Oceania and its Early Cultures

Oceania and Australia's First People

by Emily Driscoll

​Oceania

​There are more than 25,000 islands scattered along the Pacific Ocean, with over 10,000 of them located in the area known as Oceania.  The islands in the Pacific Ocean include four different types. There are continental islands, coral reefs, high islands, and lifted coral platforms.

Multiple Choice

Which of these is not one of the 4 types of islands?

• continental islands

• coral platforms

• low islands

• high islands

​Oceania is a region made up of thousands of islands throughout the Central and South Pacific Ocean. It includes Australia, the smallest continent in terms of total land area. Most of Australia and Oceania is under the Pacific, a vast body of water that is larger than all the Earth’s continental landmasses and islands combined. The name “Oceania” justly establishes the Pacific Ocean as the defining characteristic of the region.

Multiple Choice

What ocean are the islands of Oceania a part of?

• Atlantic Ocean

• Pacific Ocean

• Indian Ocean

• Polynesian Ocean

​Island Regions

Oceania is dominated by the nation of Australia. The other two major landmasses are the microcontinent of Zealandia, which includes the country of New Zealand, and the western half of the island of New Guinea, made up of the nation of Papua New Guinea. Oceania also includes three island regions: Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia (including the U.S. state of Hawaii).​

Multiple Select

Check off the 3 island regions of Oceania.

• Macronesia

• Micronesia

• Melanesia

• Polynesia

Historic Cultures​

​Indigenous cultures shaped, and were shaped by, the geography of Australia and Oceania. Indigenous people are the "first people" of a culture and indigenous means native to an area. The Polynesian culture, for example, developed as Southeast Asian sailors explored the South Pacific. This seafaring culture developed almost entirely from its geography.

Multiple Choice

What did the first Polynesian people do?

• traders

• fishermen

• merchants

• sailors

​Changing the Land

​Indigenous cultures of Australia and Oceania also changed the environments in which they lived. As they explored the South Pacific, Polynesians brought farming to isolated islands and changed the land so much that nearly 40 species of birds became extinct during this brief period of time. For example, the Maori culture cleared forests through fire to make farmland.

Open Ended

Why do you think so many birds became extinct when Indigenous people cleared the land?

​One bird species, the Moa, became extinct within a century of human arrival to New Zealand. Moa were giant birds, almost 4 meters (12 feet) tall and 510 pounds. Giant moa, unable to fly, were such easy prey that the Maori were able to feed large villages with a single bird. Maori began to discard as much as half of the bird’s weight as undesirable meat or useless material such as feathers. This wasteful hunting strategy, however, caused the moa to become extinct by about 1400.

​Australia's First People

​The first people to settle in Australia came about 60,000 years ago. Scientists believe because of low sea levels, people migrated from Asia to Australia using land bridges. They were the ancestors of the Aborigines, which are the original people of Australia. The Aborigines were members of many different ethnic groups. Most were nomads, who are people that move from place to place to find food and water.

Multiple Choice

Who are the Aborigines?

• New Zealand's first people

• Australia's first people

• Ancient polynesian warriors

• Australian emperors

Multiple Choice

Who are people that move from place to place?

• nomads

• hunter-gatherers

• travelers

• natives

​Nomadic life

​Because they moved frequently, the Aborigines had few possessions. They also had no concept of land ownership. They believed that they, like the plants and animals, belonged to the land and not to people. The Aborigines lived as hunter-gatherers in small groups and built shelters using sticks.

Open Ended

Why did Aborigines in the Outback have few possessions?

​Religious Beliefs

​Religious beliefs centered on Dreamtime, the mythical time when ancestor spirits moved across the land and gave it form. Stories of Dreamtime were told in art and song and were centered on nature. Today, most Aborigines live in cities or work as stockmen, or people who look after livestock, on Outback stations. However, a small number still live much as their ancestors in the Outback did for thousands of years.

​Aborigine Art called Dot Art

​Polynesia's Great Navigators

​About 3,000 to 4,000 years ago, people came through the islands of Southeast Asia on boats. They were skilled sailors. These Polynesians settled on New Zealand and the Cook Islands and are known as the Maori. The Maori built huge canoes powered by oars and sails.

Multiple Choice

Who were the Maori?

