04.01 The Pacific

Vocabulary flashcards about Pacific Art and Culture

Micronesia

Small islands, known for celestial navigation.

Polynesia

Widely dispersed islands, known for shared language and culture.

Melanesia

Known for agricultural practices, ritual-based art, and bis poles.

Australasia

Includes mainland Australia, known for Dreamtime culture.

Dreamings

Ancestral spirits that shaped the land and created life in Australasian cultures.

X-ray style

Animals painted with internal anatomy, used in hunting magic and food reverence in Australasia.

Bis poles

Poles used in funerary and male initiation rituals in Melanesia (Asmat people).

Wapepe

Navigation charts made from sticks and shells, used to teach navigation through ocean currents and wave patterns in Micronesia.

Mana

Spiritual power or sacred force in Polynesian cultures.

Tapu

Sacred laws protecting mana in Polynesian cultures.

Moai on Ahu

Monumental statues believed to represent ancestors in Polynesia (Easter Island).

Tiki

Polynesian term for statues in human form, made of stone, wood, or bone.

‘Ahu ‘ula

Feather cloaks worn by chiefs and nobility in Polynesia, symbolizing status, rank, mana, and protection by the gods.

Moko

Geometric facial tattoos in Maori culture, symbolizing identity, social rank, and ancestry.

Tapa cloth

Bark cloth art made by women using the inner bark of the paper mulberry tree.