Polynesian Historical Timeline
This is a timeline representing the history of Polynesia. This is a very small sample and these dates are not difinitive. This Polynesian timeline is meant to be read as a linear comparison of estimates and theoeries about events related to history of the people and Polynesians in the Pacific throughout history.
Polynesian Timeline BCE until 1501 CE
Estimated Date | Event |
3000 BCE - 1000 BCE | Migration of Autronesian people from East Asia to Maritime Southeast Asia |
1500 BCE - 1000 BCE | Lapita Culture (Neolithic Austronesian people) villages and settlements in the Pacific area from Pupua New Guinea to Tonga and Sāmoa. |
1000 BCE - 900 BCE | First settlements in Fiji, Tonga, and Sāmoa by Lapita Culture, likely the begining of Polynesian culture |
900 BCE - 900 BCE | Pottery related to Lapita Culture found in Tikopia dated to 900 BCE |
830 CE - 1000 CE | First exploration, migration and settlements of Polynesians from west to Rarotonga |
830 CE - 1200 CE | First exploration, migration and settlements of Polynesians from West (Tonga, and Sāmoa) to East Polynesia (Rarotonga, Tahiti) |
900 CE - 900 CE | First exploration, migration and settlements of Polynesians in Hawaiʻi |
900 CE - 1250 CE | Tangi‘ia Nui from Tahiti and Karika from Sāmoa settle in Rarotonga |
900 CE - 950 CE | Estimated date of Tuʻi Tonga ʻAhoʻeitu, the first King of Tonga and the expansive Tongan empire |
900 - 1200 | Estimated Polynesian migrations to and settlement in Tikopia from Tonga, Tuvalu, ʻUvea, Futuna, and later Sāmoa from 900 - 1200 |
900 - 1200 | Estimated Polynesian migrations to and settlement in Anuta from Tonga, ʻUvea and later Sāmoa from 900 - 1200 |
900 - 900 | Polynesian migration to and settlement in Niuē from Sāmoa estmated around 900 CE |
1000 - 1100 | Estimated date for settlement of Tokelau atolls likely by Sāmoans |
1000 - 1200 | Polynesian migration, settlement and trade between Mangareva and Hiti au rereva (now aka. Pitcairn Island) |
1050 - 1210 | First exploration, migration and settlements of Polynesians in Rapa Nui (now aka. Easter Island / Isla de Pascua) |
1100 - 1200 | Migration to and settlement in Tuamotu islands likely from Tahiti and/or surrounds islands such as Ra‘iātea. |
1200 - 1200 | First exploration, migration and settlements of Polynesians in Aoteatoa (now aka. New Zealand) |
1200 - 1200 | Likely exploration and voyaging of Polynesians arriving in South America and/or contact between Polynesians with natives of South America |
1200 - 1500 | Tongan empire expand durring this era with Tuʻi Tonga Momo (#10) and his son Tuʻi Tonga Tuʻitātui (#11) at its height |
1250 - 1300 | Tuʻi Tonga Talakaifaiki is defeated by Tuna, Fata, and Savea. Tuʻi Tonga then leaves Sāmoa |
1300 - 1350 | The departure of Tuʻi Tonga from Sāmoa include events such as the oratory "Mālie toa, mālie tau..." and the establishment of the Mālietoa paramount chief title and dynasty in Sāmoa. |
1300 - 1400 | Possible date range for migrations to Tuvalu from Sāmoa and Tonga |
1500 - 1500 | Migration to and settlement in Niuē from Tonga estimated around 1500 |
Polynesian Timeline 1502 until 1699
Estimated Date | Event |
1520 - 1520 | Fleet led by Ferdinand Magellan enters Pacific, sailing from the Altantic Ocean November 1520. |
1568 - 1568 | Spanish explorer Álvaro de Mendaña Neira sights island (atoll) near Tuvalu, possibly Nui island (atoll) in 1568 |
1642 - 1642 | Abel Tasman arrives at Aotearoa (now aka. New Zealand) sighting land on December 13, 1642 |
