2- Oceania
I) A History of the Islands
A) First Islanders
a) special canoes (catamarans) were developed to carry people further into the ocean,
allowing many to spread to far away islands
b) for hundreds of years people sailed East and West, as far as Hawaii and Madagascar
c) these people then developed in isolation
(i) Geographers group these people based on physical geography and culture
1 Micronesia- tiny islands
2 Melanesia- black islands
3 Polynesia- many islands
B) Contact with the West
a) during the 1500s, Europeans began exploring the Pacific
(i) the most famous was the British captain James Cook
1 he was the first to visit many of the islands
b) by the 1800s, Christian missionaries tried to convert people, traders came for Pacific
goods, sailors hunted whales, and settlers began plantations to grow coconuts, coffee,
pineapples, and sugar
(i) as a result, the island population declined from diseases brought by Europeans
1 Western culture began to replace traditional customs
2 eventually, Europe and the US took control of regions and turned them into
territories
C) Recent History
a) many islands were the sites of battles between the Allies and Japanese
b) post WWII, some islands were nuclear test sites for many countries, especially the US
II) A Traditional Economy
A) Agriculture
a) high islands, created by volcanic activity, have good enough soil to support
agriculture
(i) due to the climate, the best crops include bananas, sugar, coffee, cocoa, etc
B) Other Economic Activities
a) tourism has been on the rise in the region due to the natural beauty
(i) while this brings in money, it also harms the environment, and infrastructure is
required to handle the people (hotels, roads, taxis, stores, etc)
b) a few islands have enough resources to support a mining industry
III) Culture of the Islands
A) Language and Religion
a) about 1,100 languages are spoken in the region
(i) Papua New Guinea alone speaks 823
(ii) English is the most common second language
b) the most common religion is Christianity from the work of missionaries and colonial
settlers
B) Arts
a) most art is in the form of baskets, mats, masks, etc
(i) these are sold to tourists
IV) Island Life
A) Traditional Life
a) Polynesia
(i) most people live in villages with wooden houses and thatched roofs
1 the villages are led by a chief
(ii) in the past, most cultures in this region were warlike
b) Micronesia
(i) tended to live peacefully with their neighbors and live in extended family groups
(ii) mostly survived on fishing and farming
c) Melanesia
(i) most people live near the coast for fishing
(ii) some are still hunter-gatherers
B) Recent Change
a) since most islands are small, very few can support large cities, however those that can
have seen population growth beyond what they can handle
(i) this leads to shantytowns, poor sanitation, etc
b) modern communication has allowed many islands to unify when before they were
alone