Culture, Economic, Tourism and Evironment of Melanesian, Polynesian, and Micronesian

Melanesian, Polynesian, and Micronesian are not so popular region. How are the people live and survive until now? Are they still nomad and do food gathering? In the first paragraph of this article, the writer will explain about economic aspect. They largely dependent on the primary sector like agriculture, fishing, and mining. Most of them are subsistence farmers and fishers. They can fulfill their daily needs by crops which they plant like bananas, breadfruit, and root crops such as sweet potatoes, yams, cassava, and taro. They are lucky because have fertile soil and rainfall heavier as given.[1]

During the colonial period, plantation agriculture and commercial crops were introduced to the high islands, especially the larger continental islands. Coffee plantations are important in New Caledonia and Papua New Guinea; sugarcane is Fiji’s principal export crop; vanilla is raised for export on Tahiti; and cacao, the source of chocolate, is important in Melanesia. Ginger, oil palm, and rubber were also introduced during the colonial period and continue to be of local significance on a few islands.

The most common crop of low islands is coconut. Coconut is chosen because it has many functions like, nata de coco, for drinking, for making  Phyto-oil, etc. Coconut plantations are a widespread source of copra, or dried coconut meat, which is sometimes the major export of such islands. Low-lying Vanuatu and Kiribati, for example, rely heavily on copra exports.

Extensive rain forests, and thus timber, are found only on the larger high islands. The majority of New Guinea is covered in either mangrove, rain forest, or alpine vegetation, and sawn timber from the rain forests accounts for about 5 percent of Papua New Guinea’s export revenues. Forest products are also important exports of Solomon Islands and Fiji.

Fishing is an important source of food for almost all people living near coastal waters. It is also a major export earner for some economies, such as Solomon Islands. Other products from the sea such as pearls are important in some areas, as in French Polynesia, where cultured pearls provide export revenues. Occasionally the nations of the Pacific Islands have had fishing disputes with larger nations such as the United States and Japan. In 1986 a treaty signed between the United States and the South Pacific Forum Fisheries Agency ended a long-running dispute over the size of U.S. fish catches in the Pacific.[2]

Minerals and other raw material mining is copius in this location. Kiribati’s Banaba (Ocean Island) and Nauru have been major sources of phosphate rock. However, phosphate has been exhausted on Banaba and is nearly gone on Nauru. New Caledonia has rich deposits of nickel, chromite, and iron ores. Fiji and New Guinea mine gold. One of the world’s largest copper deposits and considerable reserves of oil and natural gas are found on New Guinea. The Pacific seabed has also begun to be exploited for its vast mineral resources. Large reserves of petroleum lie in the continental shelves along the Pacific Rim. On patches of the ocean floor lie fields of “manganese nodules,” potato-sized nuggets of iron and manganese oxides that sometimes also contain copper, cobalt, and nickel. Programs are under way to examine the feasibility of mining these deposits. Potency of this mining has not explored maximally, they used simple tool to mine. The contribution of mining and manufacturing to the earnings and employment of the Pacific Islands varies but is generally small, especially compared with agriculture

In most of the Pacific Islands, manufacturing is limited to handicrafts and food processing. However, some of the more developed economies, such as Fiji’s, have also established export-oriented industries, including textiles and garments. Not only agriculture sector, commerce activity also going on such as export and import from and deliver to their former and current colonial powers—United States, Britain, New Zealand, Australia, Germany, and France—as well as Canada, and increasingly, Japan.

Most of citizens are lives abroad, usually they send some money to their family. Indeed in some places, such as Niue and Tonga, more citizens live abroad than reside at home. It makes lack of productive worker in domestic. Some of the smallest political units of Oceania, including Niue, Tokelau, and the Cook Islands, earn significant sums of foreign income by selling postage stamps to collectors world widen.

Tourism and Environment

            Next sub topic is about tourism and environment, I mean to explain two aspect at once because both of them have reciprocal relation. Clean and beautiful scenery makes Melanesian, Polynesian, and Micronesian area as natural tourism destination, especially Hawaii which is well known in the world with the dancing girl. Tourism  become one of the major income earners and employers of local workers in the Pacific. Many good destination which u can visit there, like Fiji and French Polynesia. Fiji attracts more tourists than any other Pacific Island nation, with 549,911 visitors in 2005. In 1989 tourism surpassed sugar as Fiji’s prime source of foreign income. French Polynesia was the second most popular tourist destination. In 2005 it had 208,067 visitors, the majority of whom stayed on Tahiti. As with trade goods, tourists come to the Pacific Islands from former colonial powers and nearby larger countries. Thus many travelers from Japan, the United States, Britain, France, Australia, and New Zealand vacation in the Pacific Islands. Recently, Japan has become the largest single source of visitors, especially to the island nations in Micronesia closest to Japan.

Most tourist facilities are owned by foreigners, however, and much of the profit from tourism leaves the Pacific. Furthermore, many of the products used for tourism (such as food, drinks, and hotel furnishings) are often imported and further drain already poor economies. Although tourism is an important source of employment, jobs are often seasonal, and typically only low-skill jobs are open to islanders.[3] Another problem related to tourist activities is environmental degradation, especially of coral reefs and rain forests.[4] Many once-pristine coastal areas have been taken over by buildings and other developments. If they know how to manage local destination which they have, of course, there are many income which they get as foreign exchange.

Beside positive effect of tourism, there are some negative effect as the risks which should not be ignored by local citizen and leader there. They must prevent before damage larger and larger and break of beauty of their natural island. Because long by long, it can be dangerous environmental issue, moreover if nuclear testing still done in this location.

