of the modern Ryukyuans (Okinawans), and the first inhabitants of all Japan.

I love how the Ainu dude with the mouth harp is playing along with the Hawaiians (at the 4:15 mark).

Some interesting documentary footage from Japan about the Ainu.

This video is more about the warfare between the Ainu and later settlers of Japan. Lots of cultural information, photos, music.

I can't think of another ethnic group that actually hunts (or used to hunt) bears. Gnarly!

Myth or fact: Giants of Solomon Islands

2010-05-19T22:48:00.004-10:00

I'm much more into non-fiction than tall tales (pun intended), but this is too much to ignore.

Myth, legend — whatever you'd like to call it — there is one about giants in the South Pacific. An adventuresome writer named Jonathan Gray pens this story about the 15-foot original inhabitants of Guadalcanal and the Solomons.

There's much, much more to be read, but Gray's piece is just short enough to whet the appetite ... or completely disappoint. Me? I find it intriguing. Where did these legends come from? And why would so many people have so many first-hand accounts of encounters with these giants?

Natural disasters and migration

2009-10-19T05:11:00.002-10:00

Yet another typhoon is closing in on the Philippines.

I can't help wondering, with all the horrible typhoons and hurricanes that hit that region of the world -- an area that is widely believed to be launching pad for migration to the Pacific -- if natural disasters were a major reason for exploration.

Maybe the Pacific would've been explored no matter what. That's human nature. But if you're in a place, say 2,000 years ago, that gets hit by natural disasters five times in two years, wouldn't that be impetus to find a safe new home?

Factor in war, battle for fertile land, clean water ... and people would move further and further until they found someplace tolerable. Peaceful.

Harrowing migration

2009-07-03T13:58:00.002-10:00

Friday, July 3, 2009
The history of migration, to me, is about people searching for a better life. The route out of North Korea, though, goes beyond the norm.

The story of Myong Hui Eom puts it into perspective. How else does a teacher go from one extreme to the other, from the "utopia," as she puts it, of her home country to realizing that it's not what she thought.

Breaks the heart again and again

2009-07-03T13:56:00.003-10:00

Thursday, July 2, 2009
If it seems odd that one of the most Christianized nations in the world is South Korea, consider the peninsula's crisis.

I used to wonder, how and why did South Korea become so strongly Christian? This goes back to my teens, when I went to church with one of my best friends. The kal bi was excellent! But it was much more than that. It was my first real experience being around Christians young, old and in between.

I always wondered later, how Christ came to be such a focal point in a part of the world that is otherwise Buddhist, Shinto and, further south and southwest, Hindu. The how part isn't on my mind these days. The why part, though, is clear now. The faith required to help North Koreans escape the tumult of Kim Il-Jong's regime is enormously deep. Nobody else but missionaries are willing to risk their lives to help North Koreans get across the Tumen River, then through China, all the way down to Thailand, before they can reach freedom in South Korea.

It's something I'm watching on a recent episode of Wide Angle on PBS. Crossing Heaven's Border is a mirror of the reality, the risk, the sacrifice that continues on. While some people get their kicks watching a bunch of spoiled brats act stupid on programs like The Real World, folks in places like North Korea simply want freedom so bad they'll risk being killed. It's enough to make a cynic want to cheer for the underdogs again.

It's not white and black, never was

2009-07-03T13:55:00.000-10:00

Monday, June 22, 2009
It's all a blur these days.

Pretty cool. Some geeks might call it a fusion culture. I think it's a no-B.S. culture. Information is a real currency and it's available cheap or free. If kids like something -- classical, jazz, whatever -- they have access to learn and master it regardless of color lines.

Technology and the Internet have changed a lot of things. Black kids mastering Guitar Hero. Spanish kids becoming NBA stars. Kids in Beijing getting into hip-hop. In the 1980s, academians called it a Global Village. In 2009, it's more like a Global Block Party sometimes. Twitter is abuzz with updates, opinions and information about the uprising in Iran (rigged balloting). The Iran page picks up updated posts from the public constantly, by the second.

For better or worse, information precedes cultural crossover and always has. Trade leads to sharing of goods -- and goodies. That's how the chili pepper made it from South America to Korea. Made it big around the world. Sometimes I miss the age of secrets, but that doesn't matter anymore.

They wear shirts and pants

2009-07-03T13:54:00.000-10:00

Monday, June 15, 2009
Everything I've read and seen about Iran in recent months has been surprising.

Folks there can be rather, um, rebellious? Contrarian. What little I know is that there's a large population of college-educated people there, even Westernized to a large scale. Even in the face of steep religious extremism in the past, Iran has its share of civil unrest today. The photos paint quite a picture. From the New York Times site.

Do we hate those closest to us?

2009-04-07T01:21:00.005-10:00

How else could be explain the border wars and fatalities between people who look so much alike, share so many customs? Who can explain the mostly ridiculous reasons for any civil war? I always think, "When the aliens arrive, they are not going to understand how we can be so freaking violent toward each other as a species." They may want to tinker with us like lab animals, but mostly I think they're trying to prevent us from destroying our planet. Or maybe they just stay the hell away from us and our destructive ways.

