 Some Polynesians seem to have been aware of the danger and the potential of this new means of expression.As of the mid-19th century, a number of them wrote down their genealogy, the history and the origin of their tribe.These writings, known under the name of "pukapuka whakapapa" (genealogy books, Māori) or in tropical Polynesia as "puta tumu" (origin stories) or "puta tūpuna” (ancestral stories) were jealously guarded by the heads of households.