Culture and People

            The last sub topic is about culture and characteristic people of Melanesian, Polynesian, and Micronesian. This region as we known is divided based on their race. Melanesia even though has several distinct types of native peoples, virtually all are dark-skinned (the prefix mela means dark or black) and have tightly curled hair. Historically, the original inhabitants of New Guinea migrated to the island more than 30,000 years ago.[5] Their descendants are few in number and survive only in the remote, mountainous interior. The next group, Papuans, are the predominant population of New Guinea. A third group of  Melanesians are found principally along the northern coast of New Guinea and throughout the other islands of Melanesia. All groups are thought to be descended from Australoid peoples who populated Australia and parts of Southeast Asia, although there has been considerable and varied mixture with other groups over time. An exception to the dominance of black-skinned Melanesians is in Fiji, where many of the native peoples of Fiji’s easternmost islands resemble taller, lighter-skinned Polynesians. Also, many Fijians are of Indian ancestry, descendants of Indians imported on British ships between 1879 and 1916 to work on sugar plantations. Most Melanesians are subsistence farmers, and their societies are basically patrilineal through the male line. Melanesian art includes pottery and, in Fiji, tapa cloth, which is made from the bark of the paper mulberry tree.

Their initial belief actually is polytheism but influence of outside, especially  make them  converted to Christianity, many continue to also practice elements of traditional faiths. More than 90 percent of Papua New Guinea’s population is at least nominally Christian, including Catholics, Lutherans, and Baptists. The vast majority of ethnic Fijians are also Christians, most commonly Methodists, and the majority of New Caledonians are Roman Catholics. Newer immigrants to Melanesia, such as the Indo-Fijians of Fiji, tend to maintain the religion of the their homeland, in this case Hinduism or Islam.[6]

Since the late 19th century semi religious movements called cargo cults have existed among native populations who have had only limited contact with Western civilization. The central belief in these cults is that modern manufactured goods, which the natives call “cargo,” were sent from the spirit world of their ancestors but were kept from them by white people. At some future time, a great shipment of cargo is supposed to arrive for their use. The islands where cargo cults still have some influence are typically those most affected by World War II, (1939-1945) such as Papua New Guinea. Vanuatu is also known for its cargo cults.

The next race is Micronesian, it looks like Polynesian in a second time but actually not same because their hair not curled. Both of  them  are Mongoloid heredity race. In the westernmost islands, however, tan-skinned Malays and dark-skinned Melanesians are found. Reflecting their emphasis on fishing and inter island trade by sea, Micronesians generally live in coastal villages that seldom have more than a few hundred people. Typical dwellings are thatched, single-room houses with separate cooking huts. Except in Kiribati, Micronesian families are mostly matrilineal—that is, descent is traced through the mother’s family. In all areas families tend to be close-knit, and obligations between family members are strong. In most of Micronesia, prestige is measured by wealth.

In pre colonial times, religion in Micronesia was pantheistic (consisting of many gods). Gods were believed to control weather, health, and other conditions, and chiefs were believed to be descended from the gods. European and American missionaries have since converted most Micronesians to Christianity, especially Roman Catholicism. Micronesian art includes shell ornaments, floor mats, tattoos, and woodcraft.

The last culture and people are Polynesia who are the most homogeneous in culture, language, and physical appearance. Polynesians, whose features are Mongoloid, are of tall stature and are generally lighter-skinned than Micronesians or Melanesians. Their hair is dark and either straight or wavy but not curled. Although the ancestors of present-day Polynesians had no metals, they were able to develop an advanced civilization by using materials available to them. For example, Polynesians put the coconut palm to a variety of uses: they made matting and roof thatch from the leaves of the palm, baskets from the fibrous material covering the coconuts, household containers and other utensils from the shells, and various foods and beverages out of the meat and liquid. Pre colonial Polynesians also devised a variety of fishing implements, including snares, traps, nets, harpoons, and special hooks that do not snag on the jagged reefs. Polynesians were responsible for giant stone statues on Easter Island and for polished, exquisitely carved war clubs. People who were expert at craftsmanship often handed down their skills through their families and so today craft items remain an important industry, especially for the tourist trade. Tapa, a kind of tree bark made into cloth, is typical of such crafts. Other art forms include ceremonial dancing and singing, which is practiced throughout Polynesia and the rest of the Pacific Islands.

Last times, Polynesians worshiped many gods, each of whom represented some aspect of their environment. Polynesians often believed their founding ancestors were gods, and Polynesians had altars and houses for them as well as places of worship for their ancestors. Offerings to the gods sometimes included human sacrifices like in ancient tradition. Valuable tools or strong chiefs or warriors were sometimes thought to possess mana, a force that gave an object or person excellence. Like most other Pacific Islanders, Polynesians today are mostly Christians. The majority are Protestants of various groups, but there is a large minority who are Roman Catholic. French Polynesia is typical: 55 percent of its population is Protestant, with the largest number belonging to the Protestant Evangelical Church, while 36 percent are Catholic.

References

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/fp.html

Microsoft ® Encarta ® 2008. [1]   Prof Dr CS Kansil, Catatan Perjalanan Wisata di negara Pasifik Selatan

Spriggs, Matthew. The Island Melanesians. Oxford: Blackwell, 1997.

  Prof Dr CS Kansil, Catatan Perjalanan Wisata di negara Pasifik Selatan

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[1] Microsoft ® Encarta ® 2008.

[2] Matthew Spriggs. The Island Melanesians. Oxford: Blackwell, 1997.

[3]   Prof Dr CS Kansil, Catatan Perjalanan Wisata di negara Pasifik Selatan

[4] https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/fp.html

[5] Op cit Encarta

[6] Spriggs, Matthew. The Island Melanesians. Oxford: Blackwell, 1997.