• Polynesian traders

• Aborigines

• People who sailed ships in the Atlantic Ocean

• Polynesian sailors that settled on New Zealand

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_4sM72nWNI​

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Youtube Video:

The First Australians​

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​Maori Myth

​According to Maori legend, they traveled thousands of miles across the ocean in several large canoes. Many modern-day Maori can trace their ancestry back to one of these canoes.

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​They also steered by using maps and observing the position of stars, ocean currents, and the flights of birds.

Open Ended

How did the Maori steer their boats?

​ Traditionally, the Maori lived by a set of strict rules called tapu that governed behavior and beliefs. Breaking the tapu was thought to bring serious consequences from the gods.

Today, many parts of the Maori culture continue to thrive, and Maori children still learn the native language, traditional songs, and stories.

Multiple Choice

What happened to the Maori if they broke tapu?

• they were killed

• they were punished by the gods

• they were sent to prison

• they had to leave sacrifices to the gods

​Island Cultures

​Many people on the islands of Oceania live in small villages where family relationships, or kinships, are very important. These kinships determine how people are treated and how they behave. People help family members—even distant relatives—in times of need. In return, people know that should they be in need, their family members will be there to help.

​Bridewealth

​ Many island families still pay bridewealth when there is a marriage. Bridewealth is a payment of goods from the groom's family to the bride's. Because the bride goes to live with the groom's family, the payment is thought to make up for the loss of her labor and company. It is also a way for the groom's family to show that they value the bride and will treat her well.

Multiple Choice

What is bridewealth?

• A payment of goods from the groom's family to the bride's family

• A payment of goods from the bride's family to the groom's family

• a payment for the wedding

• A debt collected from the groom's family

​Oceania Arts and Entertainment

Throughout history, the peoples of Australia and Oceania have used natural materials from their environment to create pictures and designs. Although many of these artifacts are thousands of years old, contemporary artists are still inspired by their designs.​

 The Aborigines are Australia's original inhabitants. They've been making paintings on rocks and tree bark for thousands of years. The oldest surviving paintings were made about 30,000 years ago on rock walls in central Australia.

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Example of rock art

​Aborigine Paintings

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Open Ended

Where did Aborigines start making their art thousands of years ago? (Hint: there were 2 places they made it)

Aboriginal art often tells the story of Dreamtime, when, according to Aboriginal myth, everything was created. Aboriginal art often features animals, animal tracks, and humans, as well as geometrical shapes such as circles and diamonds. One common artistic style is called Dot Art, where pictures are made using many small dots. Today, many artists continue to create traditional Aboriginal art.

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​Example of Dot Art

Multiple Choice

What kind of art did Aborigines use to create pictures with many small dots?

• rock art

• bark art

• circle art

• dot art

​Maori Carvings

​The Maori, the native people of New Zealand, are known for their beautiful wood, stone, and bone carvings. Most wood carvings are done on buildings or canoes. Older Maori carvings are of people who were thought to be important ancestors.

 There are also carvings of mermaid-like creatures, beings that look like a mix between birds and humans, and animals such as lizards, birds, whales, and fish.

​Traditionally, the carving is done with an adze, an ax-like tool. The craft of carving is passed down within Maori families. Many of today's carvers are the descendants of families who have been carving for thousands of years.

Multiple Choice

What were Maori carvings typically made with?

• ax

• adze

• knife

• chisel

 For thousands of years, people across Oceania have decorated their bodies with tattoos. In fact, before European missionaries forbade the practice in the 1800's, almost every adult in Polynesia had tattoos.

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Polynesian Tattoos

​Getting tattooed was considered a sacred event, and tattoos were done by respected shamans.

​ A shaman is someone who performs rituals and interacts with spirits.

Multiple Choice

What is a shaman?

• someone who performs rituals and speaks to spirits

• a priest

• someone who uses spirits to create tattoos

• a spirit who is involved in the ritual

​The shaman used needles made from bone or tortoise shells. The needles were then dipped in soot mixed with oil. Then they were tapped into the skin with a small hammer.

The designs have personal meaning, depicting status, family, activities, and achievements. Today, many modern Polynesian still get traditional tattoos.

Open Ended

Explain how the ancient shamans performed tattoo rituals.

Māori people today still like to express and showcase their heritage and cultural Polynesian identity through song and dance.​ Kapa Haka is a type of performance using choral singing, dance and movements associated with the hand-to-hand combat practiced by Māori. Video of Haka dance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e6RlUYtSnLY

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Kapa Haka