Editing Thor Heyerdahl (section)

===Theory on Polynesian origins===
{{See also|Austronesian peoples}}
The basis of the ''Kon-Tiki'' expedition was Heyerdahl's belief that the original inhabitants of [[Easter Island]] (and the rest of [[Polynesia]]) were the "Tiki people", a race of "white bearded men" who supposedly originally sailed from [[Peru]]. He described these "Tiki people" as being a sun-worshipping fair-skinned people with blue eyes, fair or red hair, tall statures, and beards. He further said that these people were originally from the [[Middle East]], and had crossed the [[Atlantic Ocean|Atlantic]] earlier to found the great [[Mesoamerican civilizations]]. By 500 CE, a branch of these people were supposedly forced out into [[Tiahuanaco]] where they became the ruling class of the [[Inca Empire]] and set out to voyage into the Pacific Ocean under the leadership of "[[Viracocha|Con Ticci Viracocha]]".<ref name="Holton"/><ref name="Melander">{{cite journal |last1=Melander |first1=Victor |title=David's Weapon of Mass Destruction: The Reception of Thor Heyerdahl's 'Kon-Tiki Theory' |journal=Bulletin of the History of Archaeology |date=2019 |volume=29 |issue=1 |page=6 |doi=10.5334/bha-612 |doi-access=free }}</ref>
[[File:Chronological dispersal of Austronesian people across the Pacific.svg|left|upright=1.5|thumb|Main migration routes of the [[Austronesian Expansion]] ({{circa|3000 to 1500 BCE}}) based on archaeological, linguistic, and genetic studies, as opposed to Heyerdahl's eastern origin hypothesis]]

Heyerdahl said that when the Europeans first came to the Pacific islands, they were astonished that they found some of the natives to have relatively light skins and beards. There were whole families that had pale skin, hair varying in colour from reddish to blonde. In contrast, most of the Polynesians had golden-brown skin, raven-black hair, and rather flat noses. Heyerdahl claimed that when [[Jacob Roggeveen]] discovered [[Easter Island]] in 1722, he supposedly noticed that many of the natives were white-skinned. Heyerdahl claimed that these people could count their ancestors who were "white-skinned" right back to the time of Tiki and [[Hotu Matua]], when they first came sailing across the sea "from a mountainous land in the east which was scorched by the sun". The ethnographic evidence for these claims is outlined in Heyerdahl's book ''[[Aku-Aku|Aku-Aku: The Secret of Easter Island]]''.<ref name="rongorongo"/> He argued that the monumental statues known as [[moai]] resembled sculptures more typical of pre-Columbian Peru than any Polynesian designs. He believed that the Easter Island myth of a power struggle between two peoples called the [[Hanau epe]] and [[Hanau momoko]] was a memory of conflicts between the original inhabitants of the island and a later wave of "Native Americans" from the Northwest coast, eventually leading to the annihilation of the Hanau epe and the destruction of the island's culture and once-prosperous economy.<ref>Heyderdahl, Thor. ''Easter Island – The Mystery Solved''. Random House New York 1989.</ref><ref name = "Rose">Robert C. Suggs, "Kon-Tiki", in Rosemary G. Gillespie, D. A. Clague (eds), ''Encyclopedia of Islands'', University of California Press, 2009, pp. 515–516.</ref> Heyerdahl described these later "Native American" migrants as "Maori-Polynesians" who were supposedly Asians who crossed over the [[Bering land bridge]] into [[Pacific Northwest|Northwest America]] before sailing westward towards Polynesia (the westward direction is because he refused to accept that Polynesians were capable of sailing against winds and currents). He associated them with the [[Tlingit people|Tlingit]] and [[Haida people]]s and characterized them as "inferior" to the Tiki people.<ref name="Melander"/>

Despite these claims, DNA sequence analysis of Easter Island's current inhabitants indicates that the 36 people living on Rapa Nui who survived the devastating internecine wars, slave raids, and epidemics of the 19th century and had any offspring<ref name="rongorongo">{{cite web|url=http://www.rongorongo.org/cooke/712.html|title=Rapa Nui – Untergang einer einmaligen Kultur|access-date=15 November 2016}}</ref> were Polynesian. Furthermore, examination of skeletons offers evidence of only Polynesian origins for Rapa Nui living on the island after 1680.<ref>Van Tilburg, Jo Anne. 1994. ''Easter Island: Archaeology, Ecology and Culture''. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press. p. 104464 skeletons  – definitely Polynesian</ref>

