Using the evidence

Complete these questions based on your learning from 'the great migration'.

Question 1

According to this source, which of the following gives the correct order of settlement?

  1. Cook Islands, New Zealand, Pitcairn, Easter Island
  2. Samoa, Tahiti, Hawaii, New Zealand
  3. Tahiti, Cook Islands, Niue, New Zealand
  4. Tonga, Hawaii, Marquesas, Tahiti
Feedback:
  1. Sorry, try again
  2. Well done, that's right.
  3. Sorry, try again
  4. Sorry, try again

Question 2

Which of these pieces of evidence suggests that the Polynesian’s discovery of islands was not by accident?

  1. DNA evidence of where they came from
  2. Logs kept by the Polynesian navigators
  3. Pigs and chickens were taken on voyages
  4. The design of their waka
Feedback:
  1. Try again, this evidence does not support the claim.
  2. Try again. The Polynesians did not keep written records.
  3. Yes these were deliberately taken onboard to help set up a new lifestyle wherever they landed. They show planning.
  4. Try again. The waka were designed for open ocean but that doesn't necessarily support the claim.

Question 3

Critics of Thor Heyerdahl have argued that sweet potatoes could have travelled from South America to Polynesia with the help of:

  1. birds
  2. currents
  3. European explorers
  4. winds
Feedback:
  1. That's right. These critics suggest that sweet potatoes in Polynesia are a result of migrating birds dropping seeds.
  2. Sorry, try again.
  3. Try again. Sweet potatoes were being grown in Polynesia long before European contact.
  4. Sorry, no winds were strong enough to blow potato seeds all the way from South America.

Question 4

Which of the following does not add to our knowledge of the early movement of Polynesian peoples?

  1. DNA analysis
  2. Diary entries
  3. Pottery pieces
  4. Tupaia’s experience with the Maori people
Feedback:
  1. Try again. DNA records demonstrate movement out of Asia.
  2. Congratulations. Pre-European Polynesians did not read or write.
  3. Try again. Carbon-dating of pottery artefacts demonstrate that Polynesians did migrate from Asia.
  4. Sorry but Tupaia's ability to speak with the Maori demonstrates that language, and therefore people, had moved around the Pacific.

Solution

© State of New South Wales, Department of Education and Training 2008