Over the centuries, it's always been our own neighbors that we go to war with. Few people on the other side of the world, say Romania, can differentiate between Japanese and Okinawans, or Tongans and Samoans, or Tahitians and Marquesans. Yet there were wars galore between so many cultures and societies from the beginning of time. Really, ask a kindergartener about the physical difference between Jews and Palestinians, and almost all of them will be stumped.

Hawaii is only a bit different. The original settlers, arguably the Menehune (among other tribes) were pushed out by the Tahitians and Marquesans. "Native" religion imported from a Tongan priest. The benefit of Hawaii is that way back then, and today, intermarriage was destined. The place was and still is much to small for a "pure" ethnic group to stay that way. It's harder and harder to find anyone who is of 100% ethnicity in one group.

I'm part Japanese and part Chinese, descending from Kumamoto, Kyushu Island, Japan, and Guangdong (formerly Canton), China. My ancestors arrived in Hawaii not long after the turn of the century, 1910 or so. Yet, by the 1960s, it was still borderline taboo for Chinese- and Japanese-Americans to intermarry. The onslaught of war and violence by the Emperor-era Japanese military had a lot to do with that. Naturally, any family of Chinese, Korean, or even Vietnamese or Filipino descent had problems with the concept of marrying Japanese back then -- even though local Nissei had absolutely nothing to do with the insane emperor and his blood-lusting generals.

Fortunately, we're in the new millennium and mixed blood isn't the exception at all in the islands. In fact, that's one of the many facets of our culture that is beautiful and brilliant. There are definitely problems here, but almost none of them have to do with race wars or loyalties embedded in color. Hawaii is, and always will be, about where you come from -- more so in the past, but still in the present.

I see my nephew play Call of Duty 4 every day and night, addicted beyond help, headset on and directing his fellow "soldiers". He's interacting with people online, mostly other teens, from all over the globe. That's so far out. He has no real sense of his own neighborhood "gang" like I did growing up, playing at the park all summer long. Football, baseball, basketball. It's cool, though. He's a great student and so much more focused than I was at his age. He's going far, and his grasp of a global village isn't just theory. It's a normal part of his life.

As our tiny hub in the middle of the Pacific gets more connected to the world, I hate to see us lose local traditions and flavor. It's a matter of time, though, before most things change or disappear. Maybe that's why I miss Varsity Theater and the old Honolulu Stadium. They weren't, by definition, Hawaiian. But they were part of my roots, my world as a child. It didn't matter if you were Chinese-Japanese or Portuguese-Hawaiian or Samoan-Tongan ... we all went there to enjoy the Hawaii Islanders, the WFL Hawaiians, and long before that, great high school football.

There is, no doubt, still some whispering and murmuring among old-timers -- particularly in somewhat recent arrivals from other cultures -- when it comes to intermarrying. There are Illocanos who say out loud that they're not the ones who eat black dog -- it's the Tagalogs! There are elder Samoans who take issue about the family having a trace of Tongan blood -- that's what centuries of servitude under a conquering kingdom will do, understandably.

But there are folks like the Azoreans, who are a mix of mostly Portuguese with Dutch, French and other European ethnicities, who are proudly distinct from the mainland Portuguese. But there was no military conflict ever. The Azoreans arrived in Hawaii to work the plantations and never left -- unlike other groups (Chinese, particularly) that made their coin and went back to the homeland rich enough to buy land and home.

I hear about older Filipinos working hard here for decades, then retiring and returning to the P.I. to live in luxury. More power to them. Koreans, too -- though that's more of a dream than reality from what I've seen in my friends' parents and grandparents.

What I've noticed more and more over the years is what we all see: Brain Drain. So many talented, educated people settling on the continent for higher wages and lower cost of living. That's one way to curtail the inevitable overpopulation of O'ahu, but it's still sad to be apart from the people we grew up with. I suppose that's one of the glorious things about becoming rich: you can travel anywhere, any time, and see any friends you'd like without concern about costs or missing work.

I wonder, which adventure is grander: Traveling out of necessity -- to find higher pay and make a better life -- or traveling mostly for fun. Pure fun. I'd like to try the latter one day.

A battle cry against modern technology

2009-03-15T21:33:00.000-10:00

It was during the state boys basketball tournament that the war cry, basically the tomahawk chant, of Kahuku fans drew me into conversation with a former player and coach (OIA) about the politics of the whole thing.

It was during the state boys basketball tournament that the war cry, basically the tomahawk chant, of Kahuku fans drew me into conversation with a former player and coach (OIA) about the politics of the whole thing. After all, when fans on the mainland use the same chant, they're decried and ripped for being politically incorrect.

But Kahuku has done it for years. And in more recent years, I've started to wonder more and more about where that line rests between school history and sensitivity to Native American tribes. This is my theory.

Because the Mormon church is entrenched on the North Shore, particularly La'ie, doing the tomahawk chant isn't just something that goes along with Kahuku's longtime nickname, "Red Raiders." Though that name came by chance when 'Iolani donated uniforms to Kahuku decades ago (and has more recently dropped the "Red" from its nickname), I started to realize there's more to it.

See, for those of us (including myself), there's very little knowledge about what the history of the LDS is all about. Like any religion, there's good (lots) and bad (sad but true). When it comes to lineage, though, the Mormon church takes it to a really interesting, some say creative, new level. When I hear talk about a Western culture/faith deriving from a "lost tribe" of Israel, I think of Bob Marley, the Rasafarians and their insistence that former Ethiopian president Hallie Selassie was the descendant and king of that tribe, which eventually found its way to Jamaica, etc.

