Polynesians belong almost entirely to the Haplogroup B (mtDNA) especially to mtDNA B4a1a1 (Polynesian motif), and thus the high frequencies of mtDNA B4 in the Polynesians are the result of drift and represent the descendants of a few
“Our genetic analysis establishes that the Polynesians' and Micronesians' closest relationships are to Taiwan Aborigines and East Asians,” says Friedlaender.
Polynesians originated in Asia according to linguistic evidence or in Melanesia according to archaeological evidence.
Polynesians today do carry a significant amount of Melanesian DNA. But that DNA is in relatively long, unbroken chunks, the analyses found, suggesting that it was incorporated into Polynesians' genomes recently, perhaps about 500 to 2500 years ago, after the Lapita period.
Pacific Islanders refer to those whose origins are the original peoples of Polynesia, Micronesia, and Melanesia. Polynesia includes Hawaii (Native Hawaiian), Samoa (Samoan), American Samoa (Samoan), Tokelau (Tokelauan), Tahiti (Tahitian), and Tonga (Tongan).
Answer and Explanation: Indigenous Australians are most closely related to the peoples of Melanesia, such as Papuans, with only remote ancestry in common with Polynesians.
The island peoples in the Pacific Ocean have a distinct genetic ancestry. Genetic analysis shows their ancestors bred with two groups of ancient humans, the Neanderthals and Denisovans. This link is made by comparing samples of islanders with DNA sequences extracted from remains of these ancient human species.
The findings confirm archaeological evidence that the ancestors of today's Maori originally set out from mainland south-east Asia 6,000 years ago, hopped from island to island, starting with Taiwan, and arrived in New Zealand 800 to 1,000 years ago.
So, while the Polynesian mtDNA haplotypes belonging to the B4a1a1 lineages can ultimately be traced back to Southeast Asia, Polynesian origins lie in both Asia and Near Oceania.
“This high prevalence of obesity among Samoans is a relatively recent phenomenon,” Arslanian notes. It appears to be “heavily influenced by globalization” and “the shift from subsistence agriculture to excess consumption of high calorie, processed foods and sedentary lifestyles.”
Australia has the third largest Polynesian population, in addition to having the largest Fijian population outside of Fiji. Australia's Polynesian population consists of Māoris, as well as immigrants who originate from the same countries as the ones who migrated to New Zealand.
Migrants from Southeast Asia arrived in the Samoan islands more than 2,000 years ago and from there settled the rest of Polynesia further to the east. Contact with Europeans began in the early 1700s but did not intensify until the arrival of English missionaries and traders in the 1830s.
But a new study in The American Journal of Human Genetics reports that Polynesians began migrating thousands of years earlier, not from Taiwan, but from mainland Southeast Asia. The study looked at mitochondrial DNA, which gives information about maternal ancestry.
The Polynesians, Micronesians, and Indonesians are more closely related to the Asian Mongoloids than to the Australoids in Australia and New Guinea. There are also indications that migration played an important role in forming the current genetic relationships among human races.
Ethnic groups
Samoans are mainly of Polynesian heritage, and about nine-tenths of the population are ethnic Samoans. Euronesians (people of mixed European and Polynesian ancestry) account for most of the rest of the population, and a tiny fraction are of wholly European heritage.
1. The majority of the African ancestry is from West African sources, and the European ancestry is primarily from West European sources (Fig. 1B), which is consistent with the European colonial history of Samoa (22–24).
Linguistic evidence suggests that western Polynesia was first settled some 3,000 years ago, by people of the Lapita culture.
In considering the traditions of the various branches of the Polynesian race, as to their origin, it is undoubtedly the case, that these all point to the west as the direction by which they entered the Pacific.
Around 1500 BCE a culture known as Lapita (ancestors of the Polynesians, including Māori) appeared in the Bismarck Archipelago in Near Oceania. Recent DNA analysis suggests that they originally came from Island South-East Asia, and that there was some interbreeding with people already living in the Bismarcks.
Are Maoris and Australian aboriginals related? The Maori of New Zealand (NZ) and the Aborigines of Australia are not related in modern contexts. The Aborigines came to Australia about 40,000 years ago from Africa while the Maori came to NZ about 1,000 years ago from Polynesia.
For much of the first half of the 20th century it was believed that a pre-Māori people called Moriori inhabited New Zealand. Today Moriori are regarded as descendants, like Māori, of the original Polynesian settlers who arrived in about the 13th century.
Being Māori is so much more than blood quantum. In New Zealand, many believed there are no full-blood Māori left. It's often been used by critics of Māori who seek equal rights and sovereignty. My results, at least, show there is one full-blooded Māori contrary to that belief.
Be of Polynesian, New Zealand Māori or Filipino background. Have 'O' or 'A' blood type so we can check if you have the additional rare factor required for this rare blood type (and if you're not sure of your blood type you can donate we'll tell you!).
Cousins of the neanderthals, Denisovans contributed about 5 per cent of Aboriginal Australians' DNA, yet we have never found a single complete fossil – just fragments of finger and jaw.
Australia's Indigenous population are loosely related to Melanesians and the United States Census categorize them under the Pacific Islander American umbrella.