Meanwhile I have trouble telling left from right...

If only Odysseus had such skills

When your ancestors were rocking the game thousands of years ago and you're a Samoan who can't swim well😂😭

How the ancient Polynesians reached all those remote islands with essentially stone age technology is one of the greatest feats of human ingenuity in history. The wit and daring required to succeed at this perfectly encompasses everything that makes us human and sets us apart from simple animals.

Always amaze how ancient people unfold things like finding direction, star mapping, calculating days in a year, building pyramids and the likes without technology. Genius.

European explorer: we are the best sailor Polynesians: Hold my canoe

*meanwhile Columbus lands at america.."india!!!"*

As a Tongan this was how my grandfather used to navigate his trip on the water and on land. The southern cross constellation was his key thing and remembered where they stood even if it was day and would name the Northern star - Tokelau , the south most star- Tonga, the Western most star- Hihifo and the Eastern most star - Hahake as these were the ancient names out ancestors used for these four main stars

In Indonesia we have the song "nenek moyangku seorang pelaut" or "my ancestors were seafarer". I'm still amazed on the polynesian ways to see Ocean as a conector instead of barrier

TBH a lot of us were probably introduced to the concept of wayfinders from 'Moana'. This video is obviously a more historical approach. Great video 👍

what we will never know is how many might have perished in that vastness. such incredible risk in these undertakings, their bravery should not be discounted.

~w~ as a Tahitian I am proud someone talks about Polynesia ❤

There are still Polynesian's practicing these techniques today. If you want to really know what it is like to be a Polynesian navigator, research Nainoa Thompson and the Hōkūleʻa. I wish this video incorporated more about the other people of Polynesia - Samoans, Tahitians, Fijians, Tongans, etc. It would have been nice to hear the different languages as well, not only ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi.

I'm always amazed at how different people from different continents in ancient times without having had any contact to each other figured out all the same technologies and used similar methods of navigation and mathematics.

When I was at the Polynesian Center in Hawaii they also told us that the navigators would use the temperature of the water as a guide. Based on how warm or cold it was they knew if they could estimate how much closer they were to their destination. Truly remarkable how in tune they were with their surroundings

Those guys were ridiculous 3500 years ago. Incredibly smart and crafty people 🤯

As a Samoan I am proud of what my ancestors achieved. They were nicknamed "the Island of the Navigators" by early French Explorer Louis-Antoine Bougainville for their advanced knowledge in star mapping, using wind patterns, using the sun rise and set points, wave currents etc to navigate the seas.

In AP art history, I learned about these objects called mattangs and rebbelibs which were made of sticks and shells and they were navigational tools which showed the ocean swells and the positions of islands. The amazing thing is that they weren't taken on journeys, but memorized by the navigator. It's crazy to me that they could remember and navigate the ocean currents.

Proud to say im a descendant of these great seafaring people. ❤️ Pls pray for us for we are losing our ways to the western world🙏🏽

Proud to be a Polynesian (Malayo Polynesian). greetings from Indonesia!

This video neglects to acknowledge Micronesia and Melanesia- other regions in the Pacific. This is especially important to know because Hawai'i actually lost the tradition of navigation (through colonization) and had a Micronesian navigator bring it back. This video can easily be more accurate and more encompassing of others in the Pacific.

Im Micronesian & we are still traveling by the winds & stars❤️

this might be the coolest thing i’ve ever heard about humans doing. much respect.

This is absolutely badass. Science fiction based on this way of understanding the world would be very cool.

"Aue, aue! Te fenua, te mālie! nā heko hakilia, we know the way!"

“Born too late to explore the world, born too early to explore the universe...” *sigh* “born just in time to contemplate ones existence and be depressed about it”

I want first state that as someone of Kanaka Maoli (Native Hawaiian) descent I want to apologize to my fellow Pacific Island brothers and sisters (specifically my brothers and sister from Micronesia) for the ignorance that this video expresses. As a Kanaka Maoli (who knows my people's history), I know that while we did sail across the Moananuiākea (the Pacific) and settled in Hawaiʻi our knowledge of wayfinding was lost to time and only reclaimed with the help of Master Navigator Papa Mau Piailug from Satawal, Yap (in Micronesia) who taught Kanaka Maoli like Nainoa Thompson, Bruce Blankenfeld, Chad Kalepa Baybayan, Milton "Shorty" Bertlemann, and Chad ʻOnohi Paishon. In the 1970s, when we were trying reclaim that lost knowledge, we here in Hawaiʻi sought out individuals that still retained their knowledge of wayfinding and Papa Mau was one of only 6 people alive in the world (at the time) who knew this ancient artform and it was unusual for Master Navigators to teach pupils outside of their own culture (Papa Mau being of Satawal). Wayfinding methods were used all across the Moananuiākea (all across the Pacific) as we island people didn't just originate on these islands (there were waves of migration into the Pacific most likely stemming from Southeast Asia that traversed the Pacific going to and settling in places like Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Vanuatu, Palau, Guam, Yap, Chuuk, Tahiti, Samoa, Rapa Nui, Aotearoa, and Hawaiʻi. Unfortunately, the artform (as a whole) across the Pacific was nearly lost and only brought back because of Papa Mau Piailug, our brother from across the Moananuiākea in Satawal which makes it the Micronesian wayfinding navigation. TED-Ed, for a KZfaq channel that claims to celebrate the ideas of teachers and student around the world, you folks clearly didn't do your due diligence on this topic. And lastly, I want to thank my Micronesian brothers and sisters for helping us reclaim wayfinding and say that I recognize you as it is was not Polynesian wayfinding that navigated the Pacific Ocean, it was Pacific Island wayfinding navigated the Pacific Ocean

