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

Taiwan’s indigenous people –– who nowadays make up just a tiny proportion of the island’s population –– are believed to be the ancestors of many of the groups who came to inhabit lands stretching from Hawaii and Easter Island in the eastern Pacific, to Madagascar, off the coast of east Africa.

On Monday, 60 Tao people from Taiwan’s Orchid Island 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.

Understanding the Great Pacific Migration

Emeritus Professor of Archaeology Peter Bellwood, from Australian National University, told CNN that the journey began in Taiwan “maybe 5,000 years ago,” and then spread into the Philippines, and then onwards.

From there, the groups spread further to other places, such as Indonesia and Pacific islands, he said, adding that there were archaeological records and DNA traces to back that up.

The Austronesian groups from Taiwan would bring food to their boats during expeditions, he said, including yams and taro as well as livestock.

“Without those animals and plants, they couldn’t survive in small islands,” Bellwood said, adding that there were usually women on board too.

“They had a basic knowledge of astronomy, so they could see where they were going, and they could also record maybe where they’d come from and where the direction was to go back home again,” he also said.

Original reporting: El Paso News (HLL/CB) — read the source article.