The Main Cultural Groups in the Pacific Ocean - Polynesia, Micronesia, and Melanesia - Essay Example

College: Outline Introduction i) about Polynesia ii) about Melanesia iii) about Micronesia Fijian ethnic group i) War weapons used include war canons, spears, war clubs and arrows ii) How their pieces of art are influenced by their beliefs Asmat ethnic group i) Asmat cultural group ii) Shield was the most valuable war tool and it was used for defense iii) There were arts images in the shield symbolizing their beliefs. iv) The canons that was used in the war and how their were decorated Micronesia i) Micronesia cultural group war weapons and description of designs and how they were used Conclusion Polynesia, Micronesia and Melanesia are the main cultural groups in the Pacific Ocean. Polynesia is made up of more than 1000 islands spread over central and South Pacific Ocean. The occupants of Polynesian are called Polynesians. According to the history, the occupants were sailors who used stars to determine night hours. The land is about 70 million sq miles of Pacific Ocean. Polynesia is made up of two different cultural groups, east and west Polynesia. The culture of west belong to high populations, it is made up of well build institutions of marriage, well developed judiciary, financial and trading traditions. The groups that occupy this area are the Tonga, Niue, Samoa and Polynesian outliers. According to the (Richard, 2011) the eastern part is adapted to small islands such as cook, islands, Tuamotus, Marquesas, Hawaii, and Rapa Nui. The leaders were appointed based on their blood hereditary. The settlement in the area was of two categories, the hamlet and village, the size of an island was the determining factor on whether the hamlet or a village will be build. In the large volcanic islands, the hamlet was mainly built because of many zones; these zones could be divided all over the islands. Villages were established on the coast of small islands and it consist of 40 or more houses. Melanesia extends from Arafura Sea to the western part of Pacific Ocean, and Fiji to the east. The people occupying the region are called Melanesians and are believed to be he ancestors of Papuan speaking people. The number of languages in Melanesia is about 1320 and they are scattered across the land. The leaders were appointed based on the individual personality not through inheritance or blood like the Polynesians. The key components for leadership were power of persuasion, selecting high placed woman as a partner and many other physical factors. Micronesia lies to the Melanesia to the south and to the east is Polynesia; Philippines to the west and Indonesia to southwest. Micronesia is made up of 607 islands and it has four states, Chuuk, Yap, island of Kosrae and Ponpei. The original languages of Micronesia indigenous people are in a class of Austronesia language family (Richard, 2011). The island was colonized by Spain in 17thcen. Later on the Germans purchased it from the Spanish in 1899. The Japanese fought out the Germans from the island in 1915 but American forces took over from the Japanese during the world war 11. The Micronesia culture is one of the last to develop in the region; it is a mixture of Melanesians, Polynesians, and Filipinos. One of the main ethnic groups in the region is Fijians. Fijians arrived at Fiji when it was already occupied by the Melanesians, but Melanesians was still weak since they were still new in the area. Due to their strong war tools, they managed to fight out Melanesians and occupy the area. Due to the conflict between the two groups, Fiji ends up being a place of relentless and bloody conflict. The early missionaries and traders who visited the islands show the details of extreme violence and cannibalism. In the Fijian culture, warfare, cannibalism and religion were interdependent (Richard, 2011). The traditional rights and customs demand bodies and sacrifices to be carried out for the security of the society, at the same time for a war to be carried out successfully; it needs the mediation of priest and the help from war gods. The objects that were used in war by the Fijians include war clubs, shields, spears, masks and war canoes. The clubs was the greatest war object valued by the Fijian warrior. They were designed differently depending on the purpose. The clubs were designed depending on where it was to be used on, the occasions include dance and ceremonies, for throwing, broad paddle type, fan shape, pole club and many others made from the stocks and roots of tress. There were more than 30 objects of war club, this include Kiakavo, gata, tavo, Sali, gugu, tuki, totpkia, culacula, kinikini, dui, Teivakatoga, bowai and many others (Richard, 2011). The arrows were normally used as defensive weapons but war club was valued most. The cultural beliefs display itself when the clubs was successfully used to kill, they were inlayed with human teeth or cutting the notches on the grip (Richard, 2011). An object that kills many enemies was believed to have supernatural powers and they were sometimes placed at the temple to the gods of war. War club object like tunodu which was