172
10 Studying the History of Spice Island Migration Through Cultural Diffusion
off the coast of Menangkabau in Sumatra. Namuka, one of the Tonga Islands, and
also one of the Fiji Group, refers to Namusa, one of the Mengites Group in the
Spice Islands. Kauai, one of the Hawaiian Group, is named after Tawai, one of the
Batchian islands, west of Gilolo in the Spice Islands. Hawaii itself is named after
the ancestral Hawaiki, which Fornander sees as a variant of the name Java, the second of the Sunda Islands. Both Fornander and Smith believed Savaii in Samoa and
Hawaii to be named after Java, and the general name of the Polynesian homeland,
Hawaiki, also to derive from Java. It is possible, however, that the island of Java
was named from Hawa, an ancient name for the Spice Islands, perhaps the original
Hawaiki. Indeed Hawa is still the Bugis name for the Spice Islands. Halmahera’s
ancient name “Gilolo” occurs in “ancient Hawaiian chants, legends, and prayers”
(as in O-lolo-I-mehani which translates as “Gilolo the red” and O-pae-Lolo which
literally means “the Lolo group”).
The 31 place names in Hawaii which, Fornander shows, can be sourced to the
Spice Island region add weight to the suggestion that, as oral traditions claim,
Hawaii over a period of 1,500 years was colonized via Micronesia directly from the
Spice Islands, Wallacea or the Indonesian archipelago rather than indirectly from a
later settled Eastern Polynesia.
The Lapita colonies in Western Polynesia and islands colonized from them also
carry names from Island Southeast Asia. For example, the Tongans believed that
mankind came from Bolotu, the principal residence of the gods, placed in the
Northwest. Fornander suggests that Bolotu is a version of Gilolo which, as we have
seen, is an early name for Halmahera.
It is not surprising that if Hawaii was settled directly from the Spice Islands or
Wallacea that place names from the area were so well preserved in Hawaii. Because
of its isolation – specifically due to the late settlement of Eastern Polynesia and to
the difficulty of accessing Hawaii from Eastern Polynesia – its migration history
is unusually simple. If, as we suggest, Hawaii had a Lapita-age first settlement, by
the time of the medieval southern incursions, it would already have had a significant population. This would have helped to preserve original place names. Maui the
Navigator is recorded as having “fished up” the Hawaiian Island of Maui as well as
the North Island of New Zealand and, as in New Zealand, he left a record of his visit
to Hawaii in places named after him.
New Zealand, with its larger land area, probably attracted more migrants than
Hawaii. Its complex migration history is possibly reflected in changing place names.
This is illustrated in Chapter 16 in the oral record of the large number of landmarks
Maui named after himself and members of his crew. Indeed there seems to have been
a persistent practice in New Zealand amongst migrants, early and late, of naming
landmarks after themselves. Rakaihautu, in about AD 840 by our reckoning, with his
following walked the length of the South Island, naming lakes and mountains, and
many generations later his descendants were still consistently naming mountains
after themselves. Herries Beattie connects no fewer than 26 out of 44 descendants
of Rakaihautu in one genealogy with place names in the South Island [14]. Kupe –
possibly the first Eastern Polynesian explorer to reach New Zealand – named many
places in New Zealand: Jeff Evans lists 30 [15]. Like Maui, Kupe left migrants to
10 Studying the History of Spice Island Migration Through Cultural Diffusion
off the coast of Menangkabau in Sumatra. Namuka, one of the Tonga Islands, and
also one of the Fiji Group, refers to Namusa, one of the Mengites Group in the
Spice Islands. Kauai, one of the Hawaiian Group, is named after Tawai, one of the
Batchian islands, west of Gilolo in the Spice Islands. Hawaii itself is named after
the ancestral Hawaiki, which Fornander sees as a variant of the name Java, the second of the Sunda Islands. Both Fornander and Smith believed Savaii in Samoa and
Hawaii to be named after Java, and the general name of the Polynesian homeland,
Hawaiki, also to derive from Java. It is possible, however, that the island of Java
was named from Hawa, an ancient name for the Spice Islands, perhaps the original
Hawaiki. Indeed Hawa is still the Bugis name for the Spice Islands. Halmahera’s
ancient name “Gilolo” occurs in “ancient Hawaiian chants, legends, and prayers”
(as in O-lolo-I-mehani which translates as “Gilolo the red” and O-pae-Lolo which
literally means “the Lolo group”).
The 31 place names in Hawaii which, Fornander shows, can be sourced to the
Spice Island region add weight to the suggestion that, as oral traditions claim,
Hawaii over a period of 1,500 years was colonized via Micronesia directly from the
Spice Islands, Wallacea or the Indonesian archipelago rather than indirectly from a
later settled Eastern Polynesia.
The Lapita colonies in Western Polynesia and islands colonized from them also
carry names from Island Southeast Asia. For example, the Tongans believed that
mankind came from Bolotu, the principal residence of the gods, placed in the
Northwest. Fornander suggests that Bolotu is a version of Gilolo which, as we have
seen, is an early name for Halmahera.
It is not surprising that if Hawaii was settled directly from the Spice Islands or
Wallacea that place names from the area were so well preserved in Hawaii. Because
of its isolation – specifically due to the late settlement of Eastern Polynesia and to
the difficulty of accessing Hawaii from Eastern Polynesia – its migration history
is unusually simple. If, as we suggest, Hawaii had a Lapita-age first settlement, by
the time of the medieval southern incursions, it would already have had a significant population. This would have helped to preserve original place names. Maui the
Navigator is recorded as having “fished up” the Hawaiian Island of Maui as well as
the North Island of New Zealand and, as in New Zealand, he left a record of his visit
to Hawaii in places named after him.
New Zealand, with its larger land area, probably attracted more migrants than
Hawaii. Its complex migration history is possibly reflected in changing place names.
This is illustrated in Chapter 16 in the oral record of the large number of landmarks
Maui named after himself and members of his crew. Indeed there seems to have been
a persistent practice in New Zealand amongst migrants, early and late, of naming
landmarks after themselves. Rakaihautu, in about AD 840 by our reckoning, with his
following walked the length of the South Island, naming lakes and mountains, and
many generations later his descendants were still consistently naming mountains
after themselves. Herries Beattie connects no fewer than 26 out of 44 descendants
of Rakaihautu in one genealogy with place names in the South Island [14]. Kupe –
possibly the first Eastern Polynesian explorer to reach New Zealand – named many
places in New Zealand: Jeff Evans lists 30 [15]. Like Maui, Kupe left migrants to