Pacific Pre-Contact Culture and Customs: Part 2

BACKGROUND

Before the arrival of Europeans in the Pacific, distinct cultures existed on island groups throughout the region. People developed cultural practices that reflected not only their origins but their natural surroundings as well. These were expressed through oratory, music, dance, drama, song and art.

The plants, bird, mammals and marine life that they interacted with were vital parts of their daily lives and their continued survival depended on them. Often woven into creation narratives, on each island group at least one species became revered above all else.

Spiritual practices were fundamental to life and specialists in this area were highly respected members of communities. Most societies had chiefs who looked after groups of families within set territories. Awareness of genealogy was important as it dictated social standing. Disputes, usually over resources, occurred not only between families within island groups but between different island cultures as well.

Stone tool technology existed and domestication of animals and cultivation of plants developed over time. Skillful sailors and navigators, these people traveled and explored the limits of the Pacific Ocean, eventually settling all the islands, whilst continually developing more sophisticated technology.

This story provides a taste of the customary practices of the unique people of the Pacific.

CONTENTS

• Canoes
• Clothing & adornment
• Housing
• Weapons & warfare
• Ceremony
• Music & dance
• Sculpting & carving
• Tattoo
• Glossary
• Supporting resources.

CANOES  

Te Moana-nui-ā-Kiwa, the Pacific Ocean, was one of the last areas of the earth to be explored and settled by human beings. It was only around 3000 years ago that people began heading eastwards from New Guinea and the Solomon Islands further into the Pacific. 

Great skill and courage was needed to sail across vast stretches of open sea. Between 1100 and 800 BCE these voyagers spread to Fiji and West Polynesia, including Tonga and Samoa.

Around 1000 years ago people began to inhabit the central East Polynesian archipelagos, settling the closest first. 

These migrants, who sailed in double-hulled canoes from East Polynesia (specifically the Society Islands, the southern Cook Islands and the Austral Islands in French Polynesia), were the ancestors of the Māori people.

Source:  Encounters - Pacific voyaging and discovery, NZHistory

QUICK FACTS

• There were many styles of canoe, made for both paddling and sailing, for example, outrigger canoes.
• Canoes were called vaka, va‘a, waka, or wa‘a depending on which island group they originated from.
• Initially ocean-going sailing canoes were made to tack like modern day yachts. However, canoes known as 'shunting' canoes were developed that could go in either direction without having to turn around.
• Larger canoes were made of several pieces of wood lashed together with rope made from plant fibres such as sennit, made from coconut.
• Sails were made from plaited or stitched together fiber, most often leaves of the pandanus tree.
• Paddles of all shapes and sizes and for different purposes, as well as bailers, were made from wood and anchors were made from large stones.

CLOTHING AND ADORNMENT

Clothing across the Pacific was made from local resources. This included garments woven from the fiber of plants and tapa cloth made from the bark of trees.

Forms of adornment were often elaborate and highly creative and were constructed with great care and attention to detail by skilled experts. 

Certain items of clothing and adornment were reserved for people of rank, chiefs and their wives and families.

QUICK FACTS

• Feathers were a particularly prized items and would often be traded between islands. Red and sometimes yellow, were the most sought after colours; red represented the gods in many cultures.
• Tapa cloth, made predominantly from the bark of the paper mulberry tree, was produced throughout the Pacific. While techniques varied between island groups, the process was similar. However, painted tapa could be recognised as coming from a particular island group by the distinctive patterns used.
• Fiber was also used extensively for clothing, prepared and woven into many different forms.
• Items of adornment included headresses, ear and nose ornaments, necklaces and arm and leg bands and chest ornaments.
• These could be made from any combination of tapa, fiber, feathers, shell, nuts, seeds, teeth (human and animal), animal skin and human and animal hair.

HOUSING

There is evidence of the existence of stone houses in Tonga, however most commonly dwellings were constructed from the more readily available and easier to use resources of wood and plant material. Houses took many forms, the size and sophistication of the dwelling depending on a person's status. Buildings for community gatherings and ceremonies were also constructed and were typically larger and often made using different methods. 

Technological developments in canoe construction are believed to have influenced the way houses were built so that different forms were seen even within island groups as new knowledge and skills were acquired. Techniques were also developed to ensure buildings were strong enough to withstand the hurricanes and heavy rains that occur across the Pacific.