Well, the Church of Latter-Day Saints has used similar historical rewriting to say that Native Americans are descendants of the lost tribe, and from there, they migrated to Polynesia and South America. I don't hear it directly from friends who are Mormon, but it interests me to know more about migration and history, all the good and bad.

DNA in recent years has proven that South Americans descended from travelers who crossed from Siberia to Alaska -- NOT from Israel. There is no Hebrew DNA in Polynesians, either. For literalists of the LDS church, it has to be a stiff blow. But it doesn't really change my perspective of people and their chosen faith. Why?

I believe there's something within us that transcends the name of our religion and church. Being raised a certain way doesn't necessarily limit us to possibilities and realities. America was born out of religious tyranny, among other things, so the right to follow one's path was well-earned by our forefathers.

But I'm sure there are older Mormons who will never trust the technology that has changed our lives, just as I am content to use a freebie cellphone rather than buy a pricey iPhone, just as there are still some folks who refuse to use a computer, let alone e-mail. DNA has reversed the wrongful convictions of more than 200 people and freed them from prisons.

Trying to explain that Polynesians are not genetically linked to the lost tribe of Israel will fall on some deaf ears.

Does it matter? Depends on who you are. For me, I'm gotten old enough to get over literalism. I don't care if God created the universe in 7 days or 7 millennia or 7 seconds. When I meet someone, especially for the first time, it's that person and me talking and sharing a brief moment. There's an imprint left behind, and all I can hope is that the one I leave is positive.

My curiosity about migration will never cease, I guess. Cultures evolve and change, and so do religions. But those of us who would pound another person, culture or nation just because we "know" we're right and they're wrong ... I would implore you to remember how quickly we are all humbled by life. If the tomahawk chant irritates you, let it be solely for competitive reasons when your school is playing Kahuku.

If it makes you smile, know that I'm smiling along with you. There is a unity and spirit within and around Kahuku's athletic program that is unique. Special. I say chant forever, 'til kingdom come.

Step by step to Guge

2008-11-23T02:50:00.000-10:00

Guge? Never heard of it until early this morning.

Michael Wood's documentary (BBC) aired on PBS and caught my attention. Somehow, the sight of solitary people walking through deserts (and mountains) has always captured me (re: Kwai Chang Cain in Kung Fu, circa 1976?).

My understanding of Buddhist history is scant, but in this place tucked away in Western Tibet is a place that once was home to 100,000 people. Almost impossible to imagine. It's in a mountainous desert. Dry. Bone dry. Not a fertile valley in sight.

But the story of Guge's prominence as a key trading post and bridge to India's Buddhist scholars is very intriguing. No, I don't believe in Buddha. But the history and how the Chinese came to both destroy its amazing relics, then go beyond the call to preserve what still remains, is perplexing. Those wacky Chinese and their kooky Cultural Revolution. Talk about a lack of tolerance.

But as for Guge, Michael Buckley has much to say about it in this excerpt from his 2002 book, Heartlands: Travels in the Tibetan World.

The tiny bit of research I've done doesn't satisfy me: 1. Where did the descendants of the Guge people go when they were violently driven from their homes? Who are they today? 2. Was there any lasting impact of the Catholic church built there by Andrade in the 1600s?

To think that the Catholic church drove a wedge between neighbors in that region and caused a war is not shocking. But to think that nobody lives there -- no Buddhists, no Catholics -- is really a mystery.

Revisiting theories about Menehune

2008-05-12T17:34:00.000-10:00

The more I read, the more it seems the legend of Menehune is more of a fabrication to to downplay the reality of ancient Hawaii: politics.

Work, work, work. Things have been busy and fun with the state tournaments. I was absolutely exhausted by Saturday night, not to mention drenched thanks to the Punahou players who missed their coach (Eric Kadooka) and got most of me drenched. On top of the sniffles I had that night, it was perfect timing for a big bowl of seafood ramen at nearby Ezogiku. I may sound like a shill for that place, but that seafood ramen is so awesome. I hold it up to other great local ramen like Tenkaippin's kotteri ramen and Taiyo Ramen's miso ramen (not so spectacular, but priced right and perfect in combination with the best gyoza in Hawaii.)

Anyway, I need a distraction when things get this busy, and ever since seeing Kalalau Valley on Kauai a couple of years ago, I can't seem to get Menehune out of my brain. Sure, the image of little people running around in the cover of nightfall, building spectacular fishponds and bridges and heiau has always been part of our local folklore. But it wasn't long ago when I read that one of the translations of the name "menehune" was "lower-class" commoners. In other words, they may not have been dwarfish at all. Hmm.

The "Lost Tribe" of Kalalau Valley feeds the imagination of visitors and locals alike, but the notion that they were little people isn't so strong on Kauai. In fact, the 1920 census notes that there were 65 residents listed as Menehune. Was this a separate ethnic group altogether? I've always believed that there's no land of peace. China grew to an enormous size through war, despite the notion that they were a civilized (true) kingdom of peace for millennia. Even in peace, they had warlords.

