A reader posted a comment after reading about Inca Tupac Yupanqui's voyages in the Pacific, asking " I was wondering if you have noticed that by dropping a few letters from Haida Gwaii (Queen Charlotte Islands Canada) you get Hawaii. They also have similar artifacts and customs like we had here in Hawaii."
No, I was not aware of any similatrities between the Haida Gwaii and Hawaii. So I set out to learn more about them.
This custom Google map shows the spots and places mentioned in this post.
Searching for a link between Hawaii and the Nothwestern coast of North America I came across a blog post (Connections, by Peter T. Young, Nov. 19, 2023, in ) which discusses the peopling of Hawaii. It included the following text:
"Solomon Lehuanui Kalaniomaiheuila was the son of Peleioholani (uncle to the Kings Kamehameha IV and Kamehameha V) and Piikeakaluaonalani (mother.) For many, Peleioholani was considered an important Hawaiian antiquarian and the final word in Hawaiian genealogy, especially of the chiefs and royal families.
He wrote of the Hawaiian history. One of Peleioholani’s theories notes, “The ancestors of the Hawaiian race came not from the islands the South Pacific – for the immigrants from that direction were late arrivals there – but from the northern direction (welau lani,) that is, from the land of Kalonakikeke, now known as Alaska.”
The post also gave some additional information on the British Columbia natives, of Haida Gwaii "Peter Marsh makes several Canadian connections to Pacific Islands, noting, that archaeological and cultural evidence suggests that there is a strong connection between Coastal Canada and Polynesia. Haida Gwaii (Queen Charlotte Islands) is an archipelago off the coast of British Columbia, Canada."
It lists the similarities between both people, Polynesians and Haida Gwai'i:
- Tahitian and Haida stone pounders, stone bowls from Kauai and Bella Coola Valley
- The war clubs with an angry mouth on the handle of Maori and NW Britich Columbian Coastal natives.
- Tattoos: "Polynesian skit derived from Haida tattooing implements."
- Fish hooks, fish hook pendants, rock art, Tiki-like carvings, totem poles with figures whose toungues are sticking out, like the Maoris. Inlaid shell in figures
- Carvings with similar eyes and mouths in BC and the Marquesas Islands.
- Similar war canoes. Use of hot rocks to steam and shape canoes.
- Use of squash gourds to carry water instead of ceramic bottles.
- Nose rubbing to greet.
- Pit ovens heated with hot stones
- " The use of the glottal stop in speech is similar e.g.; Hawai‘i and Haida Gwai‘i."
I decided to find the sources of both the Alaskan and the Haida Gwai'i refrences.
The Alaskan link
A website called polynesianprehistory.com has the following text:
"The ancestors of the Hawaiian race came not from the islands the South Pacific – for the immigrants from that direction were late arrivals there. – but from the northern direction (welau lani), that is, from the land of Kalonakikeke, now known as Alaska.
The very first man and woman who came from Kalonakikeke to the continent of Ka-Houpo-o-Kane, they were Kalonakikeke (“Mr Alaska”) and his wife Hoomoe-a-pule (“Woman of my dreams”). They were said to both be high chiefs of Kanaka-Hikina (people of the east) and Kanaka-Komohana (people of the west) and were descended from the great great ancestor Huka-ohialaka.
They arrived at Ka Houpo-o-Kane before it was disrupted by a great flood that occurred during the reign of Kahiko-Luamea. This great flood carried away a floating log of wood named Konikonihia. On this log was a precious human cargo and it came to rest on the land of Kalonakikeke (Alaska).
‘Many generations later, Nuu, travelled from Alaska with his wife, Lilinoe, their three sons and their three wives in a canoe called Ka-Waa-Halau-Alii-O-Ka-Moku (the royal canoe of the continent), and it rested apon Mauna Kea (white mountain), on the island of Hawaii. They were the first Hawaiians.
