“Bishop Museum has a collection of 14 million artefacts from Hawaii and Polynesia,” he said as we toured the premises, and explained that the institution was established in 1889 to house the family heirlooms and collections of Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop, last descendant of Hawaii’s King Kamehameha. In perhaps a foretaste of what was to come, the gallery that featured royal Hawaiian regalia included a standard vaguely reminiscent of Malaysia’s bunga mangga.The work of archaeologists like Dr Jiao has led to findings that the predecessors of the Austronesians – a grouping that includes Polynesians, Melanesians and Micronesians – migrated from coastal south-eastern China to Taiwan 5,000-6,000 years ago.From Taiwan, they dispersed to other parts of the Pacific, eventually reaching the Hawaiian isles. They also migrated to the islands of South-East Asia, particularly those in the Philippines and Indonesia and to Borneo. These seafarers, whom linguists call Malayo-Polynesians, finally landed in the Malay Peninsula some 2,500 years ago.The notion that the forefathers of so many Malaysians arrived from southeast China – be it 25 centuries or just a hundred years ago – is certainly thought-provoking.“Fujian is the most important place to trace the origins of the Austronesians,” said Dr Jiao. I was curious as to whether there are any remnants of the Austronesians in the province. “They have long ago been absorbed into the Han Chinese population,” he replied, and revealed that studies are currently being done on Austronesian influences in the Minnan (south Fujian) dialect.Tanshishan, one of the archaeological sites Dr Jiao mentioned, is near Fujian’s provincial capital Fuzhou, just an hour-and-a-half from my ancestral village, Jiangdou, which is located in an inlet. For all I know, since the pre-historic Austronesians were maritime people who inhabited coastal Fujian, they might have walked the very ground my grandfather’s house sits on today.To this day, Hawaii’s balmy climate, sunny skies and clean air continue to attract people from all over the world. Just specks in the vast Pacific Ocean and thousands of kilometres from anywhere, the islands are home to a hodgepodge of ethnic groups. The US Census Bureau website reveals that those of Asian descent constitute 40% of the population while Pacific islanders, including native Hawaiians are in the minority at just 9%. Most of all, the isles are a true melting pot with over 19% of the inhabitants claiming mixed ancestry.This has in no small way contributed to the diversity of one of Hawaii’s best kept secrets – its food. From French-Vietnamese pork sausage sandwiches to a Filipino-Hawaiian doughnut called “malasada” to scoops of ice-cream sold by weight, the choices are as varied as the populace.The traditional staple of the native Hawaiians, however, is a paste made of pounded boiled taro root called poi. Dr Jiao drew my attention to poi’s similarity with yuni (ornee), the rich Fujian dessert. Could yuni be a vestige of the lost Austronesian culture in Fujian and could it have evolved into poi when it reached the Hawaiian Islands?As Dr Jiao remarked, there are many questions still to be answered in this extraordinary saga.
“Bishop Museum has a collection of 14 million artefacts from Hawaii and Polynesia,” he said as we toured the premises, and explained that the institution was established in 1889 to house the family heirlooms and collections of Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop, last descendant of Hawaii’s King Kamehameha. In perhaps a foretaste of what was to come, the gallery that featured royal Hawaiian regalia included a standard vaguely reminiscent of Malaysia’s bunga mangga.The work of archaeologists like Dr Jiao has led to findings that the predecessors of the Austronesians – a grouping that includes Polynesians, Melanesians and Micronesians – migrated from coastal south-eastern China to Taiwan 5,000-6,000 years ago.From Taiwan, they dispersed to other parts of the Pacific, eventually reaching the Hawaiian isles. They also migrated to the islands of South-East Asia, particularly those in the Philippines and Indonesia and to Borneo. These seafarers, whom linguists call Malayo-Polynesians, finally landed in the Malay Peninsula some 2,500 years ago.The notion that the forefathers of so many Malaysians arrived from southeast China – be it 25 centuries or just a hundred years ago – is certainly thought-provoking.“Fujian is the most important place to trace the origins of the Austronesians,” said Dr Jiao. I was curious as to whether there are any remnants of the Austronesians in the province. “They have long ago been absorbed into the Han Chinese population,” he replied, and revealed that studies are currently being done on Austronesian influences in the Minnan (south Fujian) dialect.Tanshishan, one of the archaeological sites Dr Jiao mentioned, is near Fujian’s provincial capital Fuzhou, just an hour-and-a-half from my ancestral village, Jiangdou, which is located in an inlet. For all I know, since the pre-historic Austronesians were maritime people who inhabited coastal Fujian, they might have walked the very ground my grandfather’s house sits on today.To this day, Hawaii’s balmy climate, sunny skies and clean air continue to attract people from all over the world. Just specks in the vast Pacific Ocean and thousands of kilometres from anywhere, the islands are home to a hodgepodge of ethnic groups. The US Census Bureau website reveals that those of Asian descent constitute 40% of the population while Pacific islanders, including native Hawaiians are in the minority at just 9%. Most of all, the isles are a true melting pot with over 19% of the inhabitants claiming mixed ancestry.This has in no small way contributed to the diversity of one of Hawaii’s best kept secrets – its food. From French-Vietnamese pork sausage sandwiches to a Filipino-Hawaiian doughnut called “malasada” to scoops of ice-cream sold by weight, the choices are as varied as the populace.The traditional staple of the native Hawaiians, however, is a paste made of pounded boiled taro root called poi. Dr Jiao drew my attention to poi’s similarity with yuni (ornee), the rich Fujian dessert. Could yuni be a vestige of the lost Austronesian culture in Fujian and could it have evolved into poi when it reached the Hawaiian Islands?As Dr Jiao remarked, there are many questions still to be answered in this extraordinary saga.
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