Native Hawaiians and Easter Islanders came from same 'ultravoyager' group
Members of the same people who settled Easter Island also discovered Hawaii, a new study finds.
A new study has found that Native Hawaiians and Easter Islanders share the same ultravoyager Polynesian group that voyaged across the ocean to reach their remote islands. Polynesia is a vast region of over 1,000 islands, with Hawaii and Easter Island located about 4,500 miles apart. Researchers analyzed the genomes of 1,050 modern individuals from Polynesia, including 317 Native Hawaiians and 12 Easter Islanders.
By comparing the shared chromosomal segments between different island populations, scientists discovered that Native Hawaiians and Easter Islanders are the most genetically related, despite their vast distance. These islands were likely settled by members of a single ultravoyager culture from the Mangareva islands, about 3,440 miles southeast of Hawaii and 1,600 miles west of Easter Island.
The area near Mangareva spans an area the size of Europe, and skilled navigation likely facilitated the settlement of both Easter Island and Hawaii. These genetic findings align well with archaeological evidence, providing confidence in the findings from various disciplines. The study also revealed a strong founder effect among Native Hawaiians, with genetic variants being more prevalent than in European groups. This effect could have implications for the health and cultural diversity of these populations.
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