A group of indigenous Taiwanese seafarers have completed a daring quest, braving choppy waters and using the stars for navigation as they paddled a traditional wooden canoe to the Philippines – in a journey that highlights the astonishing feat of human migration across the Pacific.
Recreating the Great Pacific Migration
The Tao people, one of Taiwan’s smaller indigenous groups, set off on a 111-mile voyage, taking turns to paddle against strong currents to reach the Ivatan people on Batan Island, located in the far north of the Philippines, replicating a journey first thought to have been made more than 4,000 years ago.
The journey is meant to revive a sea route not used for 300 years, and one that in the past could’ve been considered nearly impossible – given the lack of maps and the crude vessels early navigators of the Bashi Channel once used.
More than 200 people from six tribal communities took part in making the canoe – named “Ovayan,” or “Golden Friendship” – using traditional methods to bind specially cut wood without the need of nails.
Emeritus Professor of Archaeology Peter Bellwood, from Australian National University, told CNN that it’s “absolutely certain” that the Great Pacific Migration began in Taiwan “maybe 5,000 years ago,” and then spread into the Philippines, and then onwards.
The Austronesian groups from Taiwan would bring food to their boats during expeditions, including yams and taro as well as livestock, and had a basic knowledge of astronomy, which allowed them to navigate the seas.
Original reporting: KTVZ (Central Oregon) — read the source article.