[[File:Hokule'a.jpg|thumb|The ''[[Hōkūleʻa]]'', a performance-accurate replica of a [[Polynesian people|Polynesian]] double-hulled ''wa'a kaulua'' voyaging canoe, sailed from [[Hawaiʻi]] to [[Tahiti]] against prevailing winds in 1976, partly to disprove Heyerdahl's drift hypothesis on his much more primitive and unsteerable ''[[Kon-Tiki]]'' balsa raft<ref name="Herman"/>]]
Heyerdahl's hypothesis of Polynesian origins from the Americas is considered [[pseudoscience|pseudoscientific]], [[Scientific racism|racially controversial]], and has not gained acceptance among scientists (even prior to the voyage).<ref name="Holton">{{cite journal |last1=Holton |first1=Graham E. L. |title=Heyerdahl's Kon Tiki Theory and the Denial of the Indigenous Past |journal=Anthropological Forum |date=July 2004 |volume=14 |issue=2 |pages=163–181 |doi=10.1080/0066467042000238976 |s2cid=144533445 |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/0066467042000238976?mobileUi=0&journalCode=canf20}}</ref><ref name="Melander"/><ref name="Herman">{{cite news |last1=Herman |first1=Doug |title=How the Voyage of the Kon-Tiki Misled the World About Navigating the Pacific |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/how-voyage-kon-tiki-misled-world-about-navigating-pacific-180952478/ |access-date=19 October 2020 |work=Smithsonian Magazine |date=4 September 2014}}</ref><ref name="Engevold">{{cite news |last1=Engevold |first1=Per Ivar Hjeldsbakken |title=White gods, white researchers, white lies |url=https://www.kon-tiki.no/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/White-gods-edits-ryan-stokke-solsvik-20042020.pdf |access-date=19 October 2020 |work=Humanist Forlag |date=2019}}</ref> It is overwhelmingly rejected by scientists today. Archaeological, linguistic, cultural, and genetic evidence all support a western origin (from [[Island Southeast Asia]]) for Polynesians via the [[Austronesian expansion]].<ref name="Arthur">{{cite news |last1=Arthur |first1=Charles |title=Science: DNA shows how Thor Heyerdahl got it wrong |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science-dna-shows-how-thor-heyerdahl-got-it-wrong-1137388.html |access-date=19 October 2020 |work=Independent |date=8 January 1998}}</ref><ref name="Conniff">{{cite news |last1=Conniff |first1=Richard |title=Kon Artist? |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/kon-artist-4164325/?all |access-date=19 October 2020 |work=Smithsonian Magazine |date=July 2002}}</ref><ref name="Wilford">{{cite news |last1=Wilford |first1=John Noble |title=Thor Heyerdahl Dies at 87; His Voyage on Kon-Tiki Argued for Ancient Mariners |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/19/world/thor-heyerdahl-dies-at-87-his-voyage-on-kon-tiki-argued-for-ancient-mariners.html |access-date=19 October 2020 |work=The New York Times |date=19 April 2002}}</ref> "Drift voyaging" from South America was also deemed "extremely unlikely" in 1973 by computer modeling.<ref name="Herman"/>

The 1976 voyage of the ''[[Hōkūleʻa]]'', a performance-accurate replica of a [[Polynesian people|Polynesian]] double-hulled ''wa'a kaulua'' voyaging canoe, from [[Hawaiʻi]] to [[Tahiti]] was partly a demonstration to prove that Heyerdahl was wrong. The ''Hōkūleʻa'' sailed against prevailing winds and exclusively used [[wayfinding]] and [[celestial navigation|celestial]] [[Polynesian navigation]] techniques (unlike the modern equipment and charts of the ''Kon-Tiki'').<ref name="Herman"/><ref name="Blakely">{{cite news |last1=Blakely |first1=Stephen |title=Hokule'a: More Than Just An Ocean Voyaging Canoe. |url=https://www.soundingsonline.com/boats/hokulea-is-more-than-just-an-ocean-voyaging-canoe |access-date=19 October 2020 |work=Soundings: Real Boats, Real Boaters |date=13 December 2017}}</ref><ref name="Thomas">{{cite book |last1=Thomas |first1=Stephen |title=Wind, Wave, and Stars: A Sea of Natural Signs |date=1983 |publisher=The Navigators: Pathfinders of the Pacific Study Guide |pages=8–13 |url=https://www.der.org/resources/guides/navigators-study-guide.pdf}}</ref> ''Hōkūleʻa'' also remains fully operational, and has since completed ten other voyages, including a three-year [[circumnavigation]] of the planet from 2014 to 2017, with other sister ships.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/story/25546368/hokulea-and-her-sister-vessel-hikianalia-sets-sail|title=Hokule'a and her sister vessel Hikianalia set sail|last=Davis|first=Chelsea|date=20 May 2014 |publisher=Hawaii News Now|access-date=2014-05-20}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/story/35686686/thousands-to-gather-for-historic-hokulea-homecoming |title=Tradition, elation marks Hokulea's triumphant homecoming|publisher=Hawaii News Now|access-date=2017-06-18}}</ref>

