Oceania Research Paper

The culture and structure of life in the Pacific region, or Oceania, has always been fascinating to me. There are so many things to know and learn about the Pacific Islands and their way of life. In this paper I will look deeper into the culture and describe ways in which this culture has, and continues to, survive. In doing this I will examine this particular cultures society, family structure, life ways, unique and indigenous ways, history, future, and changing factors that effect their way of life.

The Oceanic region was explored and colonized by Austronesian speaking voyagers. By 1000 BP every habitable island supported societies. Europeans began exploring this region in the nineteenth century and found the people organized into chiefdoms.

The cultures of different tribes and states had social equality of tribal societies but still maintained a concern with rank. Some larger societies divided people based on wealth and power. Because of the few resources to attract outsiders and remote location, many Pacific islands maintain their traditional culture systems. Due to the severe environmental constraints of small islands, Oceana is a critical place to examine relationships and connections between population, culture, and resource. Pacific Island societies were already chiefdoms with they started migrating into the Pacific from Island Southeast Asia.
Many Pacific Islands have no drinking water, no soil, and no native plants or animals and are subject to typhoons. They are difficult to find and explore, and doing so is one of the world’s greatest human accomplishments. This region of islands covers around one-third of the earth’s surface. There are around 10,000 islands scattered across this ocean with a total land area of 4,500 square miles. The average island size is only about a square mile of land. The islands are divided into three ethno geographic regions. These include Micronesia, Polynesia, and Melanesia. Melanesia and Polynesia were separated by racism. European explorers were fonder of the Polynesians because of their lighter skin tones and were viewed as attractive and more civilized. Melanesians are associated with Africans due to their darker skin tones and were seen by European travelers as savage and hostile. Although the boundaries between the three ethno geographic regions are not distant, biologically or culturally.
The habitability of the islands is affected by many factors. Large volcanic islands, founding Melanesia and Polynesia, have more land resources than the smaller coral islands of Micronesia. They provide support for larger populations and are more likely to contain several areas of natural vegetation, rich soils, and freshwater. There is a decline in biological diversity as islands get further from Asian or Australian mainland. Few retiles, rats. And bats are native to the islands. Unless explorers brought domesticates with them, animal protein was consumed from marine life. Despite many struggles with droughts and limited fresh water and plant/food supplies, many small islands can sustain around 200 people with the right skills and contacts with neighboring groups. The basic cultural requirements for colonization is boat-building, sailing, and navigating skills.
Morality and ethnocentrism became powerful forces for social inequality in the islands. The evolution of larger chiefdom states was developing. The groups were ran by elites who were given special privileges. Chiefdoms required social transformations that conflicted with personal freedom and equality of the tribal life. As island populations grew people modified natural ecosystems to support growing communities. The growing populations required people to work harder and steadily to develop irrigation systems and fishponds.
The religious basis of the islands appeared most related to the concepts of mana and tabu. Mana is an impersonal supernatural force or power that can manifest itself in people, objects, or spirits. Chiefs would use this spirituality to gain control over his followers and exchange labor services for influence of nature from the gods. Chiefs used mana to demand respect. This included acts such as bowing, keeping ones head below the chiefs, using respect language, and making offerings. There were typically five ranks in the Polynesian social hierarchy; household, local kin group, sub district under lesser chief, district under paramount chief, and an island-wide chief. The ranking system was based on ancestor and descendents and on primogeniture. Inferior social status made it difficult for many people to make a living. Women were even further disadvantaged by inferiority. The elite monopoly made land a scarce resource. Commoners worked the land but were at the bottom of the chain. This created social classes.
The kapu system created a separation of men and women.

They could not eat together, the men did the cooking, there were separate eating houses, women could not enter temples or men’s houses, women were not allowed to eat high status foods, and violations were punished by death. Women sought out high-ranking men as husbands for their daughters. High rank was always contentious because men and women often had children from multiple partners. Daily life at the village level was not differentiated by hereditary status rankings. Hawaiians practiced all forms of marriage; polygyny, sororal polygyny, polyandry, fraternal polyandry, levirate, and sororate. Fertility-limiting practices such as abortion and infanticide were common among the landless population. Land was a natural resource but because of the political economy was not culturally available for everyone who needed it for household

reproduction.
Although Pacific Islanders still hold many traditions, the commercial world has influenced their way of life. One of the influencing factors on the islands is the presence of alcohol and drug use. Drugs were used in ancient times to defuse interpersonal relations, relax, socially integrate, and were used spiritually. Drugs for these particular uses were traditionally Kava and Betel. Now islanders have been introduced to new drugs, most notably alcohol and tobacco. Oceana had no alcoholic beverages until Europeans introduced them. Although at fist they were distasteful and discarded, they eventually acquired a taste and fondness for the substance. Alcohol was then considered “white man’s kava” and was the product of establishing saloons and trade. Because of the pronounced gender differences in Oceania culture, strong social pressures prohibit women from drinking. The drinking epidemic has created new health risk problems for many Pacific Islanders in today’s world.
Another influencing factor in today’ Oceanic society is the migration of Pacific Islanders into other countries.

Pacific Islanders have to find a balance of keeping their indigenous roots, while still learning the western culture and applying their new surroundings. Keeping cultural identity is important but can be challenging. Many Pacific Islanders keep strong family ties and communicate regularly with relatives. They find connection to their culture through indigenous song and dance. Culture is liquid and can be modified and changed over time. Traditions however, are not. They can be remembered, practiced, and passed down. Many researchers and Pacific Islanders are learning how to best pass down traditions and keep their culture alive, even when they are far from home. Modernized community development continues to fail rural villages in Solomon Islands despite the movement toward a more people-centered, bottom-up philosophy. The classic use of community often times fails to acknowledge the reality of travel and transnational movements of people and ideas. Islanders must acknowledge crosscutting influences and the fluid nature of boundaries. Shared values and family ties become of importance when

adjusting.
In conclusion, the Pacific Islands presented obstacles to human occupation because they had poor resources and were widely scattered. Austronesian-speaking famers, sailors, and navigators who came from Southeast Asia almost six thousand years ago settled them. The separate societies of Polynesia Micronesia and Melanesia have major contrast to the domestic scale societies. The societies were concerned with rank and developed political structures above village communities. Chiefdoms supported leadership positions and but not social classes. Chiefs were believed to hold supernatural powers making them elite and respected. Most people, especially women, were restricted by tabus and rulers could sacrifice their lives. Traditions are still present into today’s Oceania, but new risks and concerns have evolved with outsider influences. Pacific Islanders have made homes through out the world but are still tied and connected to their traditions and roots although they might experience diasporic communities.