The South Pacific Culture

Today, perhaps South Pacific is the purest part of the world that retains their ancient culture. Here, the visitors will discover the ancient dancing, tattooing, carving and music.

The South Pacific people arrived in this region for more than 7000 years ago wherein the traditions are passed on from older generations to the new ones. Therefore, the word of mouth is always preserved here. The people here have three main groups, which are Polynesians, Melanesians and Micronesians. In turn, these main groups have sub-groups. Polynesians are composed of Anuta, Aniwa, Mangareva, Hawaiian, Moriori, Austral, Aniwa, Nuguria, Rapan, Niuean, Renbelian, Sikaiana, Nukumanu, Marquesan, Futunan, Kapingamarangi, Ontong Java,Pileni, Samoan, Tahitian, Uvean, Wallisian and many more.

Melanesians are comprised of the islands of Maluku, Bismarck Archipelago, New Guinea, Rotuma, Torres Strait, Vanuatu, Santa Cruz and so forth. Micronesians are composed of the islands of Gilbert, Caroline, Mariana, Guam, Marshall, Nauru and Wake.

The traditional dance of South Pacific people tells about the arts, history, legends, myths and stories. The eyes and body of the dancers tell the story like the revered warriors, goddesses or ancestors. The traditional dance can be done by group, couple or individual. Their languages are in many forms. Even every island people have own language.

The oral tradition is the main source of passing on their customs and culture and even their stories are not written in the book but are told by mouth by memory. As long as the stories and instructions are told by mouth, the culture is maintained by each generation for the next one. Therefore, rituals, arts, ceremonies and other forms of culture are treasured and shared with other generations and even to the outsiders.