Historical: There is a well-known tradition in the LDS church that connects the voyage of Hagoth with the Polynesian peoples (the most positive, yet complete, treatment of this topic is Robert E. Parsons. “Hagoth and the Polynesians.” Alma, the Testimony of the Word. Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University. 1992, pp. 249-262). The most accurate statement that can be made on this topic is that the church has no official position on the origins of the Polynesian peoples, even though there are have been several General Authorities who have made statements that would indicate a connection with Book of Mormon peoples (Parsons 1992, p. 260).
The cautious historical point of view is presented by Sorenson:
“What about the LDS tradition that Hagoth, the Nephite shipbuilder who failed to return home, was an ancestor of the Polynesians? Years ago I compiled a large body of shared culture traits that indeed suggest historical links between those islands and various parts of the Americas, and this has been supplemented by others. Yet the evidence does not allow our pinning down any single time or place for a migration of trade that would persuasively explain the similarities. It remains impossible to demonstrate any clearcut connection between the two areas, although debate continues.
Having been a missionary in Polynesia, I am well aware of the Hagoth theme in LDS tradition, but the evidence available does not support it as historically based fact. Neither can we rule out the possibility of a rare voyage between the mainland and the islands. Most of the evidence cited one way or the other is either weak or unclear. Those who choose to believe that Hagoth reached Polynesia must rely mainly on faith rather than on reliable evidence. The Book of Mormon itself, of course, says only that the man and his mates disappeared from the knowledge of the people in Zarahemla. For all they knew he might have died at a ripe old age on the west Mexican coast without a suitable vessel in which to make the return voyage. And neither do we know.” (John L. Sorenson, An Ancient American Setting for the Book of Mormon [Salt Lake City and Provo: Deseret Book Co., Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies, 1985], 269.)
The historical principles used in this commentary would side with Sorenson’s caution. There is no data that would allow for a causative connection between the Polynesians and a Mesoamerican people at this time period. Just as we cannot suggest that the arrival of the Lehites caused any of the Mesoamerican cultures or society, so too we would be incorrect to pretend that the scientific data on timing and origins of the Polynesian peoples supplied any indication that they were descendants of purely Nephite stock (whatever that meant at just before the time of Christ).
The historical evidence suggests that the Polynesian islands began to be populated by people from the Bismarck Archipelago north of New Guinea. The descendants of these first settlers eventually populated most of the habitable islands between 1200 BC and ad 500 (Jared Diamond. Guns, Germs, and Steel. W.W. Norton & Company, New York, 1999, p. 55). As with Mesoamerica, the genetic population of the islands suggests origins other than Book of Mormon peoples. However, that does not preclude the Lehites arriving in Mesoamerica, and perhaps the arrival of Hagoth in Polynesia. If this did occur, what may be said with some certainty is that Hagoth’s people would not have been alone when they arrived, just as Lehi and his people were not alone when they arrived.
Geographic: Sorenson has suggested the following for the location of Hagoth’s home port:
“The location of his home port is clear enough—exactly at the border between lands southward and northward that is right at the isthmus or narrow neck. On the west-sea or Pacific side of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec are large shallow lagoons that have often invited maritime activity. In the hills just inland on the isthmus grows fine timber, fn which was so desirable that the Spaniards cut it, floated it downriver to the Atlantic side, and shipped it to Cuba for building ships. The lagoons and the timber resources were located in precisely the spot on the Pacific side of the neck that chapter 63 of Alma calls for. (John L. Sorenson, An Ancient American Setting for the Book of Mormon [Salt Lake City and Provo: Deseret Book Co., Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies, 1985], 268.)
Cultural: The ship that Hagoth would not have been the same style as the European vessels that eventually arrived on the East Coast of Mesoamerica. It is very improbable that the design of Nephi’s ship would have been preserved, so the greatest l
ikelihood is that the ship would have been similar to those that were known to have been built in Mesoamerica, that is, a large dugout with raised sides, or perhaps a raft ((John L. Sorenson, An Ancient American Setting for the Book of Mormon [Salt Lake City and Provo: Deseret Book Co., Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies, 1985], 268.)