The Pacific

Unit 9: The Pacific (New)

Pacific Cultures

Melanesia - Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu

Micronesia - Guam, Mariana Islands, Saipan, Palau, Yap, Chuuk, Pohnpei, Kosrae, Marshall Islands, Kiribati

Polynesia - Hawaii, Samoa, Tokelau, Tahiti, Tonga

Historical Background

Some of the oldest inhabited places on earth, and yet some places are among the newest.
Aborigines reached Australia around 50,000 years ago, but the remote islands of the Pacific, like Hawaii, Easter Island, and New Zealand, were occupied only in the last thousand years or so.
1300 BCE - seafarers reached across the vast oceanic expanses to chart their way toward Fiji in the central South Pacific. The technological development of sailing craft meant greater territories could be mapped and charted for possible occupation. The twin-hulled sailing canoe was used to traverse hundreds of nautical miles; Tonga was reached in 420 BCE and Samoa in 200 BCE.
The final push to populate the Pacific came with the discovery of New Zealand. This happened perhaps as early as the 10th century, but certainly by the 13th century by the ancestors of the Maori.
European inolvement in the Pacific began with the circumnavigation of the globe by Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan and his crew. Explorers of the 18th century were followed by occupiers from the 19th century who implanted European customs, values, religions, and technologies onto the indigenous population. Many areas of the Pacific, however, achieved independence by the 20th century.

Specific Dates/History

3000 BCE-1000 BCE: Peoples left the Malay Peninsula and Indonesian Archipelago, migrating to the islands of the Pacific Ocean.
3000 BCE: Lapita people reach Tonga.
1500 BCE: Polynesians reach Fiji.
500 BCE: Melanesians reach Fiji.
850: Polynesians settle in Tahiti.
1616: Dutch navigator, Jakob LeMaire, reaches Tonga as the first European to visit the islands.
1643: Dutch navigator, Abel Tasman, arrives in Fiji.
1767: English Captain, Samuel Wallis, reaches Tahiti and claims it for England. In 1768, French explorer Louis de Bougainville lands in Tahiti and mistakenly claims it for France.
1774: British Captain James Cook sails through the islands.
1797: Members of the London Missionary Society settle in Tonga and Tahiti.
1799: Missionaries leave Tonga and Tahiti after succeeding in converting Tahitians to Christianity.
1842: France gains full control of Tahiti.
1845: George Tupou I becomes king of Tonga, taking the name "George" and getting baptized in honor of the King of England.
1854: Fijian King Cokobau converts to Christianity.
1874: Fiji Islands are ceded to Britain.
1880: Frances colonizes Tahiti. Tonga remains and independent kingdom.
1918: 18-year-old Queen Salote of Tonga succeeds her father, George Tupou II.
1946: French Polynesia becomes a French overseas territory.
1965: Queen Salote dies.
1970: Fiji achieves full independence from Britain.

Enduring Understandings & Essential Knowledge

ENDURING UNDERSTANDING: Art making is influenced by available materials and processes.

Essential Knowledge:

Pacific art is seen as a whole: the work of art exists in the context of events, media, and ceremonies. There is a wide variety of materials used in Pacific art.
Among the materials used in Pacific art are bone, seashell, fiber, wood, stone, and coral, as well as tortoise shell.
Materials are likely to create a response in the audience; i.e., precious objects denote wealth.

ENDURING UNDERSTANDING: The culture, beliefs, and physical settings of a region play an important role in the creation, subject matter, and siting of works of art.

Essential Knowledge:

The Pacific has 1,500 inhabited islands, each with a distinct ecology.
Australia was populated 30,000 years ago. The Lapita people migrated east about 4,000 years ago.
Pacific peoples are seafaring.
The sea is a major theme in Pacific art.

ENDURING UNDERSTANDING: Cultural interaction through war, trade, and travel can influence art and artmaking.

Essential Knowledge:

Pacific art has been influenced by ecology, colonialism, social structure, missionary activity, and commerce.
Europeans encountered the Pacific in the 16th century. Later, they divided the region into three distinct zones: Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia.

ENDURING UNDERSTANDING: Art and art making can be influenced by a variety of concerns including audience, function, and patron.

Essential Knowledge:

Pacific art is related to forces in the spiritual world. One's vital force, or mana, was often wrapped or shielded to be protected. Sometimes mana could represent a whole community. The act of protecting the mana thorugh rituals or wrapping is called tapu.
Pacific art is often performed using dance, singing, costuming, scent, and cosmetics.
Objects often illustrate familial and societal history. Others are created to be performed and later destroyed.
Sacred ceremonial spaces are common in the Pacific. Masks are key elements in Pacific performances.
Rituals and performances often involve exchanging prearranged items that have symbolic value.
A symmetry of relationships is often sought. Opposing forces, such as gender, are placed within a balancing situation in many rituals.

ENDURING UNDERSTANDING: Art history is best understood through an evolving tradition of theories and interpretations.

Essential Knowledge:

Pacific art is an expression of a collection of beliefs and social relationships.
Creating or destroying a work of art often carries great significance, sometimes more significant than the object itself. The act of performance contains the work's meaning. The objects in that performance contain no meaning unless brought to life by rituals.

Patronage and Artistic Life

Men and women had clearly defined roles in Pacific society, including which sex could create works of art in which media. Men carved in wood; women sewed and made pottery.

Artwork List ( * = in addition to 250)

Nan Madol

Moai on Platform

Ahu'ula (Feather Cape)

Staff God

Female Deity

Buk (Mask)

Hiapo (Tapa)

Tamati Waka Nene

Navigation Chart

Malangan Display and Mask

Presentation of Fijian Mats and Tapa Cloths to Queen Elizabeth II

Unit Vocabulary

DEITY = A supernatural being considered divine/sacred.

TAPA = Coarse cloth from pounded bark (mulberry) and decorated with geometric patterns. Symbolizes the wealth of women. Often wrapped statues of deities.

TATU (TATTOO)/MOKO = The permanent marking or "tattoo" as traditionally practiced by the Maori people (indigenous to New Zealand). Applied to the face and buttocks of men and to the chin, lips, and shoulders of women. Reflects social rank, knowledge, skill, and eligibility of marriage.

MANA (STRENGTH) = The spiritual life force/energy/healing power that permeates with universe. Objects and people can have mana.

MALANGGAN (MALANGAN) = Wooden carvings prepared for ceremonies. Carvings traditionally burnt or placed in a cave to rot at the conclusion of the event.

TATANUA MASKS = A traditional mask made by the natives of New Ireland, Papua New Guinea. Made of wood and other natural elements. Used in funerary ceremonies.

MOAI = Monolithic human figures carved by Rapa Nui people on Easter Island.

PUKAO = Hat-like structures or topknots formerly placed on top of some moai statues on Easter Island. Carved from very light-red volcanic rock.

MONOLITH = A large single upright block of stone usually shaped to serve as a pillar or monument.

'AHU 'ULA = "Red Garment" in Hawaiian. A cape/cloak made of bird feathers worn by males. Red was a primary color that symbolized gods and chiefs. Worn for protection from ancestors during war and as a display of social rank.

Resources

Google Sites

Report abuse