South Pacific Migration History

From the ‪www.VideoSource... Global Village Travel Guide
DVD's ‪www.LivingLands... 
South Pacific
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Transcript:
Volcanic action and the shifting of
the earth's crust thrust these islands
up from the depths.
Wind and water combined to create soil
that would sustain vegetation.
Over millennia, plants found their way from
Asia, Indonesia and Australia. The islands
grew green and soon played host to abundant animal life.
Species by species, the varieties of
plant and animal life increased and
the web of life became more complex.
The next great wave of migration would
be human. About five thousand years ago population
pressures drove these future Polynesians
from their Asian homes.
First they moved through the Fijian Islands
Then eastward to Samoa and Tonga.
From there, they swept through
Tahiti and French Polynesia extending their domain as far as
the Marquesas
Around 2,000 years ago these intrepid sailors
navigated north to the Hawaiian Islands, south to
Easter Island, and even on to New Zealand to complete
the remarkable feat of populating the islands of the Pacific.
Much later, the voyages of Magellan,
Cook, Darwin, and others would seed
Europe with stories of a paradise in the South
pacific where friendly natives lived carefree
under tropical skies.
Such tales gave the islands the reputation they still enjoy today.......