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Coastal Migration, continued

Native migrations to the coasts also happened at a quicker pace once the whale ships were coming into their harbors more regularly. This occurred in New Zealand, on the Bismarck Islands in the South Pacific and in Alaska, causing changes in patterns of settlement among native populations. In Alaska, whole, inland villages were abandoned, because Eskimos migrated to the coast. That was where work for the whalers in harbors and on the whale boats was needed.

Forms of communication also began to change, as it became more important to native populations to be able to communicate among themselves about the needs and desires of the whalers. Now coastal communication methods were valued more than inland forms of communication. In New Zealand, for example, inland pathways were abandoned, and the Maori people began to use whale boats instead of their traditional long boats. By 1840, the Maori were only using whale boats as their source of water transportation.

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