Heyerdahl's hypothesis was part of early [[Eurocentric]] [[hyperdiffusionism]] and the [[Western world|westerner]] disbelief that ([[non-white]])  "stone-age" peoples with "no math" could colonize islands separated by vast distances of ocean water, even against prevailing winds and currents. He rejected the highly skilled voyaging and navigating traditions of the [[Austronesian peoples]] and instead argued that Polynesia was settled from boats following the wind and currents for navigation from South America. As such, the ''Kon-Tiki'' was deliberately a primitive raft and unsteerable, in contrast to the sophisticated [[outrigger canoe]]s and [[catamaran]]s of the Austronesian people.<ref name="PBS">{{cite web |title=Heyerdahl and Sharp|work=Wayfinders: A Pacific Odyssey |url=https://www.pbs.org/wayfinders/polynesian5.html |publisher=PBS |access-date=19 October 2020}}</ref><ref name="Herman"/>

Anthropologist [[Robert Carl Suggs]] included a chapter titled "The Kon-Tiki Myth" in his 1960 book on Polynesia, concluding that "The ''Kon-Tiki'' theory is about as plausible as the tales of [[Atlantis]], [[Mu (lost continent)|Mu]], and 'Children of the Sun.' Like most such theories, it makes exciting light reading, but as an example of scientific method it fares quite poorly."<ref>Robert C. Suggs, ''The Island Civilizations of Polynesia'', New York: New American Library, p. 224.</ref> Anthropologist and [[National Geographic Society|National Geographic]] Explorer-in-Residence [[Wade Davis (anthropologist)|Wade Davis]] also criticized Heyerdahl's theory in his 2009 book ''The Wayfinders'', which explores the history of Polynesia. Davis says that Heyerdahl "ignored the overwhelming body of linguistic, ethnographic, and ethnobotanical evidence, augmented today by genetic and archaeological data, indicating that he was patently wrong."<ref>[[Wade Davis (anthropologist)|Wade Davis]], ''The Wayfinders: Why Ancient Wisdom Matters in the Modern World'', Crawley: University of Western Australia Publishing, p. 46.</ref> [[Paul Theroux]], in his book ''The Happy Isles of Oceania'', also criticizes Heyerdahl for trying to link the culture of Polynesian islands with the Peruvian culture. 

However, recent scientific investigation that compares the DNA of some of the Polynesian islands with natives from Peru suggests that there is some merit to Heyerdahl's ideas and that while Polynesia was colonized from Asia, some contact with South America also existed; several papers have in the last few years confirmed with genetic data some form of contacts with [[Easter Island]].<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal | last1 = Thorsby | first1 = E. | last2 = Flåm | first2 = S. T. | last3 = Woldseth | first3 = B. | last4 = Dupuy | first4 = B. M. | last5 = Sanchez-Mazas | first5 = A. | last6 = Fernandez-Vina | first6 = M. A. | doi = 10.1111/j.1399-0039.2009.01233.x | title = Further evidence of an Amerindian contribution to the Polynesian gene pool on Easter Island | journal = Tissue Antigens | volume = 73 | issue = 6 | pages = 582–585 | year = 2009 | pmid = 19493235}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{cite web |url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn20546-early-americans-helped-colonise-easter-island.html |title=Early Americans helped colonise Easter Island |first=Michael |last=Marshall |date=6 June 2011 |work=[[New Scientist]] |access-date=25 August 2012}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal | doi = 10.1016/j.cub.2014.09.057 | title = Genome-wide Ancestry Patterns in Rapanui Suggest Pre-European Admixture with Native Americans | journal = Current Biology| year = 2014 | doi-access = free | last1 = Moreno-Mayar | first1 = J. Víctor | last2 = Rasmussen | first2 = Simon | last3 = Seguin-Orlando | first3 = Andaine | last4 = Rasmussen | first4 = Morten | last5 = Liang | first5 = Mason | last6 = Flåm | first6 = Siri Tennebø | last7 = Lie | first7 = Benedicte Alexandra | last8 = Gilfillan | first8 = Gregor Duncan | last9 = Nielsen | first9 = Rasmus | last10 = Thorsby | first10 = Erik | last11 = Willerslev | first11 = Eske | last12 = Malaspinas | first12 = Anna-Sapfo | volume = 24 | issue = 21 | pages = 2518–2525 | pmid = 25447991 | bibcode = 2014CBio...24.2518M }}</ref>
More recently, some researchers published research confirming a wider impact on genetic and cultural elements in Polynesia due to South American contacts.<ref>{{cite journal|url=https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-02055-4|title=Ancient voyage carried Native Americans' DNA to remote Pacific islands|date=8 July 2020|doi=10.1038/d41586-020-02055-4|last1=Callaway|first1=Ewen|journal=Nature|pmid=32641794|s2cid=220439360}}</ref>