Melanesian, New Guinea, Australians, DNA, Malaria, Africa

It appears that Melanesians originated from at least two migrations from Africa. The first migration involved a group of people who travelled to S.E Asia from Africa along the coastline of Southern Asia, starting 100,000 years ago. These people share their DNA with the Pygmies of the Congo area. Relics of this original population can be found on the Andaman Islands and in the highlands of New Guinea.

A Congolese Girl with Blue Eyes. Can you recognise the affinity between the Symbols on her face and Igbo Artifacts? 

As well as having common DNA markers, they brought with them the bow and arrow, Divination Systems and the Malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum. Another migration, possibly 75,000 years ago, were a people similar to the Vedda of India, Batak of Lake Toba, Australian Aborigine and Ainu as well as people who once lived in the far reaches of Tierra del Fuego. Can you recognise the affinity between the Symbols on her face and Igbo, Indus Valley and Sumerian Symbols?

The third migration of much taller Africans entered Melanesia, only 10,000 years ago, bringing with them the Malaria parasite Plasmodium vivax, the bottle-gourd and jack bean. At this same time, there appeared a largely agricultural economy, with large irrigation canals, still visible today.

A New Guinea Woman

This was totally out of character with the technological development of the rest of New Guinea. Recent studies have shown a large number of African genes, amongst the people of the Amazon River, dating back to about 10,000 years.

This is associated with extensive agricultural earthworks and pottery. Both earthworks and pottery are similar to sites of ancient civilisations of a similar age in Africa, around areas such as Lake Chad.

Cultivated plants, including cotton, jack-beans, and the bottle-gourd, which appear to have reached South and Central America, from Africa before 7000 BCE, would have been essential for oceanic voyagers.

The cotton would have been used for rope and clothing, the jack beans for food and the Bottle-gourd (Large), for holding water and Palm-wine, as well as Bottle-gourd (Small), for holding plant medicine or magic potion. Schwerin1970; Simmonds 1976; Lathrap 1977.

Wendel, Schnabel, and Seelanan (1995) have now established the identity, through DNA sequences, of 26 chromosome cotton varieties grown both in Africa and in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, presumably a result of early human activity. This cotton is also found throughout the Pacific, yet the Polynesians don't use it. There also appears to be a possible connection between early African voyaging and the very early pottery of the lower Amazon (10,000-8,000 BCE) reported by Roosevelt et al. (1991) and Hoopes (1994).

Hoeppli (1969) identified African parasitic diseases that were present in early America and were able to distinguish them from those brought later by the slave trade. Some South American populations, especially the Ge groups of eastern Brazil, possess some seemingly African traits.

Malaria Parasite Plasmodium Falciparum

Recent studies on the Malaria parasite gene have shown that small populations of Plasmodium Falciparum appeared in Africa and spread around the world with migrating populations, as much as 100,000 years ago.

Both the parasite and the mosquito underwent rapid evolutions about 10,000 years ago, forming Plasmodium vivax, which ranges widely through Asia, Africa, Oceania, and the Americas.

Their coincidence with the development of settled agricultural societies seems to be a telling clue to the history of the disease and the movement of men around the world.

It appears that early African Agriculturalists have gone further than just the Amazon River. 10,000 years ago they crossed the Isthmus of Panama and their adventurous spirit led them into the Pacific Ocean, following the sun, with the wind behind them and a favourable ocean current, they cruised into the heart of Melanesia, searching for a big river, they established themselves on mainland New Guinea up the Wahgi Valley.

Calabash Bottle Gourd, called "ADO" in the Yoruba Language

Bringing with them the Bottle-gourd, jack bean, Malaria, and advanced agricultural society. Mr Tim Denham, in excavating the Kuk Swamp, in the Upper Wahgi Valley in the highlands of Papua New Guinea, in 1998 and 1999 uncovered mounds of earth, dated to 7000-6400 years ago, that was designed to aerate soggy soil so that it could be used for planting in areas that were poorly drained.

This is a similar style of swamp farming used in the upper Amazon River, recently found by another team of archaeologists.

Just as the Amazon Indians never chose to continue the civilisation that came their way, neither did the Highlanders of New Guinea. In fact, most of these Melanesia still practice the religion of Ancestral worship and divination probably in its most ancient form. DNA: Wendel, Schnabel, and Seelanan; Roosevelt et al, Hoopes, Hoeppli
Archaeologist: Mr Tim Denham

England made its first successful efforts at colonization at the start of the 17th century for several reasons. During this era, English proto-nationalism and national assertiveness blossomed under the threat of Spanish invasion, assisted by a degree of Protestant militarism and the energy of Queen Elizabeth.

Malaria Life Cycle

At this time, however, there was no official attempt by the English government to create a colonial empire. Rather, the motivation behind the founding of colonies was piecemeal and variable. Practical considerations, such as commercial enterprise, overpopulation and the desire for freedom of religion, played their parts.

In June of 1606, King James I granted a charter to a group of London entrepreneurs, the Virginia Company, to establish a satellite English settlement in the Chesapeake region of North America.

By December, 104 settlers sailed from London instructed to settle Virginia, find gold, and seek a water route to the Orient. Some traditional scholars of early Jamestown history believe that those pioneers could not have been more ill-suited for the task. Because Captain John Smith identified about half of the group as "gentlemen".

On May 14, 1607, the Virginia Company explorers landed on Jamestown Island to establish the Virginia English colony on the banks of the James River, 60 miles from the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay. While disease, famine, and continuing attacks of neighbouring Algonquians took a tremendous toll on the population, there were times when the Powhatan Indian trade revived the colony with food in exchange for glass beads, copper, and iron implements.

It appears that the eventual structured leadership of Captain John Smith kept the colony from dissolving. The "Starving Time" winter followed Smith's departure in 1609 during which only 60 of the original 214 settlers at Jamestown survived.

Jack Bean, Canavalia Ensiformis

That June, the survivors decided to bury cannon and armour and abandon the town. It was only the arrival of the new governor, Lord De La Ware, and his supply ships that brought the colonists back to the fort and the colony back on its feet.

Although the suffering did not totally end at Jamestown for decades, some years of peace and prosperity followed the wedding of Pocahontas, the favoured daughter of the Algonquian chief Powhatan, to tobacco entrepreneur John Rolfe. The first representative assembly in the New World convened in the Jamestown church on July 30, 1619. The General Assembly met in response to orders from the Virginia Company "to establish one equal and uniform government over all Virginia" which would provide "just laws for the happy guiding and governing of the people there inhabiting."

Banjar people of Borneo, the ancestors of the Malagasy and Comorian people

Also in August of 1619, the first Supposedly "documented Africans Slaves" were brought to Jamestown. There are many different stories about this "supposed" event: From PBS: "It is late summer: Out of a violent storm appears a Dutch ship. The ship's cargo hold is empty except for twenty or so Africans whom the captain and his crew have recently robbed from a Spanish ship. The captain exchanges the Africans for food then sets sail."

When digesting Caucasian type presented history, we must all use critical analysis: Question, what would colonists, who could barely feed themselves, want with 20 Slaves in August, when all that is left to do is the harvest? Slaves that they would have to feed over the winter, with little work done in return. If they put them in the fields, how would they keep them from running away?

Rungus Tribe of Borneo has a serious affinity with the Khoisan Tribes of Southern-Africa 

Crops take months to grow if they could hardly feed themselves, how would they feed 20 more mouths in the meantime - pure Caucasian nonsense. Better yet, a recently uncovered census shows that Blacks were present in Virginia before 1619 (DH consortium). Which of course means that Blacks were part of the original expedition. End of part 3 of 4. Next blog 28/04/19.