Pacific Island Art: PolynesiaWhere Sharks Walk on Land

Bikini

Pacific Island Art

Important to remember to look at Pacific Island art not from the Western view of romantic, primitive and exotic but to remember they are based of TRADITIONS and embody their own rich HISTORY.

LEARNING TARGETS

The the and meaning of the objects within their own culture

The influence of and upon those who made the works.

The Medium Wood, Stone, Feathers and Fibers

How art affects the people: Aesthetically, Spiritually and Socially.

View From Western

Culture

Polynesian Creation Myth: Ranginui,

the Sky Father, and Papatuanuku, the

Earth Mother

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The Lapita Migration

Most of the Polynesian cultures are believed to

be decedents from Indonesia and the Philippines

Seafaring traders not focused on settled

agriculture but mostly relied on the ocean.

Therefore they were skilled navigators of

Outrigger Canoes

Outrigger Canoe

Navigation

Polynesian navigation systems were used to make long voyages across thousands of miles of open ocean. Navigators travel to small inhabited islands using only their own senses and knowledge passed by oral tradition from navigator to apprentice, often in the form of song.

In order to locate directions at various times of day and year, Polynesian navigators memorize important facts: the motion of specific stars, so where they would rise and set on the horizon of the ocean; weather and the seasons of travel; wildlife species (which gather at particular positions); the direction, size and, speed of ocean waves; colors of the sea and sky, especially how clouds would cluster at the locations of some islands; and angles for approaching harbors.

These WAYFINDING techniques along with their unique outrigger canoe construction methods have been kept as secrets. Generally each island maintained a guild of navigators who had very high status and in times of famine or difficulty these navigators could trade for aid or evacuate people to neighboring islands. To this day, the original methods of Polynesian Navigation are still taught in the Polynesian outlier of TaumakoIsland in the Solomon Islands.

Polynesian Navigation

Device

Topography

From Hawaii to Easter Island and all the way to

New Zealand Polynesians share similar culture

and Environments

Mountainous Volcanic Islands

Rich Forests

Tropical Beaches

Birds, Reptiles Fish and colonized pigs, dogs and

chickens.

The Maori People

A Patriarchal Society

Skilled Navigators and Seafaring Traders

Culture deeply entrenched beliefs and connection to their ancestors.

Warrior Culture.

The People

This drawing shows many key features of the

Maori People.

Facial Tattoos (moko)

A headdress of feathers.

A comb

Long green stone pendants in the ear

Hei-Tiki

Combs similar to these ones can

still be found in New Zealand.

Hei-Tiki

The

earpendant and

the Hei-Tiki are

mad of

Greenstone

(Jade) The

Maori

considered

greenstone to

have

supernatural

Powers (Mana)

The Hei-Tiki is

would often be

considered a

Maori’s most

precious

possession. Such

tiki figures, which

represent

legendary heroes

or ancestor figures

give the wearer

power from the

MANAThe idea of power in which the social,

spiritual and political are interwoven is

engrained in the concept of Mana.

CAN BE:

• Manifestation of the power of the gods

in the human worlds.

• It is and active force, one associated

with and inherited from divine

ancestors.

• ESSENTIAL to all human endeavors,

and the success of warriors, artists and

leaders.

• Sometimes it is an invisible force.

• Other times ARTWORK is the main way

to of making Mana present in this world.Hei-Tiki (Ancestor Pendant)

Passed down through generations and

worn at funerals, marriages, peace

treaties, alliances.

Has a personal name and is greeted by

name when worn at the Marae or

Wood CarvingMaori are know for their

woodcarving.

This whole structure

symbolizes the sky

father. The ridgepole is

the backbone, rafters

are ribs and his head

and face are carved

into the peak of roof.

The ancestors support the house. They were

thought to participate in discussion and take

an active part of community.

Clubs, Capes and Tattoos

Warrior CultureThe object of war was often not to kill the opposition by to humiliate them or intimidate them. In the Heirarchalsociety of Hawaii, degrading others advanced one’s own status.

Headresses and Cloaks were worn into battle as well as to display status.

Painted Body

Many Polynesian cultures expressed status and MANA by means of tattooing.

Wrapped the body in protective images and served as a marker of social status and gender identity.

Men were tattoo on their faces, chests, legs and hands and the motifs included zigzags, stepped triangles, and cheverons making reference to spines and to genealogy.

When men went into battle, their cloaks and headressesprotected their head and back and their tattoos protected their faces and chests.

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In New Zealand the gender

differentiation of tattoo was quit

marked.

Elite Men wore full facial tattoo; While

women wore tattoos on the lips and

chin only, unless they were the highest-

ranking members of their lineages, in

which some cases wore full face

tattoos as a sign of their unusual

status.

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