QUICK FACTS

• The word for house in Samoa and Tonga is fale, in Fiji it is vale, and in Tahiti fare. Houses sometimes had open sides to let in cooling breezes in the warm temperatures of the Pacific.
• Different buildings were constructed for different purposes; in Samoa, there were the canoe shed (afolau), the cookhouse (fale umu), the dwelling house (fale o’o) and the two types of guest house (fale afolau and fale tele). 
• In Tonga, there were faletolia, decorated with mats and tapa cloth, that were houses used only for funerals and were where the dead were placed. There were also special houses for the sick, for bathing, and for fishermen to meet.
• Before the arrival of Europeans who brought nails, buildings were lashed together with rope, often made from coconut.
• In Tonga, the number of pou (columns) in a building was determined by the number of men of status in the area, as these men would each require a column to sit in front of during gatherings.

WEAPONS AND WARFARE

Warfare was part of life across the Pacific. Suggested reasons for conflict include competition for resources, including land, that sometimes arose when villages were destroyed by natural disasters, but also when resources were scarce or exhausted. Other possibilities were population pressure, revenge for slights or behaviour that diminished mana, and the desire to increase chiefly power through the prestige of a successful conflict.

Weapons were not seen as simply utilitarian, and in all cultures, they were decorated with carving and/or surface dying or painting to varying degrees. In many instances, weapons were highly accomplished pieces of artwork produced with care and skill. As a result, individuals considered their weapons to be very precious items.

QUICK FACTS

• Priests and advisers would be consulted prior to engaging in conflict; a reflection of not only the importance of gods in societies at this time but the preference for group decision making.
• Weapons across the Pacific included many variations of hand held weapons such as clubs, spears and axes as well as throwing weapons like slings and long spears. They were made of specially chosen hardwoods and sometimes stone lashed to wood with woven fiber.
• In Fiji, the weapon of choice was the club. There were several types designed for striking, crushing, cutting, piercing and throwing.
• Armour was found in some cultures, including shields, helmets and even full-body armour made from layers of tightly woven plant fiber.
• Warfare in Tonga began with men engaging in pole (challenge) that involved boasting about their virtues while issuing put-downs to the opponent.
• Villages in Samoa kept a record of the battles or conflicts they had been involved with by putting carefully chosen stones into a basket that was hung from the ridge of a building constructed specifically for this purpose.

CEREMONY

Ceremonies were an integral part of all Pacific cultures and were conducted for a wide range of reasons such as births, deaths and marriages, funerals and the acknowledgement of new leaders, celebrations associated with growing or harvesting of food, visits by high ranking guests, coming of age, launching of canoes, war preparation and much more.

Gatherings throughout the Pacific shared some common features and would involve an acknowledgement of gods and ancestors, delivered by specialist priests. Objects associated with ceremonies could include wood or stone carved pieces such as god sticks, clothing, masks, ceremonial weapons and complex items of adornment. Whatever the objects used, each would be carefully crafted and would have special significance to the occasion.

An important aspect of Pacific cultures, often part of ceremonies, was gifting, either unconditionally (meaning no gift is respected in return) or reciprocally (a gift of the same or similar value is expected in return). The giving of gifts demonstrated the wealth and prestige of the gift giver, and it was expected that the significance of the gift was understood and appreciated. If this did not happen, offence would be taken.

QUICK FACTS

• Representations of gods were made across the Pacific from stone, wood, shell, feather, tapa, hair and fiber. The most valued idols, part of ceremonies at special locations such as temples, were made by experts and used exclusively by priests. 
• In Fiji, the item of most value was the tabua (sperm whale tooth) that was considered a kavakaturanga (chiefly thing).  The giving of tabua was part of ceremonies such as births and deaths and was also a way to apologise when you had given offence. 
• Ceremonies took place to mourn chiefs. In Tahiti hired mourners would move around villages loudly demonstrating their grief while dressed in elaborate costumes produced specifically for these occasions.
• Putona (shell trumpets) were important across the Pacific, and in the Marquesas, these shells could only be used by people of high rank and were blown for special ceremonies, for example at the birth of a chiefs first son.  

MUSIC AND DANCE

There were a huge variety of musical instruments across the Pacific that played crucial roles in everyday life, including as part of ceremonies, to announce war and for simple enjoyment. Like all other things created by these resourceful people, locally available materials were used, such as wood, bamboo, and coconut shell, to create instruments ranging from drums to flutes and rattles. Instruments were almost always decorated and became special items of wide-ranging significance for all cultures.

Music was an essential accompaniment to dance. Dance was part of worship and ceremony as well as being vital for building and strengthening family and community relationships. Dancers would sometime assume the identity of an animal revered in that society or would represent spirits. 