No different in Hawaii. The early settlers from the Marquesas Islands were not exactly best buddies with newcomers from Tahiti. Of course there were battles for the most fertile land, water (as always) and labor. It's the way of the world. Big fish eats the little fish. I think the Marquesans were pushed further up the island chain, all the way into Kalalau Valley. Though the census listed only 65 "Menehune" (known as manahune in the Tahitian language) in 1820, Kauai folks tell me there were about 200 of them during that century living in Kalalau. The place is pristine, green and water is everywhere.

Put 2 and 2 together, and it makes sense. There were no elfish people out there. It was purely political. It was war and the winners conquered. The losers moved on.

Katherine Luomala, a folklorist, contends that the legends of the Menehune are a post-European contact myth and didn't exist before Captain Cook arrived. Politics? The famous Alekoko fishpond, a.k.a. Menehune fishpond (I've been there and it's enormous!), wasn't built by Menehune. It was built overnight by commoners on the order of the chief, just as a similar pond was built on Oahu back in the day.

As a kid, I always thought of Menehune as a magical, mysterious people. But as it is with everything else in the real world, the truth is embedded with war, suffering and the awful whims of those who abuse their power.

Contact with the outside world didn't matter. Hawaii and all its treasures were always destined to be warred over. They're fighting over water rights on Maui and Windward Oahu. I can only imagine how much they fought over water during the pre-contact times.

The Menehune possibly had it good, after all. Nobody went across the thick forest of Kauai to bother them up in Kalalau Valley. I'd like to know, now that it's apparent that all of the Lost Tribe eventually assimilated into society, who they were and what kind of names they had.

They had their own language, even grew their hair long, according to one account. I want to know more.

A society of voyagers

2008-04-16T18:12:00.005-10:00

Dennis Kawaharada's writings about Polynesian voyaging is as broad and easy to read as any I've found on the web. On the Polynesian Voyaging Society site, he writes extensively about migration from the Marquesas Islands to Hawaii. The map of Polynesia comes in handy, too. I often forget where Samoa and Tonga are in relation to Tahiti and the Marquesas.

Screw the cover-ups

2008-04-09T23:41:00.002-10:00

I am not Okinawan, but I'm glad the governor there stands up for his people. Imperialism, "nationalism" and all isms that are dishonest don't have a place in today's world. Not when information flows so freely and lies only last so long. Japan may have conquered Okinawa a few centuries ago, and Japanese culture permeates the islands ... but there's something about island people that won't allow their history to be buried. Ever.

From Wikipedia

2007 passage change on forced World War II suicides
Japan orders history books to change passages on forced suicides during World War II.[11] In June 2007, the Okinawa Prefectural Assembly officially asked the Ministry of Education of Japan to retract its instruction to downplay the military's role in mass suicide in Okinawa in 1945.[12] More than 100,000 people in Okinawa rallied against the text book changes at the end of September. According to the Kyodo News agency, it was the biggest staged rally on the island since its 1972 return to Japanese rule. Okinawa governor Hirokazu Nakaima spoke to the crowds, commenting that the Japanese military's involvement in the mass suicides should not be forgotten.[13]

Polynesians discovered South America

2008-01-22T22:52:00.001-10:00

Don't believe it? The evidence is here.

DNA from chicken bone shows Polynesians 'found' South America

A chicken bone has provided anthropologists with the strongest evidence yet to suggest that Polynesians sailed to South America before the discovery of the New World by Europeans.

Speculation that Polynesians may have settled in South America, however, is not grounded.

NewScientist

Genetic studies of modern South Americans have not uncovered any signs of Polynesian ancestry. But this is not surprising, says Matisoo-Smith. Ancient Polynesians were great explorers, but tended to settle only in uninhabited islands.

This discovery may tie in to the longstanding question of how sweet potato, which originated in South America, found a new home in Polynesia. If Polynesians brought chickens to South America, why wouldn't they bring back the sweet potato — the only Polynesian starch or vegetable that did not originate in Asia. This article was written in 2004.

BBC: The Mystery of the Sweet Potato

The islands of Polynesia have long been a source of mystery and speculation for armchair scientists. The origin of the Easter Island statues, the abandonment of the so-called 'Mystery Islands' and the ultimate origins of the Polynesian people are some of the more well-known. However, perhaps the greatest mystery of them all is that of the sweet potato.

Tao tribesmen take back the ocean

2008-01-05T16:58:00.000-10:00

I hear much about migration in Polynesia. But what about Southeast Asia? Even the general region of "Asia" conjures up images of Japan to most westerners. Even a good friend of mine refers to Japan as Asia, and I had to remind him that Asia covers the mass of land from west of India all the way to Nihon. Yes, it's easy to forget something like that here in Hawaii, where our main Asian influences come from Japan, China and Korea, and more so in recent decades, the Philippines.

Yes, the P.I. are part of Asia. (I know a lot of folks who refuse to see it that way, and most of those doubters have roots in East Asia.)

It's also important to remember that Austronesians, the predecessors of the Polynesians, set down their roots in places we don't think of as "native." Try Taiwan, where aborigines have lived for thousands of years. One tribe, the Tao, are trying to reconnect with their relatives in the northern part of the Philippines.