Polynesian Timeline 1700 until 1799
Estimated Date | Event |
1722 - 1722 | Dutchman Jacob Roggeveen arrives at Rapa Nui on Eastern April 5, 1722 |
1722 - 1722 | Jacob Roggeveen arrives at Tuamotu islands May 1722 |
1722 - 1722 | Jacob Roggeveen arrives near shore of Sāmoa islands June 1722 |
1765 - 1765 | Commodore John Byron sails near and sights Atafu atoll, Tokelau in 1765 |
1769 - 1769 | Lieutenant James Cook arrives at Matavai Bay, Tahiti April 13, 1769 |
1769 - 1769 | Tupaia of Ra‘iātea travels with Lt James Cook and Sir Joseph Banks on Endeavour, recruited for his skills in navigation and knowledge of Polynesian islands July 1769 |
1769 - 1769 | Tupaia facilitates culture and communication between the Māori people and Lt James Cook upon arrival at Aotearoa (now aka. New Zealand) October 6, 1769 |
1774 - 1774 | Commander James Cook arrives near shore of Niuē island June 1774 |
1778 - 1778 | Post-Captain James Cook arrives at Waimea, Kauaʻi, Hawaiʻi January 1778 |
1788 - 1788 | Pōmare I becomes first king of unified Tahiti in modern recorded history. |
1789 - 1789 | After a mutiny on HMS Bounty, Lieutenant William Bligh and crew in a launch boat, travelled an estimated 5,600 kilometers (3,480 miles) from Tofua, Tonga to arrive in Timor on June 14, 1789 |
1790 - 1790 | Mutineers of the HMS Bounty, Tahitian men and Tahitian women arrive and settle on Hiti au rereva (now aka. Pitcairn Island) on January 15, 1790 |
Polynesian Timeline 1800 until 1899
Estimated Date | Event |
1810 - 1819 | Kamehameha I (Paiʻea) becomes Aliʻi nui (supreme high chief) of all Hawai‘ian Islands, unifying them into the Ke Aupūni o Hawai‘i (Kingdom of Hawaiʻi) April 1810 |
1819 - 1824 | Kamehameha II (Liholiho) becomes Aliʻi nui of Hawai‘i on May 20, 1819 |
1825 - 1854 | Kamehameha III (Kauikeaouli) becomes Aliʻi nui of Hawai‘i on June 6, 1825 |
1842 - 1842 | France declares Tahiti a French protectorate called Établissements français d'Océanie (EFO) (French Establishments/Settlements of Oceania) |
1848 - 1848 | Great Māhele came into effect established by Kamehameha III and the 1840 Constitution to divide and allocate land in Hawai‘i March 7, 1848 |
1850 - 1850 | Kuleana Act of 1850 confirmed resolutions of the King and Privy Council created a system for private land ownership including granting common people allodial titles for their own land in Hawai‘i August 6, 1850 |
1855 - 1863 | Kamehameha IV (Alexander Liholiho) becomes Aliʻi nui of Hawai‘i on January 11, 1855 |
1863 - 1872 | Kamehameha V (Lot Kapuaiwa) becomes Aliʻi nui of Hawai‘i on November 30, 1863 |
1873 - 1874 | Lunalilo (William Charles Lunalilo) is elected Aliʻi nui of Hawai‘i on January 8, 1873 |
1874 - 1891 | Kalākaua (David Kalākaua) is elected Aliʻi nui of Hawai‘i on February 12, 1874 |
1887 - 1887 | The HHMS Kaʻimiloa, Hawaiʻian Royal Navy ship of King Kalākaua traveled from Hawaiʻi to Sāmoa |
1887 - 1887 | King Kalākaua forced to sign Ke Kumukānāwai o ka Makahiki 1887, the 1887 Constitution of the Hawaiʻian Kingdom (aka. Bayonet Constitution). |
1891 - 1893 | Liliʻuokalani (Lydia Kamakaʻeha Liliʻuokalani) becomes Aliʻi nui of Hawai‘i on January 29, 1891 |
1893 - 1893 | Ke Aupūni o Hawai‘i (Kingdom of Hawaiʻi) and Queen Liliʻuokalani is overthrown and abolished led by Committee of Safety on January 17, 1893 |
1893 - 1893 | Aupuni Kūikawā o Hawaiʻi (Provisional Government of Hawaiʻi) established by the Committee of Safety |