I see a lot of mentions about the movie Moana. I loved the movie myself and even advised on Moana materials for the Disney parks. From what I know before Moana, what I saw in the making of it and what I saw in the movie, Disney respectfully portrayed our seafaring culture - albeit thru their lens. It was beautifully done and visually I don't think anyone could have done it better and shared it with more people. Now, if you're truly interested in learning about wayfinding and Pacific Island cultures, I encourage you to do your own research. Moana is just a small sample of our rich history that is hardly well known until recently. There are still a lot of unknowns, which makes it even more fascinating! -jp

Good work, Alan, Shantel and Ted-ed team.

Very amazing that my ancestors managed this. Whenever I think I am lost, I remember that I will find my way just as my people always have.

As an austronesian, I would love to travel to the polynesian islands and the rest of the micronesia one day to learn more about the different cultures we have from one another. It's amazing how we look so similar to each other, yet share no similar values at all

The ancient people of Oceania: Polynesia, Melanesia, Micronesia.

Forever grateful to sea masters of the Pacific for enriching the human heritage. Polynesians will always have a soft place in my heart, as their ancestors courage and ingenuity are truly inspirational.

It's remarkable to realize that this civilization had done incredible strategies to endure and survive ancient times.

Nianoa Thompson explained this whole thing to us. Such a cool experience. An amazing man and a huge inspiration to me.

I feel like I’ve seen a musical number about this before.

This is amazing. Some serious use of observation, scientific method, and complex mathematics (at least without the use of the computer) to navigate. Utter amazing.

Thank you Mau Piailug and Nainoa Thompson for saving this wonderfully complex art from extinction!

Wow! I really admire their ingenuity, observational skills and sheer courage. Truly impressive and admirable.

As a Maori i would just like to share the fact there is more to Polynesian Culture & the Pacific than just the Hawaiian Island Chain. Interesting little piece even putting aside it's narrow focus on Polynesian Heritage & Custom's.

Not to be pacific but not all seas are oceans you sea btw, I always wave but ted-ed never notice

The canoe is from the Fijians called the drau if you see the design it’s Fijian ... best warship back in the day ! Captain Cook when first came about to Tonga he decided to stay far away because these canoe are known to be very fast !

Thank you TedEd for shedding some wonderful light on the history of Polynesia in a beautiful and educated way. Mahalo

Samoa 🇼🇸. The sacred place of the Pacific. Proud Polynesia ❤

They learned from a demigod silly

I am in awe of this accomplishment.

Polynesians are the best sailors of world.

Living on the island of Hawai'i for almost half a decade one of the things I loved most was the clouds... every day they would form... as the air moved into the mountains and scrunched up... it's what creates the dubbed "coffee belt" on Kona with some great opportunities to growing coffee as rainfall is guaranteed almost every day. The cloud would bring shade from the tropical sun, rain and tropical showers to cool things down further, and were just awesome to look at everyday. Much different than the cloud formations I'm used to from where I grow up. I love the clouds there.

I'm 100% Tongan and I need a GPS to go outside and get the mail.

I would encourage anyone who wants to know more about this subject to get hold of “We, The Navigators” by David Lewis (1972). An undeniable classic, Lewis recounts his voyages as guided by contemporary traditional navigators from the Caroline islands. Possibly the greatest literary crossover between empirical science and ocean adventure.

I remember when I spent time in Brazil and saw the Southern Cross for the first time. It's like a glorious kite in the sky. I miss it now that I'm back in North America.

What an intriguing video. Thank you Alan Tamayose for sharing your knowledge

Columbus's naysayers: "The ocean is too vast, you'll never make it to Asia before your stores run out, if treacherous currents don't sink your ships first." Ancient Polynesians: "Let’s sail into this enormous ocean and hope we don't run out of islands."

Ancient people are so cool. They knew all the useful stuff, while only know trivia.

Amazing. Always been fascinated by the way Polynesian wayfinders navigate

The ancient Polynesians are probably the most amazing navigators I can fathom. To use simple tools, the environment, and the sky to traverse an ocean 1/3 the surface area of Earth is nothing short of genius!

Reflection on the under side of clouds? That is incredible. I didn't know humans were capable of that. i am in utter awe.

Ancient Polynesian : navigate the Sea only using the sky Meanwhile me an indonesian : * having trouble using a compass

Malayo-Polynesians, the greatest sailor-navigators. My ancestors don't have advanced tools, only keen senses and plain courage which made them traverse the seas from New Zealand to Africa.

