Acknowledging Pacific history

The Pacific Ocean is huge. In this article, we’re only talking about one part of the Pacific. We’ll focus on Oceania. This includes island groups known as Melanesia, Micronesia, Polynesia, and some parts of Australasia. Much of this region was populated by humans as many as 40,000 years ago! Disney’s Moana represented this history. The film shows the historical movement of Polynesian peoples, using technologies Pacific peoples created over thousands of years.

Oceania and the peoples of the Pacific were often left out of world history textbooks in the US until about 1999. Then, two historians wrote Traditions and Encounters: A Global Perspective on the Past.¹ Their book changed the way this region has been studied ever since.

Human geography of the Pacific, c. 1200

Oceania was settled by humans beginning 40,000 to 60,000 years ago. Scientists still argue about these dates. Scholars also debate whether these first migrations were intentional or unintentional. It is possible that early humans intentionally sailed from southeast Asia to the coast of New Guinea. Once there, people developed complex agricultural techniques. They built large communities.

Some people then crossed the straits that separate New Guinea from Australia. Those people encountered new environments. Farming was not easy in this dry environment. People became expert hunters and gatherers.

People in Southeast Asia, Taiwan, and the South Pacific developed new sailing technologies. These technologies included learning to read wind and ocean currents and building large canoes with sails. This allowed them to travel deeper into the Pacific Ocean. They went to the outermost islands of Oceania. These islands became populated over time.

These communities formed three large groups. The first was the Melanesian group. They made up the densely- populated region of New Guinea and a large number of closely packed islands. North of Melanesia were the Micronesian group. They were more spread out, based on islands including the Mariana and Majōl (Marshall) chains. To the east, Polynesian people lived on far-flung islands. Larger communities were formed in the Hawaiian chain and in Aotearoa (New Zealand). The Māori of Aotearoa spoke (and still speak) a Polynesian language.

Organizing communities and states

Oceania’s communities were culturally linked. The distances between islands meant that many societies were somewhat isolated. However, there was ongoing trade. Many communities had complex political and social organizations.

People in most communities belonged to family groups. Families were important for making decisions. In many societies, families were organized into bigger units such as clans and states. Australian Aboriginal peoples had an elaborate system of kinship and social rules. People had equal opportunity to become leaders, but only if you were male. There were few chiefs or kings. Hierarchies seemed to be mostly contained to religious or spiritual matters, or to the Dreaming. The Dreaming is the spiritual philosophy of the Aboriginal peoples. It encompasses their history of the universe, the Earth, the present, and the future.

The Māori society of Aotearoa migrated from nearby islands. They divided the land amongst several states. States were composed of families. Each state had several important chiefs who came together to make decisions. Still, there was conflict both within and between different Māori states.

The Hawaiian Islands were also settled by Polynesian migrants. Hawaiian society resembled that of Aotearoa in many ways. They were organized into small kingdoms. But the extended family, the village, and the clan were usually more important. Both Hawaiian and Māori societies lacked written languages. However, each had rich oral histories.

Gender relations varied in Oceania. Women in Polynesian societies may have been closer to full equality with men than any other part of the world. They could be very independent. Some women held leadership positions. This was less true in other Pacific societies. The most important aspect of gender roles in this region was the complementary relationship of men and women. People believed that men and women each had an area of influence. Both were needed for a family or community to be successful. Some Pacific societies had (and continue to have) their own ideas about gender. Samoan society has more than two genders.

Cultural and political ideas were broadly shared. The people of Oceania traded with each other. Trading connections helped communities to keep up to date with new technology.

A world apart?

Oceania is treated as separate from other parts of the world before the modern era. Yet this may not be true. Many people who settled Pacific regions remained in contact with Southeast Asia. There is also evidence of links to other regions.

The language of the people of Madagascar has a strong relationship to Polynesian languages. But this may not be evidence of sustained contact. It could show a common origin in Southeast Asia. In another example, DNA evidence suggests that migrants from South America may have joined Polynesians. This most likely took place in the 1100s and 1200s CE. This evidence emerged very recently.

Should we think of the Pacific as a zone of interaction and exchange? It’s probably too early for a final analysis. But it’s clear we can no longer ignore or dismiss this global zone.

1 Jerry Bentley and Herbert Zeigler, later joined by Heather Streets-Salter.