1894 - 1898 | United States of America annexation of Hawaiʻi as a Territory of the United States on August 12, 1898 |
1898 - 1898 | United States of America annexation of Hawaiʻi and established Panalāʻau o Hawaiʻi (Territory of of Hawaiʻi) in 1898 |
Polynesian Timeline 1900 until 1999
Estimated Date | Event |
1904 - 1904 | Tui Manu’a Elisala signed Deed of Succession of Manuʻa to the United States of America on July 16, 1904 |
1909 - 1909 | Official end to the Tui Manu’a title with Tui Manu’a Elisala (#40). The First Tui Manu’a was Tui Manu’a Satiailemoa. |
1914 - 1961 | Sāmoa i Sisifo, Territory of (Western Sāmoa) occupied and administered by New Zealand encompassed the western islands of Sāmoa including Upolu, Savaiʻi, Apolima and Manono |
1919 - 1919 | Germany surrenders claims of the western islands of Sāmoa with the Treaty of Versailles in on June 28, 1919 |
1957 - 1957 | Polynesian South Pacific island group name changed to French Polynesia, (now aka. Pōrīnetia Farāni Polynésie française) |
1959 - 1959 | 94% of Hawaiʻi voters vote in favor for the statehood bill. Hawaiʻi becomes the 50th state of the United States of America on August 21, 1959 |
1962 - 1962 | Sāmoa i Sisifo is granted independence as the Independent State of Western Sāmoa, when the Western Sāmoa Act 1961 went into effect on January 1, 1962. Sāmoa now celebrates its independence day on June 1 each year |
1970 - 1970 | Tonga joined the Commonwealth of Nations in 1970 |
1975 - 1975 | Pius "Mau" Piailug, Micronesian navigator from island of Satawal is recruited by the the Polynesian Voyaging Society to share and teach his knowledge of non-instrument navigation |
1976 - 1976 | Inaugural voyage of Hōkūleʻa, a waʻa kaulua voyaging canoe of the Polynesian Voyaging Society completes an ocean voyage from Hawaiʻi to Tahiti using traditional navigation techniques of Mau Piailug, Captain Kawika Kapahulehua and crew in 1976 |
1992 - 1992 | Cook Islands Voyaging Society established in 1992 |
1997 - 1997 | Sāmoa i Sisifo (Western Sāmoa) changes the name of the country from Western Sāmoa to Sāmoa. Offically, the country is known as Independent State of Samoa (Malo Saʻoloto Tutoʻatasi o Sāmoa). |
Polynesian Timeline since 2000
Estimated Date | Event |
2003 - 2004 | French Polynesia designated as of overseas country of France |
2009 - 2009 | Aiga Folau o Sāmoa or Sāmoa Voyaging Society (SVS) established in 2009 |
2011 - 2011 | Sāmoa changed its time zone from UTC−11 to UTC+13 also moving the International Date Line (IDL) from the west of Savaiʻi island to the east of Upolu island. The IDL is now in between Sāmoa and American Sāmoa since December 2011 |
2014 - 2014 | Hōkūleʻa of the Polynesian Voyaging Society begins the Mālama Honua worldwide voyage to circumnavigate around the earth with a Polynesian sailing voyaging canoe in 2014 |
2017 - 2017 | Hōkūleʻa of the Polynesian Voyaging Society completes the Mālama Honua worldwide voyage returning to Oʻahu, Hawaiʻi in 2017 |
2018 - 2018 | Aunofo Havea Funaki is first Tongan female licensed captain and founder of Tonga Voyaging Society |
Sāmoan and Polynesian Dictionary >>
Sāmoan and Polynesian Astronomy >>
Polynesian Historical Timeline >>
Location names of Polynesia >>
Sāmoan and Polynesian Words for Animals >>
Sāmoan and Polynesian Words for Plants >>
This information is also apart of the Pasefika Polynesian dictionary project of Jon Apisa intended as a comparative dictionary to view similarities, differences and cognate relationships of words in multiple Polynesian languages.