QUICK FACTS

• The most widespread of the instruments were drums, made with cured and stretched animal or fish skin. In almost every case, drums in the Pacific were played with the hands only.
• In New Guinea, the Sepik people made water drums that were kept hidden and used only by men as part of initiation ceremonies.
• Trumpets, flutes and panpipes were made most often from bamboo and could be played by blowing across the instrument or through the end. Flutes blown with the nose rather than the mouth were also seen.
• Stringed instruments were rare, the only two being the mouth bow and the tube zither.
• Dance reflected cultural identities and histories and often represented animals, for example, dances in Kiribati mimic the frigate bird as well as crabs.
• A practice that could not be separated from everyday life, dance was a part of almost all ceremonies and special events in communities throughout the Pacific.

SCULPTING AND CARVING

Sculptured items of stone or wood were seen throughout the Pacific, mostly representing gods or important ancestors as well as animals that held spiritual significance. These items were thought to have been used in rituals and important ceremonies.

Almost every imaginable object made from wood, bone or shell was embellished with carving full of symbolism. Carving could raise the status of an item. The designs shared similarities with those used in tattoo as well as tapa cloth designs.

As with all important roles in island communities, sculpting and carving was carried out by experts in these areas who would have acquired mana reflecting their knowledge and skill.

QUICK FACTS

• Rapa nui (Easter Island) is famous for its huge stone sculptures called mooai, that are unique to this island.
• Sculptures found in New Guinea are thought to represent humans, birds and animals, and are the earliest stone works discovered in the Pacific region. 
• Canoe prows were often elaborately sculpted and carved, like the one below from the Solomon Islands, that was believed to protect the canoe and ensure safe passage.
• For the Kanak people of New Caledonia, their large round meeting houses were adorned with carved doorposts and lintels.
• Ceremonial fly whisks are thought to have originated from the Austral Islands and often included representations of gods.

TATTOO

The European word tattoo is derived from the Samoan word tatau and originated from Cook's early voyages in the Pacific. An ancient practice that is believed to have been part of most island cultures, tattooing became highly sophisticated, immersed in ritual and a symbol of status or mana.

European explorers noted that it was men who performed the art of tattoo on other men, however recently it has been suggested that women were originally the tattoo experts.

Distinctive patterns that identified where the owner came from developed on island groups, with symbols drawn from plants, animals and the wider natural world.

QUICK FACTS

• Strongly associated with rank and prestige, tattooing was undertaken by highly skilled experts and involved strict rituals and procedures.
• Tattoo sometimes represented entering new passages or life or gaining the ability to undertake new roles or duties within communities.
• In Samoa, tattooing tools were made with wooden handles, turtle shell and boar tusks fashioned into a comb. 
• The materials used for tools varied depending on what was available in island groups, however, the comb was almost always bone in the eastern Pacific, but obsidian (a type of rock) was used in western areas.
• The pigment was made from natural sources too, often the soot of plants or nuts, such as the candle nut.
• In the Marquesas, warriors would have their entire bodies covered in tattoos of stylised faces, turtles and other creatures.

GLOSSARY

Definitions below taken from the Oxford Learner's Dictionary.   

adornment - something that you wear to make yourself look more attractive; something used to decorate a place or an object. 

archipelago -  a group of islands and the sea surrounding them. 

ceremonies - a public or religious occasion that includes a series of formal or traditional actions. 

cultivation - the preparation and use of land for growing plants or crops.

cured - to treat food or tobacco with smoke, salt or heat, etc. in order to preserve it. 

domestication - the process of making a wild animal used to living with or working for humans. 

embellished - to make something more beautiful by adding decoration to it. 

idol - a person or thing that is loved and admired very much. 

initiation - the act of somebody becoming a member of a group, often with a special ceremony; the act of introducing somebody to an activity or skill.

oratory - the skill of making powerful and effective speeches in public. 

pigment - a coloured powder that is mixed with a liquid to produce paint, etc. 

prestige - the respect and value that somebody/something has because of their social position, or what they have done. 

revered - to admire and respect somebody/something very much.

rituals - a series of actions that are always performed in the same way, especially as part of a religious ceremony.

status- the legal position of a person, group or country.

stylised - drawn, written, etc. in a way that is not natural or realistic.

symbolism - the use of symbols to represent ideas, especially in art and literature.

utilitarian - designed to be useful and practical rather than attractive. 

virtues - behaviour or attitudes that show high moral standards.  

SUPPORTING RESOURCES

PAN PACIFIC RESOURCES

Oceania- the British Museum Oceania Collection.

