The Pacific islands were the most difficult to reach, and therefore believed to be the last place on earth discovered by humans. Once settled, mankind finally reached the end of the known habitable world.
When the first Europeans arrived to Polynesia in the 1800s, they found the islands already settled. This aroused interest and speculation about the origins of Polynesia, and a debate among scholars, scientist and others concerning this historical aspect of the Pacific continues today. Evidence from the past remains fragmentary, thus many different theories have arisen and are being contested today regarding the origins of the Polynesia Islands.
Although there is no definite evidence as to where, when, or how the first settlers reached Polynesia, there are many cultural traditions that show us activities of everyday life from the past and direct to us a better understanding of the beginnings of Polynesia. Songs and lore from ancestors that were passed down from generation to generation ...
Kuykendall, Ralph S. The Hawaiian Kingdom, 1854-1874: Twenty Critical Years. Honolulu: University of Hawaii, 1953. Print.
In the chronological, descriptive ethnography Nest in the Wind, Martha Ward described her experience on the rainy, Micronesian island of Pohnpei using both the concepts of anthropological research and personal, underlying realities of participant observation to convey a genuine depiction of the people of Pohnpei. Ward’s objective in writing Nest in the Wind was to document the concrete, specific events of Pohnpeian everyday life and traditions through decades of change. While informing the reader of the rich beliefs, practices, and legends circulated among the people of Pohnpei, the ethnography also documents the effects of the change itself: the island’s adaptation to the age of globalization and the survival of pre-colonial culture.
Bollig, L. (1927). The Inhabitants of The Truk Islands: Religion, Live and a Short Grammar of A Micronesian People. Munster i W.: Aschendorff.
Bourke, E and Edwards, B. 1994. Aboriginal Australia. St Lucia, Queensland: University of Queensland Press.
Between the years 300BC-400BC, a group of inhabitants landed ashore the island of Easter Island, also known as Rapa Nui. Once ashore, these settlers began collecting resources and learned to survive with no help from the outside, stranded on an island in the middle of the Pacific. They created methods to hunt, fish, make clothing, and cook food properly. In addition, the people of Rapa Nui also separated into different groups or tribes. These tribes coexisted on the island for some time – until civil wars broke out across the island. The inhabitants of Rapa Nui disappeared from the island without a trace. The cause of their disappearance is unknown although experts believe the inhabitants of Rapa Nui were irresponsible with their resources.
The colonisation of Australia occurred throughout 1788-1990. During this time, Great Britain discovered Australia and decided that it would become a new British colony (“Australian History: Colonisation 17-88-1990”, 2014.). It was decided that convicts would be sent to Australia and used for labour to build the new colony. There are many health determinants that are effecting the health of Indigenous Australians including; poor living conditions, risk behaviours and low socioeconomic status. Many of these determinants have an effect on the Indigenous Australians due to the colonisation of Australia.
...an immensely impressive fleet. There is no doubt they were able to travel past Sumatra, India, Iran and the coast of Africa so the same question asked regarding the Polynesians appears, Why would they just stop there? Moreover, there is a map showing the entire world fairly accurately that was drawn in 1763, whose maker wrote that he had copied it from a map drawn in 1418 A.D., centuries earlier. This map and the claim attached to it has not been proven as of yet, however, if it is authentic it would be the first map of the world.
Uganda is a nation located in Southern Mid-Africa, and is ruled by Lt. Gen. Yoweri Kaguta Museveni. The LRA, also known as the Lord’s Resistance army, is a rebel group active in Uganda and the countries around it and was originally created by the woman Alice Lakwena (Lakwena). The group was known as the Holy Spirit Movement then and was mainly created, because Lakwena stated that she had a dream where the Holy Spirit told her to overthrow the Ugandan government, whom were mistreating the Acholi people in Uganda at the time. The movement gained much support and when the Ugandan government won a battle between the movement and itself Lakwena was exiled. This was when Joseph Kony (Kony), stepped in saying he was Lakwena’s cousin and that he was taking over. Kony renamed the movement the LRA, but due to particularly violent tactics many people began to leave the LRA and it was rapidly losing support. This then led the LRA to start using child soldiering, and raid many villages and kill or mutilate many people. Despite what some people believe, the LRA is still a deadly group that uses child soldiering, and human trafficking and continues to threaten Uganda and its neighbors today.
The Polynesian peoples have a lifestyle quite different than that of any other culture, as living on an island requires a level of flexible adaptability in order to cope with such a different, sometimes difficult environment. We see the way diverse cultures build their lives around their circumstances and how they respect them in their cultural myths and stories. The Polynesian legends emphasize the physical environment that they live in. They are quite different than any other region in the world, but the beauty and individuality of the Polynesian culture is prominent as seen in their mythology.
Thesis: The tooth morphology of robust australopithecines suggests that Australopithecines spent most of their time consuming hard materials.
...ed Okonkwo, “[The white man] says that our customs are bad. But how can he understand our customs when he does not even speak our tongue?” This powerful line from the book Things Fall Apart, captures the very essence of the negatives of colonialism. The Europeans did not see the cultures that once flourished or the ancient traditions embedded in the local tribes. They did not see the sense of community and belongingness that their victims once shared. Instead of taking their differences as unique, the Europeans saw them as a threat to their economic progress. They took so much away from the civilizations that will never be regained, simply for their own imperialistic, monetary purposes. European nations may have reached an all time high in terms of economic prosperity, but it was not and will never be worth the loss of humanity and morality necessary to achieve it.
Bali’s history, as a whole, has been populated with such a vast and wide-ranged group of people; around 250 ethnic groups now. To make things more difficult, their recorded history is tremendously scant. When researching the settlement of this country, various answers were given. It is believed that Bali was “the final frontier in the mainland” (Planet, L). As a result, making it a magnet for human immigration because of its beauty and amount of land available. It was an attraction during the pre-ice age era! Furthermore, because there was an abundant amount of people coming into the country at once. Researchers found copious amounts of diverse-shaped skulls and
Japan is located in the continent of Asia. This country is made up of many islands. There are four major islands in Japan which are Honshu, Hokkaido, Shikoku, and Kyushu. However, Honshu is the largest and most popular as well as home to Tokyo, Kyoto, and other major cities. Japan is often called "The Land of The Rising Sun” because it is located in the Far East and most peoples know that sun rises in the east. The Japanese also refers to their country as "Nippon" or Nihon" which means "source of the sun". Tokyo is the capital of japan and it is one of the largest cities in the world and also modern, very busy as well as extremely crowded. Japan is a well-developed and modernized country. The population in japan is almost 127 million, which 99 of them are Japanese. There are two main religious in Japan which are Shintoism and Buddhism. In Japan all citizens have Freedom to choose and practice their own religious. The Japanese economy is one of the third largest in the world after USA and China. The main export of Japan are cars, electronic devices and computers wh...
A. Strathern and P. Stewart, ‘Seeking Personhood: Anthropological accounts and local concepts in Mount Hagen, Papua New Guinea.’ Oceania Vol. 68 No. 3. Oceania publications, Sydney, 1998.
Fiji is a small island located on the Pacific Ocean east of Australia. The country is home to almost 900,000 people. While many would say the Fijians have come a long way from their roots and are adopting tendencies of the western culture every day, there is no doubt they still hang onto core values and beliefs. The organization of a village and family is very traditional and who and how to respect is learned at a young age. Respect is not just displayed at home but in the professional work place. Learning about common business practices and etiquette in Fiji may be critical to a positive business relationship. Along the lines of communicating effectively in the business world, we can learn a lot about communications norms in