Ipanga na and tails and tales of Flying Fish

[Tao] tribesmen constructed a traditional boat (ipanga na; they haven’t built one in over 100 yrs) and made a voyage from Lanyu (Orchid Island) to [Taitung] … in preparation for their voyage back to Batanes [the northernmost and the smallest province of the Philippines] in order to keep [a] tradition from completely dying. … [No] one alive has ever made the trip, but some of the elders still have the oceanic knowledge of the “black current” that runs between Taiwan and [the Philippines] (which is how them used to travel between the 2 islands!) So this journey is very important for them in order to keep the connections alive!

Truly exciting stuff here. It appears, in my limited reading about the native people of Taiwan, that there is fairly good relationship between tribes and the recent invasion of mainland Chinese. How far did the Tao and their cousins in the Austronesean circle travel a thousand, 10,000 years ago? Did they travel further north?

There are some keen similarities in art and ceremonial clothing when you observe the natives of Southeast Asia and the native North Americans. It boggles the imagination.

Carbon dating in Polynesia

2008-01-05T15:29:00.000-10:00

Searching for an online map of the South Pacific, I came across this nice piece about recent findings regarding migration.

Jan TenBruggencate: Researcher say east Polynesia settled later

Polynesia migration map

For me, learning about Polynesian migration is something that began back in elementary school. But the deeper question still arise: Before they left New Guinea and the Solomons, where did Polynesia's ancestors hail from?

Anyone who tells me that they came from Asia may be right. The original settlers of East Asia were darker-skinned. Call them Ainu or whatnot, but they roamed through Taiwan, Okinawa and Japan. So where did they originate from? The aborigines of Australia. Can anyone honestly say they aren't, in all probability, African in heritage?

Some folks don't like to hear it, as I find, but the truth is that the evidence is becoming clearer that we all have a common ancestor from Africa. Look at the people of Fiji, New Guinea and East Africa. Listen to the rhythms and harmonies in song of Samoa and Africa. Look at the art and food. There are too many similarities to discount the root connection. As researchers find more and more evidence through carbon dating, I believe we will find more and more proof that it all goes back to Africa.

No Reservations: Ireland (Part 5)

2007-09-14T00:33:00.001-10:00

Ireland or bust!

No Reservations: Ireland (Part 4)

2007-09-14T00:31:00.001-10:00

Ireland or bust!

No Reservations: Ireland (Part 3)

2007-09-14T00:30:00.001-10:00

More more more.

No Reservations: Ireland (Part 2)

2007-09-14T00:26:00.001-10:00

Anthony Bourdain migrates around the world. Whatta life!

No Reservations: Ireland

2007-09-14T00:25:00.001-10:00

Anthony Bourdain migrates around the world. Whatta life!

The List of Questions

2007-09-09T21:57:00.000-10:00

This will help me keep things very basic, direct and a little bit kooky.

• Since Jews have been in Portugal for centuries, do Portuguese in Hawaii have Jewish blood?
• Are the Ainu the same people as the Jomon, the darker-featured early settlers of Japan?
• Since there are theories that the original settlers of the world were water-farers, is it possible that they are the same people who settled in Southeast Asia (specifically Taiwan), and then became the Jomon of Japan, and their descendants settled across the Pacific?
• Why do the singing harmonies of the South Pacific sound so similar to those in South Africa and nowhere else?
• How much did the Mongols of the Khan dynasty intermingle and intermarry with tribes in Central Asia and Eastern Europe?
• Is it true, according to one theory, that the original settlers of Northern Japan (Ainu of Hokkaido) came from Siberia, and those people originated from Northern Europe?
• Is it true that some of the original Native Americans have DNA that traces back to Northern Europe?
• What drove people to migrate through Siberia and over the frigid land bridge to Alaska despite sub-zero temperatures?
• There is a tribe in Thailand that shares similar DNA to Japanese. What is the connection?
• Was there any migration from North America to Hawaii in the pre-Western contact era?

Questions that have already been answered in my inquisitive study:
• Why did Samoans and Tongans have such a bitter rivalry that carried over to Hawaii when I was a kid back in the 1970s?
• What's the difference between Okinawan and Japanese names?
• Why do Okinawan dishes have much more pork than traditional Japanese dishes?
• How did Islam arrive in the Philippines?
• Why is there so much antipathy between the older East Asian people — Korea vs. Japan vs. China?
• How did beer brewing arrive in East Asia?
• Why does diabetes attack Asians, Polynesians and African-Americans at such a high rate?

There's more, of course, but this is enough for now.

A history of the Azores

2007-09-09T21:46:00.000-10:00

I know it's common knowledge that the Portuguese desccendants in Hawaii originated from the Azores Islands of Portugal. Take a look at a map and it's absolutely insane how far away these islands are from the mainland. In fact, these islands are practically in the middle of the Atlantic!

I also wonder, if all of the Portuguese in Hawaii are from the tiny Azores, why are there so many people named Medeiros? (Which is a derivative of Madeira, or the Madeira Islands, also of Portugal. From what Wikipedia says, the islands were still uninhabited into the 1400s, when the Portuguese government sent citizens to live on these islands. They were, naturally, a strategic point for countries at war in the years to come. I'd like to visit the Azores. I shouldn't really think they're so tiny. One of the islands, Sao Miguel, has a current population of 123,000.

Here's a link to a flickr page of photos.

flickr: Reg. Aut. dos AÇORES - Portugal

If life there had been this good back at the turn of the century, we wouldn't have so many Portuguese in Hawaii. There would be no ukulele, no malasadas, no Portguese! Migration is often the result of hardship and dreams. It's always interesting to go back in time and trace the footsteps of people.

