Polynesia

Polynesia is part of Oceania, comprising over a thousand islands in the south Pacific Ocean. The Polynesian people may be descended from the Lapita people who migrated into the islands now known as Fiji (usually located in Melanesia), Samoa and Tonga several thousand years ago,[1][2] and later Polynesians migrated to New Zealand (the Maori arrived around 1000 AD), Hawai'i and other islands. Other countries and territories in Polynesia include American Samoa, Niue, Tuvalu, Wallis and Futuna, French Polynesia (including Tahiti), Pitcairn Island, Cook Islands and Tokelau.

Like other cultures, the Polynesians used a flattened or terraced pyramid for worship, similar to a ziggurat. They grew in population most significantly after A.D. 1000.

Michael Crichton wrote:[3]

The Polynesians, living in an environment as close to paradise as one can imagine, fought constantly, and created a society so hideously restrictive that you could lose your life if you stepped in the footprint of a chief. It was the Polynesians who gave us the very concept of taboo, as well as the word itself.

## References[edit]

1. ↑ http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Lapita
2. ↑ http://www.lapita-voyage.org/en/lapita_voyage_konzept.html
3. ↑ http://www.michaelcrichton.com/speech-environmentalismaseligion.html