 The fact that sweet potatoes, a staple of the Polynesian diet, and several other domestic plants - up to 12 in Easter Island - are of South American origin indicates that there may have been some contact between the two cultures.Either Polynesians have traveled to South America "and" back, or South American balsa rafts have drifted to Polynesia, possibly unable to make a return trip because of their less developed navigational skills and more fragile boats, or both.Polynesian connections in South America have been noticed among the Mapuche Indians in central and southern Chile.