Chatham Islander's adaption to their new home

How the early Chatham Islanders adapted to their new home

When the early Polynesian people came from  New Zealand to the Chatham Islands, they had to adapt or change their ways of doing things.

Firstly these people couldn’t grow their vegetables because of the cooler climate. So they had to find their own food by going to different Islands. They became very good hunters and fishermen.

They had many problems about going on sea because they needed new boats to use to go to different islands so that they could find more food to eat. There was one boat that was not like any other. This boat was different from the others because instead of keeping the water out, the boat had a hole so that the water can go through the boat. How clever! The name of this special boat was “Wash through waka.” This boat had many parts that were special like a bow, a stern, a hull and the boat had a ballast. A ballast is something that is very heavy, helping the boat to be very stable. The wash through waka was made out of reeds but the only parts that were made out of wood were the 2 runners which were at the back of the boat. The paddles were also made out of wood. This boat was very strong and is like a boat that doesn’t sink at all!