Hannukah in Dublin and Cork

2007-09-09T21:32:00.001-10:00

Not quite what I was looking for, but exceedingly interesting and valuable for anyone who treasures the history of migration. Here is an account on Wikipedia of the history of Jews in Ireleand. I had no idea Daniel Day-Lewis is half-Jewish. Cool.

Wikipedia: History of the Jews in Ireland

Waves and colors of Western Europe

2007-09-09T21:07:00.000-10:00

Since doing some reading about migration to Japan, re: Jomon and Yayoi periods, I can't help but see Japanese faces and wonder, 'Hmm, definitely Jomon.' Or, 'Oh, definitely Yayoi.'

But I've so wondered about some reading I've done about Spain and the rest of Western Europe. How Spain had invaders from the south (Moors) and the North (red-haired Vikings, or Norsemen). It's pretty fascinating to me, maybe more so because my brother (he's my half-brother but I never considered him anything but my "full" brother) is part Irish. He has brown, wavy hair and somewhat fair complexion. He could pass for Irish, or any of the more southern European extractions like Greek, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish ... he's sorta lucky that way!

But what compells me in terms of migration is that I'd like to learn more about where certain facets of the region originated. Red hair. "Black Irish." And, of course, the whole Protestant-versus-Catholic thing. I've seen my share of PBS documentaries about the history of Ireland and the church wars. Sad stuff. But was any of it aligned with ethnicities? Or were there brothers and cousins warring along those religious lines?

I find bloody, violent rivalries within small regions so compelling. To the rest of the world, say to someone like me in Hawaii, all Irish are pretty much the same at a glance. Probably much the same for someone from Ireland who takes a look at people in Hawaii. How could people in such a beautiful place not be able to get along? But it's true. There are problems everywhere.

So I'll post what I find tonight, and maybe the info will entertain, amuse and educate all the same.

Jomon vs. Yayoi

2007-08-30T23:16:00.001-10:00

While I'm on the topic of Jomon and Yayoi cultures, this quick take on the debate is quite entertaining.

Neomarxisme: Jomon vs. Yayoi

At first, I thought the fashion was pseudo-punk rock, but on closer inspection, they are true to some of the designs I've seen represented by artifacts from the two eras in Japanese history.

If the Jomon truly were the first culture — possibly the Ainu — with such earthy symbols in their art, the model to the left definitely works all of it quite well.

Then, the model to the right, with the Yayoi influenced outfit certainly carries the supposed Northeast Asian (Koryo) influence. Whatever the case, this is another interesting way to read the debate.

The ensuing thread on Neomarxisme is intriguing, as well. I've read much about the aboriginal people of Taiwan. If Taiwan is, indeed, Hawaiki, there will be much more to read and pass along for those of us who can't get enough of all things Pacifica.

Flames afloat from India to Hawaii

2007-08-30T22:56:00.000-10:00

I'm just sitting back down, turned the channel to PBS, and a photographer is enjoying his time in India. I envy him.

Tiny candle boats float down the River Ganges. Is this where the Japanese tradition of floating candles comes from? Possibly. Buddhism arrived in Japan from India via China. Wherever your faith is rooted, there is something ethereal about candles floating on water, drifting toward a larger place.

When it happens in Hawaii, as a remembrance of loved ones who have passed on, it transforms the environment. I would wonder, once again, how anything moves from India to a faraway place like Japan, except that the sight of the floating candles is so calming. A narcotic to the eyes, then to the mind and soul. And it's not just floating candles. Heck, curry comes from India. So do mynah birds (definitely) and mango (not sure).

I see what travels over mountains and oceans, and I am in awe every time. Migration is absolutely amazing.

Keally on Yayoi and Jomon cultures

2007-08-30T20:13:00.000-10:00

Amusing. I always find it amusing when someone tells me about purity of a culture, of a nation, of a "race." For the record, I'll say that these are hogwash. Every culture has both original facets and borrowed facets. It's just a fact, and it's all around us. But the denial about loaned cultural aspects continues, and I don't really hold it against anyone who fancies his ancestral homeland as one of greatness. I just laugh about assertions of purity.

Take Japan. With all the historical evidence in place, we know that the Jamon culture preceded the Yayoi. There are artifacts throughout Japan with the exception of Hokkaido and Ryukyu (Okinawa). Rice is widely believed to have been imported from central China, not just as a product, but as a skill that revolutionized ancient Japan and fostered population explosion.

Migration of people from the Korean peninsula is also a given. I know there are people today who cringe at the fact that they have Korean and Chinese blood coursing through their veins, but that's just the fact. Live with it, I say, and be thankful that the skill it takes to grow rice was given freely to the original settlers of Japan.

Professor Charles T. Keally breaks it down well: Yayoi Culture

The originals, the Jomon, supposed shared more physical characteristics with Southeast Asians, while the Yayoi resembled Northeast Asians. I wonder why there was migration to Japan from China and Korea, and not so much from Southeast Asia. Was overpopulation more of a crisis issue in those regions?

Kyushu, like Ryukyu and Hokkaido, fascinate me in terms of travelers. Kyushu's location made it much more accessible to mainland peoples and faraway travelers by ship. Does this mean there was a multicultural society there to some degree? I don't know, but if the info is out there, any kind of proof, I hope to find it soon.