Pacific Collection - the Australian Museum's Pacific Collection

Pacific History and Legends- delve into our unique history, folklore and mythology from the different Island cultures.

Tales from Te Papa: Pacific cultures collection episodes - episodes of Tales from Te Papa relating to the Pacific Cultures collection. 

Tapa of the Pacific - tapa or barkcloth made from the inner bark of certain trees is one of the most distinctive products of the cultures of the Pacific islands. 

Tapa: Pacific Style - for centuries, people across the Pacific have created beautiful and functional tapa cloth from the inner bark of a range of tropical trees. 

CANOES

Pacific Canoes - to explore the Pacific, early voyagers needed canoes that were strong and seaworthy. Today these are called vaka, va‘a, waka, or wa‘a – depending on where in Polynesia you are. 

Canoe Navigation - the ancestors of Māori were among the greatest of canoe builders, navigators and mariners.  

Waka - canoes - the significance of waka (canoes) for Māori has its roots in times past, when voyaging waka forged the links between the ancestral homeland of Hawaiki and New Zealand.

CLOTHING AND ADORNMENT

Chief mourner's costume- when a chief died, the bereaved family would arrange for a group of mourners to grieve publicly for the dead person.  

Clothing & Adornment- in the climate of Tongareva the use of clothing as a protection against the weather is not necessary.  

Combs in the Pacific Islands - throughout the Pacific Islands, combs have long been worn in the hair as an item of adornment.

Tabua (ceremonial whale tooth) - in Pacific Island society, some objects can have a 'spiritual' value that far outweighs their actual ‘market’ value. 

HOUSING

A guide to the architecture of the Pacific: Kingdom of Tonga- a few Pacific nations claim the title ‘Cradle of the Pacific’ or Polynesia, but, as you stand on the shore of the lagoon of Tonga’s main island, Tongatapu, you get a sense of its ancient history. 

Building for the future- an article about house building in the Samoan village of Sa’anapu.

WEAPONS AND WARFARE

Fijian Clubs- the club was the Fijian warrior's favourite weapon.  

Samoan Wars and Warfare - wars amongst the Samoans were for a long time frequent and bloody.

CEREMONY

'aumakua hulu manu (Hawaiian feathered god image) - Hawaiians believed that the bodies of their gods were entirely covered with feathers, so when making images of them, they covered them in feathers as well. 

Gods - non-human forms of religious symbol were made from stone, wood, shell, pandanus leaf, coconut leaf, coconut leaf stipule, coconut-husk fiber, bark, feathers, and human hair. 

MUSIC AND DANCE

Musical Instruments of Oceania - Oceanic musical instruments include many of the broad categories familiar in the West, such as percussion, wind, and string instruments, as well as forms that are distinctive to the region.

South Pacific Beats - Wellington designer Rachael Hall has developed a modern version of the traditional Tongan lali. 

Water Drum - unique to the Middle Sepik River region of northeast New Guinea, water drums consist of a hollow, hourglass-shaped cylinder of wood with one or two handles projecting from the top. 

SCULPTING AND CARVING

God figure carving- in the 1800s, wood carving was a well established art form in Tonga. 

The Mysterious Stones of Tonga- this article describes and discusses an unusual stone monument, Ha‘amonga ‘a Maui (the Burden of Maui), which stands near the village of Niutōua in Tonga. 

TATTOO

Keeping Our Stories Alive - this book explores Samoan tatau in two parts.

Tatau: A History of Sāmoan Tattooing - one of the world’s most elaborate and richly symbolic systems of body decoration, it was carried out by master tattooists (tufuga).

Tattoo in the Pacific - the process of tattooing, and the ceremonies associated with it, were as significant as the tattoos themselves.  

The story of Samoan tattooing - thirty centuries of Samoan tattooing have been chronicled in a new book released earlier this month. 

World's oldest tattooing kit - researchers at Australia's Griffith University have carbon-dated an ancient tattooing kit, discovering it's at least 2,700 years old - the oldest in known existence.  

TRADITIONAL NARRATIVES

Myths and Legends of Ancient Samoa - the story of the stone that blocked the road round the Cape at Matauea, Safotu.

Rat & Octopus - Rat and Octopus, a tale common to many Pacific cultures, is retold here by Samoan writer Tusiata Avia.  

Sons of Ma'afu - Tongan students will relate to a traditional story from their culture.  

This story was curated and compiled by Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa | National Library of New Zealand, Services to Schools staff, April 2020.