From ‘The Ancient Hawaiian History of Hookumu Ka Lani & Hookumu Ka Honua’, by Solomon L.K. Peleioholani."
This is a direct reference to Solomon Peleiholani and his work. The book can be found online here. The text quoted above is found on page 35, and continues on page 36 with the floating log and deluge. The text was written using a typewriter, and is stamped by the Bishop Museum, uploaded on Jan. 14, 2004 and authored by Solomon Lehuanui Kalaniomaiheuila Peleioholani (1844-1916).
This text implies that the first Hawaiians (Menehune?) came from Alaska. The flood myth is universal, reflecting the submersion of the continental shelves during the period of deglaciation after the last Ice Age, when sea levels rose by over 120 m (400 ft.). Does it refer to the coastal plains by the NW coast of America? Sundaland or Sahul in SE Asia and Australia-New Guinea?
Tlingits, Haida, and Polynesians
The site polynesianprehistory.com has a second link between Polynesia and NW America. It says the following:
"The following Tlingit legend confirms that the female mitochondrial DNA found in Polynesian and Tlingit genes, came from across the Western Ocean (North Pacific). The possibility that the 7km/hr Kuroshio Current, a virtual ‘river of the Ocean', which flows from Taiwan to Alaska, played a part in this migration is extremely likely. There is an old story that says how some strange people came from the Western Ocean. Among them were two sisters. They landed on Dall Island in Southeastern Alaska. There the sisters met and married men whose people were coming down the rivers from interior North America. One sister-went with her family to Haida-gwaii or the Queen Charlotte Islands. Her children grew and multiplied into the Haida Nation. The other sister went with her family to Prince of Wales Island. She became the ancestress or Mother of the Tlingit Nation.
From ‘The Proud Chilkat', by Brendan and Lauri Larson."
The Tlingit people (also Tlinquit) are a Native American tribe that speaks a Na-Dené language. They live on the narrow southern strip of Alaska, known as the "Alaskan panhandle".
The Tlingit and Haida people have been living on the coast of NW America for at least 10,000 years. An article published in Science in 2017 clearly stated that " DNA of 10,300-year-old human remains from On Your Knees Cave in Alaska have found that he was closely related to three ancient skeletons found along the coast of British Columbia in Canada. These three ancient people were in turn closely related to the Tsimshian, Tlingit, Nisga'a, and Haida tribes living in the region today. The new finding reveals a direct line of descent to these tribes, and it shows—for the first time from ancient DNA—that at least two different groups of people were living in North America more than 10,000 years ago."
It does not mention Polynesian mtDNA in the Tlingits. However, I found a reference linking Tlingits and Polynesian genetics but it involves HLA: (Source). However, the original source of the quote is not given!
"One particular DNA haplotype - the human lymphocyte antigen (HLA)Bw48 is commonly found in Polynesian populations, but occurs only sporadically in Melanesia (Polynesian outliers). The only other known population with an appreciable frequency of HLA-Bw48 is that of the North American Indians or more specifically the Tlingit of Alaska.
"This DNA evidence is supported by cultural and archaeological evidence showing a definite link between Eastern Polynesia and the Tlingit, Kwakuitl and Haida of the islands off Alaska and Canada."
HLA-Bw48 is now known as HLA-B*48. Searching for the HLA B*48 allele (online, Allele Frequencies in World Populations) did not turn up any Tinglits!
It shows that this HLA variant is found in Amerindians, but it does not mention Tinglit people. It does not appear among Polynesians, though it is found in Asia (Armenia, India, Mongolia, Taiwan, and Russia). It does not provide anyd evidence to support the idea of admixture or a shared origin for Tinglit people and Polynesians, or any reference of common mtDNA, or unique HLA variant.
This is ongoing work, so I will followi it up in a future post.
Patagonian Monsters - Cryptozoology, Myths & legends in Patagonia Copyright 2009-2026 by Austin Whittall ©
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