mostly used to kill was designed in a way that the top looks like a snake mouth and it was where it will cut through and snap bones, the Fijians believe that a snake is a deadly animal. The surfaces were decorated on the heads or shafts and they were made in a realistic form and in many occasions it included scenes from popular myths and legends. Kiakava was a round headed club without a cutting edge; it was a dancing and ceremonial club. It was made of hard and soft woods in different sizes. Tunodu was widely used in war, the edge was sharp and it was designed in an angle. The spur on the top symbolizes the open mouth of a pitting snake. Sali was designed in a way that it has wide cheeks and a pronounced spur. They were used in the same way as Gata with the edge to snap and cut bones and they are made from wood. Ituki has a round head; they were used to smash the heads of the foes through a heavy blow. Totokia has a sharp end, it was designed that way so that it can pierce through the enemies’ skull, and they were mainly carried by the chiefs. Culacula is a broad flattened bladed club; they were used like a sword. The last club that was mainly used was Kinikini, they are flat shaped like Culacula, they were normally used by the chiefs and priest and it symbolizes a rank. They were highly decorated due to their association with the chiefs. The arrows were mainly used as defensive weapons, even though they were deadly weapons, the way they kill was considered less honorable as compared to war clubs. Full glory was awarded to the soldiers when they dispatched an enemy with the war club; it was believed that destroying an enemy with a club shows strength of the soldiers. They were made by specialist crafts men in a variety of styles and formal traditional patterns. The shafts of the spears were mainly curved with intricate open spirals and whorls (Derrick, 1946). There were several types of spearheads made from different materials like wood, bamboo silvers and bones. There were more than 20 types of arrows; they were categorized depending on the type of wood, form and material used. The war was fought both on land and sea. The fighting in the sea involves several canons. The canon that was normally used was the mighty Drua. The Drua was made using shell adzes, drilled stones and rasps of coral, shark skin and Tapa cloth was used as a caulking. According to their belief, the Drua inspired fear and awe to the enemies. It was also believed to be the product of huge group endeavor and human being sacrifice. That is why it was constructed by the craftsmanship requiring the whole society involvement in its building and sacrificing a human being when it is being launched. The canon was in position of carrying more than 300 warriors. When the construction was complete and to ensure success of their endeavors, it was launched in a sea of blood. Many men die sacrifice to die serving as rollers towards the sea and many more others was sacrificed to honor the raising of the sails. According to their belief, if many men died in its launching, the canon will be successful in its mission. The other cultural group is the Asmat of Melanesia. These cultural group lives in Indonesia. They are well known of their notorious culture of cannibalism and head hunting. They fought using war clubs, arrows, bows, water canons, and shields. The arrows are made on light wood with a flat sharp plate at the edge. The shaft of the arrow was decorated with feathers. Like the spear the sharp was also decorated with feathers together with curved decorations. Cassowary bones were used to make daggers used in fighting. Some were used in ritual romps while others were used in village fights between men and women in ceremonial way. The length of the dagger was about a foot, better daggers for the warriors was made using crocodile teeth or human being tight bones. The clubs was not mainly used. The shields were used for defense but they were more significant to the fighting material like spear itself. They were the most decorated war object and were named after an ancestor, and the way they were designed stood for other dead people, not a must to be an ancestor, but normally the owners sibling whom he will seek avenge incase of his dead. Some warriors incorporate their image on top of the shield. In the first place, the shields was made for shield feast and after the feast the warriors, the warriors will start looking to avenge for those whose their shields are named after. When the owner of the shield died, the shield is broken and interred together with the body. But in the northern Asmat, the case was different, when the owner died; the shield was taken over by his son who will stand to fight bravely like his father. The ancestor that is named after the shield is believed to give huge powers to the warrior during the battle. The combination of symbols design on the surface of the shield together with the ancestral power will terrify the enemy to run way or get disarmed. In some shields, a flying fox image was curved. A fox is a bird that bites fruits and this shield will be associated with head hunting since the bird bites