Polynesian societies combined a strong authority structure based on genealogical ranking that was useful for mounting long expeditions and founding island colonies. The Voyaging Canoe View from ...

Heyerdahl needed this demonstration to support his theory that the first people to Polynesia came from the east, from South America. He claimed that it would have been impossible for early canoe ...

Anthropologists regard the canoe as a defining item in Polynesian culture, with dozens of models and variations used for transport, fishing, racing, war, and burial, as well as recreation.