Polynesian Voyaging Canoes

Timeline

1. 1000–1400Central Pacific islands · French PolynesiaPolynesians built double-hulled or outrigger canoes, lashing hulls with coconut-fiber rope and weaving triangular sails, navigating by stars, wave patterns, and bird observation to complete inter-island voyages and settlement expansion across thousands of kilometers.
2. 1421–1430Polynesian archipelagoes · PolynesiaDuring this period European navigators had not yet entered the core Pacific, and the Polynesian archipelagoes still maintained inter-island fishing, trade, and population movement with traditional canoes; Hawaii, Samoa, Tonga, and elsewhere had mature boatbuilding and navigation traditions.
3. 1700–2000Polynesian archipelagoes · PolynesiaAfter European colonization and the introduction of Western vessels, traditional long-distance voyaging ceased on some islands; since the late 20th century, cultural revival movements in Hawaii and elsewhere have rebuilt double-hulled rafts and relearned traditional navigation, renewing the Polynesian voyaging canoe.