fruits. It was believed that a shield is a replete that reference to predation and death and warriors know that it will join the ancestors and it will be named after the man that bears it. The shield was seen to be very powerful and it was not only used in war, it was also displayed and brandished sometimes in an effort to protect against or scare away evil spirits. The use of shields raises head hunting fighting. The visual motifs decoration in the shield brought about rapid and confusing motion to the enemies. The images were so powerful and terrifying such that the enemies were not only alarmed but they end up getting paralyzed hence dropping the weapons and surrender to arrest. The canons were also used in the fighting since some of the wars were fought in the ocean. The canon has a unique feature of prow figureheads. The painted carvings carry a striking shell inlay in patterns. The figures were meant to frighten away the sea demons that might imperil the warriors in the canon. The canons has a sculpture of a human head, these symbolizes head hunting which was endemic in the area. The symbols which refer to decapitation were meant to frighten enemies more than the spirits. Another canon decoration was the Janus-faced figure which was mainly placed at the top of a high prowl; it was heavily decorated with cowry shells. It was believed that a motif that faces both ways can see both sides and it attains a certain degree of invulnerability that head hunters desired for. In their decorations, they use only three colors that are red, white and black, all have spiritual meanings. When the canons are painted with white color, they symbolize speed, strength and protection (Taylor, 1966). On carvings, they symbolize the skin of a human being. When canons are painted in red color, they belief that it will make it move faster down the river. On carvings in weapons, it shows sacrifices. The black color emanates from the charcoal and symbolizes body hair on the carvings (Taylor, 1966). Micronesia is the last cultural group to be formed, it consist of both Melanesians and Polynesians. The Maori is one of the cultural groups that originate from the Micronesia. They fought using war clubs, spears, bows and arrows. Clubs used include mere, wahaika, kotiate, Taiaha, hoe, Pou Whenua, Tewhatewha, and Toki Pou Tangata. Clubs used was long two handed and short one handed. The objects have different names depending on the material used to make and shape. Short clubs were named mere if they are made from the Pounamu, the shape from these material are kotiate and wahaika. Mere is made from the wood or green stone, it is short and it has a flat surface. It is used in hand to hand fighting. When the warriors are fighting using these weapons, they target at the enemy jaws and ribs. The mere that was made from the greenstone were believed to posses’ great strength and honor. Wahaika was also a short club; they were used in quick fighting. The handle was sealed with a dog skin with a hole in the handle. It has an indent on the right which is meant to catch the enemy weapon. This will enable the warrior disarm the enemy. Kotiate was very valuable weapons in the battle field and the chiefs used to like while attending meetings. They are designed with notches on the sides meant to catch the enemy weapons. In conclusion, Polynesia, Micronesia and Melanesia are sub regions in the Pacific Ocean. The regions consist of hundreds of islands. Melanesia comprises mainly of black skinned people, while Polynesia is dominated by the brown skinned people, Micronesia comprises of people who are between Polynesia and Melanesia. There are thousand of ethnic groups in the region and Asmat, Maori and Fijians are the main ethnic groups. The three groups encountered ethnic conflict frequently with their neighbors and they fought using different weapons. Fijians fought using spears, war canons, war clubs, bows and arrows, war clubs was valued most. When a weapon kills many enemies, it was believed to have supernatural powers. In Asmat culture, the shield was the most valued war weapon. They were the most decorated war object and were named after an ancestor; they believe the ancestor named after the shield will provide more powers to the warrior in war. The Maori ethnic group fought with weapons such as wahaika, kotiate, Taiaha, hoe, Pou Whenua, Tewhatewha, and Toki Pou Tangata. All the war objects used by the communities were influenced by the art of their belief. References Alan Taylor, The Maori builds: life, art and architecture from Moahunter days, California: Whitcombe and Tombs, 1966 Richard, Fijian War Club, This private gallery specializes in selling New Guinea art, antique Oceanic art and museum quality Pacific art, 2011, accessed on 4/2/12 from http://www.new-guinea-tribal-art.com/wp/index.php/2011/09/29/fijian-war-club/ William Lockerby, Fiji: the warrior archipelago, accessed on 4/2/12 from http://www.tribalsite.com/articles/fiji.htm R.A. Derrick, a history of Fiji Vol. 1, Printing and Stationery Department, Suva, 1946. Ravuvu, Asesela and Vaka i Taukei, the Fijian Way of Life, Suva: University of the South Pacific, 1983 Read More