One thing that Keally doesn't delve into with this analysis is whether the Ainu are more closely related to the Jomon, the Yayoi or anyone else. Whether the Ainu were simply pushed by warfare or politics to the northern, cold region of Japan, and whether they are related to the Ryukyu people, I also want to know.

Here's a cool site (PDF) with a series of pics in lectures by Prof. John C. Huntington

Early Jomon artifacts
Late Jomon and Yayoi period artifacts, housing technology
Kofun period

Al-Andalus

2007-08-22T21:48:00.001-10:00

I've always been fascinated with Islamic Spain of yesteryear, when people of different faiths and cultures prospered together.

I'd read quite a while back that Jews had lived in Spain and that their descendants intermarried into Spanish and even Portuguese families. The same could be true of the Muslims, or Moors, who lived in Al-Andalus for centuries. Jews and Muslims were in Spain for 1,500 years until explusion by Catholic rulers.

These aren't the kind of things you learn in high school, but wouldn't most students find this compelling? In Hawaii, we've been heavily influenced by Portuguese culture and people. But nobody teaches these things.

The series on PBS is worth a watch, no question.

Islam: Empire of Faith: Part 1
Islam: Empire of Faith: Part 2
Islam: Empire of Faith: Part 3

The images are so vivid and the history is so rich. I feel like traveling to Spain to see Al-Andalus and the other places where Muslims, Jews and Christians lived together, then escaped to as civil war broke out. It amazes me, particularly how some Muslims migrated from Baghdad to North Africa and to Spain.

The Alcazar of Seville, Granada. Artistry and craftsmanship of Muslim hands.

Rosia Montana, Romania: Power to the People

2007-08-21T21:50:00.001-10:00

A slight deviation from the norm here. Rosia Montana is a peaceful country village in Romania that is at risk of immense upheaval. Gold Corporation plans to mine the entire mountainside of the village, which is considered the oldest settlement in the country.

The skepticism of residents is understandable, as PBS' Wide Angle documentary revealed. There have been other gold mining disasters due to the use of cyanide. This site, nodirtygold.org, goes into some detail about the conflict.

The town was once ruled by Rome, hence the name of the country, and ancient caves were the work of the invaders. Or rather, the work was done under their thumb. Now, corporate greed has arrived from Australia and Canada.

Some things never seem to change.

Guns, Germs & Steel

2007-08-18T08:59:00.001-10:00

One of the best series I've ever enjoyed, on any network, was Guns, Germs & Steel on PBS. Jared Diamond's book turned into a documentary regarding native cultures and their doomed futures as Western power and greed arrived.

Though migration of peoples was a necessity driven by overpopulation, war, poverty and other common elements throughout time, the existence of conflict and conquest just as pervasive. The winners occupy. Losers have to leave. True in pre-contact era. True today.

Diamond's ability to weave history and simplify the power of Western weaponry — guns, germs and steel — makes for a fascinating watch. I wish we had this to watch when I was back in school.

Guns, Germs & Steel at youtube.com

Ancient fashion in Japan

2007-08-07T23:38:00.001-10:00

In the back of my mind, I've always wondered if the original inhabitants of Hokkaido and Okinawa shared any common threads.

Well, there's one site — Kyoko National Museum — that shows us that the two cultures from opposite ends of Japan didn't exactly use common threads at all. Literally. Different resources mean different types of fiber from plants are available. The clothing of early Okinawans — the Ryukyu Islanders — was and still is brightly colored thanks to a dyeing technique known as bingata.

It's pretty cool stuff that makes me feel in awe. My mom was a seamstress who often would sew aloha shirts for my brother and I from scratch. Well, sort of by scratch. She'd buy the material from a store and sew it together.

Anyway, the bingata designs were used for kimono.

Meanwhile, the Ainu in Hokkaido made cloth from elm fibers into shirts called attus. They look nothing like bingata and have more resemblance to designs from Western Europe, slightly Celtic, even. That would be something worth exploring since there are a few theories out there that claim the Ainu descend from caucasian blood, traveling across Northern Europe and North Asia before crossing the Korean peninsula to Japan. True?

Nobody can prove it, but it's definitely food for thought.

It's certain that the Ainu lived in Japan long before the latter, invading waves of migrants. But where did the Ryukyu people come from? Questions, questions and more questions.

Opening a chapter on Okinawa

2007-08-03T11:30:00.001-10:00

I was slow to enjoy the internet. Even at work, back in 1993, we got real computers for the first time and were completely banned from the 'net.

Not having been on it, I didn't miss it. I finally got my own computer in 1996 or so and it's been a whole new world since. In the last several years, reading theories about migration has been one of my pastimes. And one of the places that fascinate me is East Asia.

Growing up with all kinds of kids, it always amazed me how different we are though we may have roots from one region of the world. Take Korea and China. Korea and Japan. Their relationships through the millenia are compelling in so many ways. The way the cultures and societies view each other is sometimes perplexing, as well. Ask a Japanese national about the fact that his or her descendants probably came from Northeast China and Korea, and they might rebuke you.

But what really trips me out is the history of Okinawa. I'll go into more detail about the islands later, but having grown up without knowing the difference between Japan and Okinawa was so unfortunate. Learning about the differences much later has been so rewarding.

