Beginnings
How did the islands of the Pacific form? Where did the peoples of the Pacific come from? How did they live? When and why did they move? How did they learn to navigate? Over the years, these questions have fascinated many people. They have been asked and answered in many ways. Each culture of the Pacific tells its own stories - some similar and some different - and modern researchers also have stories to tell. Every story has its own truths, and without them all, the picture would not be complete.

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CD-ROM Sample story: Tonga, Polynesia
Tangaloa, the god of art and invention, looked down from his sky home of Bolotu. "I am hungry. Hungry for fish." He let his great turtle hook go down, down, down. Soon, something heavy pulled on the line. Tangaloa pulled and pulled, but he couldn't pull up the hook. He had caught a huge rock, not a fish! He laughed and said, "Today, I won't eat. Today, I'll have fun making islands." He pulled up the very bottom of the sea. When the rocks reached the surface, the line broke. The land split into lots of little islands.

Then Tangaloa let pieces from the wood he was carving fall to the water. He told one of his sons to become a bird and fly down to see what happened. After some days, the pieces of wood became a beautiful island! He told his son to plant a seed on the island. The seed grew into a vine. His son pecked at the root until it broke in two and rotted. A big white worm formed there. He pecked at that, and it split as well. The three parts became the first men - Kohai, Kuau, and Momo.

Tangaloa named the island Eueiki, the first place of men. The three men became the first tui Tonga (rulers of Tonga). The first true man (not from a worm) was Ahoei. He was born later to Tangaloa and a beautiful woman called Ilaheva Veepopua.