Loved the illustrations in this one

Imagine being one of the first people who accidentally drifted too far from shore and after traveling through open ocean for days or weeks, suddenly landing on an uninhabited island

THEY KNEW THE WAY!!

Pormpuraaw, Gauguin Ymithirr, Kuuk Thaayaorre in Australia and a tribe in the pacific (forgotten the name) that has retained their languages which doesn’t use “left or right” for direction and expression of time, they use cardinal directions to express space, time and location... I.e. could be expressed as...”my bag is just in front of you to the right” would be “my bag is north east of you...”. In oceanic languages there was usually two ways of expressing geo directions... one based on inland/ seaward axis and one based on land or near land (like body water on land like rivers)... these systems uses up down or left (on an inland body of water) or right to left (inland toward the sea) axis depending on where you, where as the sea based systems integrates northwest-southeast axis...

The illustrations/animations are incredible

The descendant of Austronesian. In early 2000 there was european man who want to try sail in Borobudor Canoes inspired by Srivijava expedition to Madagadcar and the european man made replica of Borobudur Canoes and alongside with Indonesian sailor they sail to Ghana in west africa and did it only use the wind.

I have so much respect for my ancestors and I am proud to be a Polynesian :)

Currently reading Thompson's Sea People on this subject. The Polynesian culture was sublime and European explorers held the Polynesians in high regard for good reason

The Polynesians probably amassed the largest trove of ocean navigation techniques and skills of any civilization. Besides those outlined hete they also used rainfall, winds, waves swells and currents, color of the ocean etc

Such brilliant travellers! Better than Columbus!

This is how my grandpa went to school everyday

Thank God, finally an answer! I have always wondered about this.

To be exact, New Zealand and other islands were navigated by a bird named the Long Tail Cuckoo, which travels south during the summer months.

and let us never forget the most honorable Eddie Aikau from the Hōkūle’a’s first failed mission!!🥺❤️

When people only know about your culture from a Disney film :/ FML

It's really show how connected people back then with the nature by observation and application of the knowledge efficiently. Thank youu ted ed and the teams❤️💐

My gosh, this makes me want to move to a Polynesian island and just be immersed in their culture and learn from them! I wish I could navigate and sail like that. Pretty sure they don’t do this kind of sailing too much (sorry if that’s wrong, I’m white) Seeing how intelligent and resourceful these people are and always have been is incredible!!!

Polynesian canoes: Wa'a Kaulua Philippine canoes: karakoa

Sun, moon, stars, planets, ocean currents, and clouds were used in navigation. Impressive!

Outrigger canoes are so worthy, they enabled travelling voyages across the oceans of planet Earth. We call these bangka, or Paraw.

Wonderful Lesson, thank you!

And they knew the earth was round since time began. Our teachers told us they thought the earth flat but they were wrong. People ALWAYS knew the earth was round.

Yes, their roots are indeed from SE Asia. As a Filipino (part of the Malay-Polynesian race), I did hear that many years back, someone was doing a doctoral thesis on the navigational prowess of our forebears and had been apparently the first peoples/tribes to circumnavigate the globe. Sadly I didn't pay much attention and now I wonder what became of it.

I think some people need to learn about the Polynesian Voyaging Society, Mau Piailug, and Nainoa Thompson.

This was a really cool video! Thanks for sharing and keep making them please

"We read the wind and the sky when the sun is high,We sail the length of the seas on the ocean breeze,At night we name every star, We know where we are,We know who we are, who we are...

People first came to the Hawaiian Islands because they saw the smoke from an eruption. That’s how they knew there was land there.

This has always amazed me.

this was so amazing i kinda cried and it took me by surprise

*I'm Impressed!!!!*

What the heck, I already thought these people were completely badass from Moana, but now I'm like, they are badass super geniuses. Like seriously, I want a Polynesian wayfinder to teach me science.

So complex and genius!

2 Hawaiian Canoes, the Hokule'a and the Hikianalia did the Mālama Honua voyage in 2017. Hikianalia is the sister canoe to the Hokule'a.

As a Micronesian from the tiny island of Saipan, way finding was a tradition passed down by our elders!!! Papa Mau, the father of all wayfinders taught the Hawaiian people how to find their way through the Ocean. He was from the Caroline Islands in Micronesia. Papa Mau’s influence is still great till this day amount our people but is constantly overshadowed by his predecessors in Hawaii. I hope they give credit where credit is due and start acknowledging that Hawaii isn’t the only island in the pacific. More importantly, the pacific is made up of 3 regions: Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. We were all great wayfinders because our ancestors were well traveled throughout the pacific and Asia. Papa Mau showed they ways of our ancestors, let’s make sure we remember where we came from, the first rule in wayfinding!!!!

Polynesians are amazing!

Polaris not only shows true north, but the angle from the horizon to Polaris shows your latitude. Helpful in the northern hemisphere.

My family in Samoa still use these ways of navigation when they are tuna fishing, they are out for about 5 days, only using the sun and stars

They followed Maui of course

incredible. respect.

THANK YOU this is really important in the argument that early settlers navigated to the americas.

This is amazing information 👍 their contribution is the reason for todays easy life .