Polynesian Expansion

Timeline

1. c. 1000–1050Samoan Islands · SamoaAfter Polynesian culture developed highly in the Samoa–Tonga region, seafaring groups organized expedition fleets, using trade winds and star navigation to push toward more remote eastern and southern islands, entering the final stage of expansion.
2. c. 1008–1200Hawaiian Islands · HawaiiPolynesian voyagers reached the Hawaiian Islands and established permanent settlements, introducing domesticated species such as taro, bananas, pigs, and chickens, developing a distinctive Hawaiian culture and social organization, and completing colonization of the northernmost major island group of the Pacific.
3. c. 1050–1300Easter Island (Rapa Nui) · Rapa NuiReaching remote Easter Island to the east, Polynesian expansion touched the southeastern corner of the Pacific; at the same time or shortly after, they pushed southwest to New Zealand, settling nearly all habitable islands of the Polynesian Triangle and marking the basic completion of the great Pacific island colonization migration.