> Drifters could explain sweet-potato travel
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> An unsteered ship may have delivered crop to Polynesia.
I used to be of the opinion that Maori shipwrecked ashore in New Zealand and that they did not navigate their way here, contrary to their oral traditions.
I have changed my mind, having become immersed in their culture.
They were very, very clever with their dugout ocean-going canoes, filled with fghting-fit warrior cannibals, each of them rowing under the direction of a single Navigator. They could beyond doubt navigate by stars, and they could use ocean currents like we use Interstate Hiways.
Something like stone-age Vikings, except with fewer clothes.
Beyond doubt they had regular exchange with Tahitians and Cook Islanders (the languages and physical characteristics are virtually identical) and definitely the Hawaiians (a nine hour flite from Auckland: still, the languages are strikingly similar).
The jolly “kumara” sweet potatoes would never have gotten here by drifting. If brought to NZ from South America, it would have been delivered by war canoe by a marauding raiding party of hungry Maori cannibals, who would have noticed that kumara made a nice condiment to be served with Incas, both roasted slowly in their clay hangi pits.
More likely in my view, the Maori brought kumara to South America.
Nah. The potato, all 2,000 varieties, are native to South America...no one questions that. The question is how they got to the Pacific Islands.
I’d agree, except for one thing - if the Maoris visited South America, they would have left a lasting impression on the locals...