114
6 Transoceanic Voyaging in the Pacific
Japanese and Polynesian use of natural spurs underlines ancient trading and cultural connections and the likelihood of a Kuro Shio route for the introduction
of cockfighting to America. For such an introduction is clearly associated with
the introduction of melanotic chickens, still bred for the sport in both Polynesia
and South America. The breed is found from Mexico to Chile. In America, as
in Polynesia, breeding for cockfighting may well have helped preserve specific
melanotic lines.
6.7 White Chickens and the Cultural Complex of Sacrifice
and Divination
There is a third cultural complex in Polynesia which is associated, not with melanotic chickens with black bones, black flesh and black skin, but with white chickens
bred for sacrifice and divination. Carter tells us that “White chickens were used in
Hawaii for necromancy – again the Asiatic pattern of the importance of white chickens for ritual” (p. 196). They were similarly used in Tahiti. Possibly the Hawaiian
use followed the Tahitian migrations to Hawaii in about AD 1100 (see Chapter 19).
In Tahiti the word for chicken, moa, doubled becomes moa moa meaning sacred.
Given the late dates now ascribed to the settlement of Eastern Polynesia, it seems
likely that if this chicken lineage reached America, it would probably have been
brought from Eastern Polynesia during the warm global climate period we call the
Medieval Climatic Optimum. It is clear that Eastern Polynesian voyagers reached
America in this period for they brought back the sweet potato (kumara). D.E. Yen
dates its arrival in Polynesia at around AD 1000 [18]. This fits well with its introduction to Hawaii by Tahitians in about AD 1100 and with the introduction of the
kumara to New Zealand from Tahiti, according to tradition, by Hoaki and Takata (in
AD 1200 by our reckoning). There is evidence that white chickens reached Easter
Island during this period. Hotu Matua is credited with bringing the chicken to the
island. Carter tells us that in Easter Island
The chicken is involved in numerous ceremonies and sacrifices, and white chickens, especially cocks, were prominent. A white cock was used by sorcerers to cause the death of
another person. The most cherished feathers were those of white cocks, which were kept in
gourd containers and taken out when headdresses were to be made. The white chicken was
also used to conjure with (pp. 197–198).
As noted, Metraux recorded the arrival of the white fowl on Easter Island as
the last of a sequence of introductions. Varietal differences recorded this sequence
(Carter, p. 214), the white chicken being much later than the black. This sequence
fits with the genetic evidence from Easter Island sites for two lineages, the melanotic chicken being associated with the earliest sites. Storey et al. ascribe the two
Easter Island lineages that they document to different Asian origins. They connect the melanotic chicken to modern chickens from Southeast Asia, specifically
from the Yunnan region of China and Vietnam. A Chinese origin for the melanotic
chicken accords with the Chinese shamanic/medical complex still associated with
6 Transoceanic Voyaging in the Pacific
Japanese and Polynesian use of natural spurs underlines ancient trading and cultural connections and the likelihood of a Kuro Shio route for the introduction
of cockfighting to America. For such an introduction is clearly associated with
the introduction of melanotic chickens, still bred for the sport in both Polynesia
and South America. The breed is found from Mexico to Chile. In America, as
in Polynesia, breeding for cockfighting may well have helped preserve specific
melanotic lines.
6.7 White Chickens and the Cultural Complex of Sacrifice
and Divination
There is a third cultural complex in Polynesia which is associated, not with melanotic chickens with black bones, black flesh and black skin, but with white chickens
bred for sacrifice and divination. Carter tells us that “White chickens were used in
Hawaii for necromancy – again the Asiatic pattern of the importance of white chickens for ritual” (p. 196). They were similarly used in Tahiti. Possibly the Hawaiian
use followed the Tahitian migrations to Hawaii in about AD 1100 (see Chapter 19).
In Tahiti the word for chicken, moa, doubled becomes moa moa meaning sacred.
Given the late dates now ascribed to the settlement of Eastern Polynesia, it seems
likely that if this chicken lineage reached America, it would probably have been
brought from Eastern Polynesia during the warm global climate period we call the
Medieval Climatic Optimum. It is clear that Eastern Polynesian voyagers reached
America in this period for they brought back the sweet potato (kumara). D.E. Yen
dates its arrival in Polynesia at around AD 1000 [18]. This fits well with its introduction to Hawaii by Tahitians in about AD 1100 and with the introduction of the
kumara to New Zealand from Tahiti, according to tradition, by Hoaki and Takata (in
AD 1200 by our reckoning). There is evidence that white chickens reached Easter
Island during this period. Hotu Matua is credited with bringing the chicken to the
island. Carter tells us that in Easter Island
The chicken is involved in numerous ceremonies and sacrifices, and white chickens, especially cocks, were prominent. A white cock was used by sorcerers to cause the death of
another person. The most cherished feathers were those of white cocks, which were kept in
gourd containers and taken out when headdresses were to be made. The white chicken was
also used to conjure with (pp. 197–198).
As noted, Metraux recorded the arrival of the white fowl on Easter Island as
the last of a sequence of introductions. Varietal differences recorded this sequence
(Carter, p. 214), the white chicken being much later than the black. This sequence
fits with the genetic evidence from Easter Island sites for two lineages, the melanotic chicken being associated with the earliest sites. Storey et al. ascribe the two
Easter Island lineages that they document to different Asian origins. They connect the melanotic chicken to modern chickens from Southeast Asia, specifically
from the Yunnan region of China and Vietnam. A Chinese origin for the melanotic
chicken accords with the Chinese shamanic/medical complex still associated with