More later.

Were there menehune in Hawaii?

2007-07-24T17:40:00.000-10:00

The widely accepted belief that two sets of migrations occurred in Hawaii sometimes leads me to think about the legend of the menehune.

In most translations, menehune are understood to be little people who were the original settlers of the islands. One version I've read states that the menehune weren't physically smaller than the later settlers, but that they were smaller in stature politically. They didn't have the power to stop their adversaries, and thus departed from one island to the next until stopping on Kauai, the last bastion of a liveable environment.

It is true that there are many tales of the menehune on Kauai, including the giant inland fishpond outside Lihue that was built by them. (Menehune were said to have been prolific fishpond builders across the islands, able to build them overnight at the command of alii, or chiefs.) I've been there and I tend to believe that it was a working, thriving fishpond that, indeed, fed the populace of the island at one time. Even the nickname of the high school on the island's west side, Waimea, is Menehune.

An old friend, Manny Henriques, drove me up and down the island when I was there a couple of years ago on a work assignment. We went out to Kekaha, and I got to see many interesting spots along the way, including several of the rural post offices. Then we headed up the mountain to see Waimea Canyon, and beyond that, Kalalau Valley. The valley is on the north side of the island, so the drive was quite a voyage. The place is unspoiled and mostly uninhabited — Manny says some hippies live off the land there. It was the site of Jurrasic Park, a wide, lush valley that Manny said was once home to the "Lost Tribe."

Even as a Hawaii resident, I'd never heard of this. Manny explained that even as recently as 150 years ago, there was a large contingent of people in the valley, perhaps 200 strong. Were they descendants of menehune? No one knows for sure today, but King David Kalakaua actually wrote a book called The Legends and Myths of Hawaii. He supposedly writes that the menehune were real, and that the Lost Tribe consisted of 65 individuals according to a census.

Manny says that the Lost Tribe eventually integrated themselves into society. I just wish someone had documented information about the Lost Tribe. It's a theme that replicates itself in similar ways across the Pacific, even around the world. Some theories make a lot of sense. Other theories are fascinating, but require a lot of imagination. More on those theories later.

Perhaps one of the best sources of information comes from Tales of Molokai: The Voice of Harriet Ne, which can be found online in a review by Big Island resident June Gutmanis.

As with many Hawaiians of an older generation, Ne thought of the Menehune not as mystical, night-working, little people given to disappearing before sunrise, but as a people of small stature who had come to Hawai‘i before the Hawaiians and who were often friends with local families. According to her, once, while visiting on Kaua‘i, she went to a cave where the Menehune were said to live. After waiting for a time, she met a group of Menehunes returning to their home. She described
them as being short and quite fair. Both men and women wore long hair made into pugs with sticks through them.

On another occasion, while visiting a Mrs. Johnson in Puna, Hawai‘i, Ne met two Menehunes who came to visit her friend. As a favor, they caught a special kind of fish for their hostess. Ne relates that when the Menehune were talking together, they spoke in a strange language that she had heard before.

I'll post more info about menehune as I find it.

Destination: Hawaii

2007-07-22T12:38:00.000-10:00

There are a zillion places around the world that fascinate me. Actually, it's the people and their cultures that trip me out. And more so, what happens when those people and cultures overlap.

But I'll start with my home, Hawaii. There are different estimations, but generally, historians place the first arrival of humans as early as 600 or 700 AD. From the Marquesas Islands, they arrived and prospered. The first landing is widely believed to have been at South Point, Ka‘u on the Big Island.

The second wave came at about 1100 AD from the Society Islands. First of all, the fact that Polynesians could get around the South Pacific, as well as Melanesia and Micronesia, is a feat that's on a level with any other pre-Industrial era technology. How do you nagivate 2,000 miles to find a tiny dot out there in the middle of the Pacific Ocean? It's almost unfathomable without modern technology. Even the Hokulea today navigates through Polynesia and Micronesia, but not without nearby help and technology. It's just so risky, even with modern anemities.

Second, there are different theories as to why islanders left Marquesas and the Society Islands. Famine? Warfare? I think both were elements, but I do believe the primary reason was overpopulation. Though war was a part of life in Polynesia, there simply isn't enough land to sustain a growing society. And overpopulation, or condensation of people in a small place, is usually a bad idea, even today. Especially today.

I just wonder, more than anything, how the first Hawaiians knew of the islands. Was it pure luck? Was it divine inspiration?

Some things, we'll never know.

It was, according to one thesis I read online, that religion arrived in Hawaii around the time of the second wave when a Tongan priest was requested. The first heiau was established, and the rest of Hawaiian religion developed. The migration of religion, and its evolution as it migrates, has also fascinated me. After all, we all came from somewhere, and as man traveled outward from his origin of birth, the myths and beliefs stayed the same, and yet changed.

Every culture has a creation myth. But that's for another post.

We Are ....

2007-07-18T18:00:00.001-10:00

We are all the descendants of migrants. Whether our ancestors migrated a year ago, a century ago, or a millenia ago, we all came from somewhere else.

Whether it's Hawaii, the Pacific at large, South America, North America, Asia and Europe, there is never enough information to satisfy my thirst.

Sometimes, there are theories where solid fact should exist. I'm willing to explore all angles in the quest. If you share my interest in all things migratory, join in. The more, the merrier!