Compulsory Migrations in the Pacific Ocean

Analyzing historical navigation trends to infer Polynesian migration patterns, in 1900.

“The purpose of the present article is to make the most complete compilation possible of the cases recorded by history in which vessels have been drive out of their proper course in the Pacific Ocean, whose examination altogether may afford us an insight into the natural hypotheses of migrations across the ocean.” – Otto Sitting, pg. 519.

The aforementioned article, seen here, was published in Washington, D.C. by the Government Printing Office in 1900 as part of a Congressional report for the U.S. House of Representatives. It outlines a detailed historical description of (primarily European) navigation affected by prevailing winds and currents in the southern Pacific Ocean.

The report includes a large folding map that visualizes the voyages referenced therein, as well as the primary ocean currents. Taken as a whole, the information is presented as evidence in the anthropological debate over the migrations of various communities across the region.