alternatehistory.com

Now I am aware of a handful of possible contacts between Polynesians and Native Americans OTL, specifically in South America and California. After having gone on my honeymoon on the Pacific Northwest Coast, I am interested in Polynesian colonization of the area... specifically around the San Francisco Bay area, and how you guys think this might be made possible. Colonization of the Galápagos Islands is also a feasible possibility that I find interesting, but the Pacific Northwest Coast in the San Francisco Bay area would be preferred.


What do you guys think might spur initial continued contact, and further colonization? Trade? I understand that one to be a tall order, having gone over a thread about continuous trade between Polynesia and the Americas just the other day. DValdron was talking about some kind of sacred intoxicant that would be used in exchange ceremonies that would be worth making the trip for, and another user alluded to kava, and someone else to vanilla. While I could see trading for vanilla, possibly (although I am not sure why this would require continuous trade), a) vanilla grows in Mexico, not the Pacific Northwest, and b) kava will taste like ass mucus no matter what you put in it - I have had my fair share of it in my life, and so I can attest to this fact. Some kind of a war that displaces a certain Polynesian population from their native islands seems like the most viable option to me, though technologically speaking, the Polynesians of the time period I am thinking (Early Medieval Period, for my timeline) are probably not going to have an edge on the Native Americans in terms of tools of war, and Polynesians lacked the kinds of diseases OTL that Eurasians had that would displace the local population.


So what do you guys think? How can a Polynesian civilization along the Pacific Northwest Coast of the Americas be made possible before the next colonial power comes onto the scene?
Top