The earliest image of a Kite is found in the Malay Archipelago, where the leaf kites used for fishing in the Moluccas Islands are the simplest forms.
Kites were used for measuring distances, testing the wind, signaling, communication, military recon and for lifting objects and people.
The Hawaiian word for Kite is Lupe, named after the Elder brother of the hero Maui who is said to have been a great navigator and to have used a sail-sized kite to pull his waka (long boat) at incredible speeds. (NB Polynesian sail design utilises vortex lift for waka propulsion)
Maori of NZ also had Sail-Kites (Manu Whara) which required at least 6 adult men to control. Made using tree roots and woven mats, they were heavy and considered dangerous due to their tendency to lift people into the air and/or to crash down into the ground.
Lastly there is the well known image from Japan of Minamotos son being carried aloft on a kite.
Anyway given a supply of bamboo, suitable cloth, durable tetherlines and time do you think that widespread Kite-based technology might have been developed in the Pacific area?
Is it plausible for a society to have developed that used high speed kite towed ships to cross between the islands and even to the continents? From there how plausible would be widespread use of Kite-gliders and even small reed boats carried aloft by large kites?
and besides the obvious examples of Propulsion and Lifting what other uses could be made of kite technology?