Pacific Voyagers

The first people to settle Oceania – Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific islands – almost certainly came originally from Asia. They made some astonishing voyages, crossing vast stretches of the world’s largest ocean in wooden canoes.

The first humans to settle in New Guinea and Australia had arrived there by 40,000 years ago. Until about 10,000 years ago, these two land masses formed one large continent, of which Tasmania (now an island) was also a part. So it was relatively easy for humans from Asia to migrate there, either over land or by crossing narrow stretches of water.

The first people to reach Australia probably arrived from the islands of Southeast Asia. Although they never made metal tools, they survived in Australia’s often harsh environments, spearing fish and using boomerangs to kill animals for food. They became expert at finding seeds, insect grubs, roots, tubers and fruits to eat. The modern Aboriginal peoples of Australia preserve some of these ancient skills.

Humans settled the islands of the western Pacific, known as Melanesia, by ‘island-hopping’. However, reaching the more remote islands of Micronesia (such as Guam, the Marianas and Nauru) and Polynesia (including Fiji, Tonga and Samoa) was more difficult.

About 40,000 years ago the intrepid colonists set sail in outrigger canoes loaded with essentials – coconuts, taro, yarns, bananas, breadfruit, pigs and chicken. They relied on skill and luck to land on islands dotted across the Pacific Ocean. Canoe voyagers travelled as far west as Easter Island and, about 2,000 years ago, they reached the Hawaiian islands.

One of the last places the voyagers colonized was New Zealand. Polynesian Maoris had landed in New Zealand by about AD 750. Australia was isolated, apart from occasional visits from Indonesian and possibly Chinese traders, until the 1500s. The great southern continent and the Pacific islands remained unknown to Europeans.