Cultural study of Polynesia and Maori culture.

1. Pacific Island Art:
Polynesia
Where Sharks Walk on Land

3. Bikini

4. 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.

5. View From Western
Culture

6. Polynesian Creation Myth: Ranginui,
the Sky Father, and Papatuanuku, the
Earth Mother

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8. 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

10. Outrigger Canoe

11. 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 Taumako
Island in the Solomon Islands.

12. Polynesian Navigation
Device

13. 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.

15. The Maori People
A Patriarchal Society
Skilled Navigators and Seafaring Traders
Culture deeply entrenched beliefs and connection to their ancestors.
Warrior Culture.

16. 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

17. Combs similar to these ones can
still be found in New Zealand.

18. 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

19. MANA
The 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

20. Wood Carving
Maori 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.

21. Clubs, Capes and Tattoos

22. Warrior Culture
The object of war
was often not to kill
the opposition by to
humiliate them or
intimidate them. In
the Heirarchal
society of Hawaii,
degrading others
advanced one’s own
status.
Headresses and
Cloaks were worn
into battle as well as
to display status.

23. 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 headresses
protected 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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