From Saviah to Hawaiki
From Saviah to Hawaiki
Mt. Morrison with its altitude of 3,952 meter is the highest peak in Taiwan and eastern Asia. It's also the sacred mountain of both Bunun and Tsou tribes. Bunun call it as “Saviah, Savih, and Tongku Saveg”.
Mt. Morrison of Taiwan / https://zh.m.wikipedia.org/zh-tw/%E7%8E%89%E5%B1%B1#
For Polynesian, the words of Savaii, Avaiki, Havaii, and Hawaiki, are also used in their legends as the homeland their ancestors came from.
This imaginative reconstruction of the Māori homeland, Hawaiki, was drawn by artist Wilhelm Dittmer and published in his book Te tohunga: the ancient legends and traditions of the Maori in 1907. It depicts the island of Hawaiki, with a host of inhabitants preparing to embark in the canoes that will take them in search of new lands.
According to recent research, the origin of all Austronesians, including the Polynesians, is Taiwan. The “Out of Taiwan” theory is supported by linguistic, archaeological, and genetic evidence.
Possible migration routes of the Polynesians/https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawaiki#
Imagine, about 5,000 years ago, when the people were travelling out of Taiwan and looking for new destinations in the Pacific Ocean, what must be going through their mind. I believe that nostalgia and thoughts of home must be the prevailing emotion. This can explain why so many places throughout the Pacific islands are named after “Savaii” or similar sounding names.
The following is quoted from HAWAIKI: THE ORIGINAL HOME OF THE MAORI; WITH A SKETCH OF POLYNESIAN HISTORY
“With laudable pride and affection, with a strong belief in the sacredness, the beauty, the prolificness of the Father-land, the Polynesians have carried this great name Hawaiki in their wanderings, and applied it to many of their later homes. We thus have the following islands and places, etc., named in memory of it, or where a knowledge of it exists:—
Jawa, the Bugis name of the Moluccas (J. R. Logan).
Java, (Hawa)—see later on in reference to this.
Sava-i, a place in the Island of Seran, Ceran, Celam, or Ceram, Indonesia.
Hawaiki and Kowaiki, at the west end of New Guinea (Dr. Carroll).
Savai'i, the principal island of the Samoan group.
Havai'i, an ancient name of Ra'iatea, Society group.
Havai'i, the original home or Father-land of the Tahitians.
Havaiki, an ancient name of one of the Paumotu group (? Fakalava).
Avaiki-raro, the whole of the Fiji, Samoan, and Tonga groups, according to Rarotongan traditions.
Avaiki-runga, the Society, Tahiti and neighbouring groups, according to Rarotongan traditions.
Avaiki, mentioned in Mangareva traditions.
Savaiki, a place known to the Tongareva Islanders.
Avaiki, a place known to the Aitutaki Islanders,
Avaiki-tautau, the ancient Rarotongan name (besides others) for New Zealand.
Havaiki, a place known to Marquesan traditions.
Havaiki, a place known to Easter Island traditions.
Hawaiki, a place known to Moriori traditions, and a place so named on their island (Chatham Island).
Hawai'i, the name of the largest of the Sandwich Islands.
Havaiki, a place on Niuē Island.”