“ Oceania is a territory centred on the islands of the tropical Pacific Ocean. Opinions of what comprise Oceania vary from its three subregions of Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia. Due to colonial abandon and historical separation, the Pacific islands, habitat to the world’s largely varied range of native culture, persist to maintain many ancestral life-ways. As being the first voyager to settle islands in Oceania, this writing will focus mainly on the way finding, migration theories, archaeological and linguistic evidence and oral history. Thus, there have been many challenging theories and tales that try and explain how it was that Oceania came to be established by a range of humans coming into the region different period”. “ To begin with, way-finding is cosmique problem solving where you are in an environment, making out where your desired position is and understanding how to get there from your present site.
The key to the survival and nourishment of the people of Oceania was their capability to navigate through the ocean from island and their craftsmanship in crafting and constructing seaworthy vessels. Way-finding engages in navigating on the exposed ocean without sextant, compass, clock, radio reports or satellite reports. It requires the observation of stars, the sun, the ocean rise and fall and other best clues that are there. The idea of fluid time-space has much in common with the Pacific way-finding technique of moving island termed “ e tak” in the Caroline island of Micronesia. “ E tak” is a polydimensional arrangement that includes both direction and time and therefore movement. (Brathwaite, 2007)”. “ Migration theories are theories that demonstrate how Oceania was settled.
The Pacific was in fact the first of world’s greatest oceans to be discovered whereby the stories of the migration could verify a strong “ origin myth” to join the people of many nations. (Spriggs, 2009). Europeans who explored Oceania proposed their individual viewpoint and understanding upon what and who they saw. This theory was described as the “ two population theory”. The more suitable terms to theorize migration are “ Near Oceania” and “ Remote Oceania”. These terms were projected by an archaeologist Roger Green. The two population theory was finally exposed because it incorrectly believed that there was no mixture of people who initially colonized Oceania and the islands farther east. (Gifford, 1924). Theory is only an educated guess made by anthropologist, archaeologist and other specialist in the region”.
“ Moving on, the archaeological findings, linguistic evidence, human biology and domesticated plants and animals appear to have no relation with the oral tradition of Pacific people. Racial studies contrast physical characteristics to decide where islanders arrive from. It believes that people with same skin colour, facial features, type of hair and body type are from the similar place. Due to racial studies not being very accurate, DNA mapping on the other hand is offering very useful in tracing the settlements of the Pacific by evaluating genetic materials of different populations. (Ridgell, 2006). Lapita culture was the earliest first to route beyond the end of the main Solomon chain. It included an agricultural lifestyle and more superior boat technology and the Lapita settler were first to breakout Near Oceania”. “ In addition, the Lapita people were the Pacific’s initial pottery makers from New Guinea out as far as Tonga and Samoa. These regions interrelated and the mass transportation started about two centuries ago.
People were reposition between islands, pots were shifting in vessels, obsidian was being replace and art style that urbanized in one area widen across many thousands of kilometres. (Spriggs, 2009). People journey for many reasons. Some journey to discover new lands whereas some have motives to know other’s culture, tradition, their way of living and other origins. Recent studies of ancient DNA from Lapita –associated skeletons may point out that some degree of admixture with populations in Near Oceania took place with remote biological ancestors left Southeast Asia and occurred via Near Oceania. (Green, 1998)”. “ Furthermore, the Fijian oral tradition states that Fijians from the family migrated from Tanganyika, South Africa. Many Fijian clans today allege to be descendants of the children of Lutunasobasoba. There own image and continuation links to their oral tradition.
Oral history has also appeared as an international movement. With this movement, oral historians have come up to the collection, analysis and diffusion of oral history in numerous ways. (Smith, 2008). Indigenous Pacific education in the areas of navigating and canoe building is so extremely superior. Many places in the Pacific have folklores of earlier people who existed there”. “ Moreover, as being the first voyager to settle islands in Oceania, firstly, I would navigate through way-finding strategies. These strategies will include information from stars, sun, ocean swell and other best clues to navigate through my destination. Islands will be distributed and settled according to migration theories. Secondly, I will be separating people by archaeological aspects like through skin colour, type of hair, body and using more advanced DNA clues. Then names will be given to different group like how Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia was named. Thirdly, my understanding will be essentially used to detect on oral tradition of every group.
This will show how each group of culture and tradition originated. Lastly, group will be settled in different islands in the Pacific according to their population size and other cultural identities. It is a difficult part for a voyager to settle islands on a new Oceanic area”. “ To conclude, Oral traditions prove the widespread communication up to European contact, even though on an irregular basis, across much of the Pacific. Archaeological research, mainly proves for the movement of stone relics and pottery from isotopes in the teeth of the bones of the initial generations of population on particular Pacific islands, enlarges back our understanding of such long-distance communication into the isolated history of the earliest Pacific voyagers and settlers. Our ancestors voyaged across largest ocean on earth and settled every inhabitable island. This was one of the most noteworthy feets of navigation ever achieved by humankind and requisites extra ordinary amounts of scientific intelligence, amazing powers of money as well as physical health, buoyancy and strength. We go along the paths of our forbearers who journeyed for advance future”.
My Best Post in Talanoa Forum Oral Tradition by GabirieleManakiwai – Saturday, 14 March 2015, 6: 58 PM
“ Oral Traditions are one of the main key aspects of any individual. It often articulate interesting stories of the past which are considered useful for the younger generation. One important aspect is that, it allows students to practice the art of listening and respect. In addition, it is a way of relaxation from the normal routines of life and if practiced and mastered well it could serve as a way to generate income for the group”. “ The high school I attended encouraged us to share our custom stories and dances and to speak our local dialects in the hope that even with a high degree of western education we will not forget our roots and culture and our past”.
Bibliography
Brathwaite, K. (2007). Tidalectics. In Routes and Roots (p. 3). University of Hawai‘ i Press. Gifford, E. (1924). Tongan Myths and Tales. BPB Mus. 8. Honolulu, Hawaii. Green, R. C. (1998, July 20). Patterns of prehistoric human mobility in Polynesia indicated by mtDNA from the Pacific rat. Retrieved March 16, 2015, from PNAS Online: http://www. pnas. org/content/95/25/15145. full Ridgell, R. (2006). Pacific Nations and Territories. Honolulu, Hawaiÿi: Guam Community College. Smith, G. (2008). Making History. Retrieved March 16, 2015, from The Institute of Historical Research: http://www. history. ac. uk/makinghistory/resources/articles/oral_history. html Spriggs, M. (2009). Oceanic Connections in Deep Time. Thinking Oceania, 1(1), 7, 14.
