ABSTRACT
People, most often men, traversed seas to obtain raw materials, to sell and to obtain manufactured goods and foodstuffs, and to see more of the world, for education or adventure. Taking into account winds and ocean currents, eastward exploring Polynesians sailing from the Marquesas in central Polynesia could have sailed south to Tahiti and on to about latitude 35 south, turning east with the strong westerly winds, and finally making landfall in central Chile. Thus the probability of South America having been visited by exploring Polynesians after the settlements on Central Polynesia and Rapa Nui is reasonably strong. Most of America's First Nations survived, though barely, the tsunami of European migration. Conventionally, post-Columbian migrations are supposed to be fundamentally different from Old World population movements: The myth of Columbus claims the "empty" New World offered freedom and economic opportunities denied in Europe.
