Oceanic Cultures (Aug 23) Flashcards
Wild Pacific Video “Anuta”
- When water to choppy Anita men float on top of water and fish by using octopus tentacles as bait and hand pulling them up on lines and killing them by biting their heads
- 300 people so small everyone works together to live/survive
- Almost whole island for cultivation of taro and breadfruit
- Isolation shaped island because too far away to trade with other islands
- Always lived completely within their resources
- Without boats they would not be able to fish or survive
- Weaved bad and visors and roofs made of palm
- Wood boats
- Plastic line and tarps for sails
- Metal fish hooks and coconut scrapers
- Wack water during low tide pools to draw out small fish and put face in puddle and bite heads
Types of fishing (food)
- Fishing by hand with hook and line
- Spears
- Nets
- Collecting mollusks from reef
Fishing by hand with hook and line
- Shell hooks and coconut bark string originally
- Use sea urchin shell or coral to break off or grind it down into fish hook shape
Nets (fishing)
Dip net
Collecting mollusks from reef (fishing)
Barnacles, snails, etc to eat when there is no tools to fish
Pearl shell (when fishing)…
Used to attract fish when fishing without bait because of shiny part that looks like food
Water so clear you can see bottom when fishing so…
Weigh snail shell with hook on it and when dropped down can see when octopus grabs it so pull on line and hook octopus
Food done by farming
- Yam
- Coconut
- Breadfruit
- Taro
- Pigs
- Citrus fruits, bananas, papayas
Yam (farming)
- Not orange one (which is from Africa) this one is white and from Asia
- Can grow to size of person
- Rely on for carbohydrates
Coconut (farming)
- Water, flesh, so can eat and drink from it
- Shred it and squeeze and make coconut cream/milk
Breadfruit (farming)
- Kinda like jackfruit inside but starchier
- Along with taro pounded into paste
Into pudding and ferment for later
Taro (farming)
- Root you eat
- Purple speckle
Citrus fruits, bananas, papayas (farming)
- Some introduced long ago and some a little bit later (papaya)
- From South America and naturalized
Cooking
- Citrus juice (fish in lemon juice)
- Earth oven roasting (smoke and cooking together)
- Boil/braise/steam in pots
- Grate or pound
- Baked puddings (coconut)
Clothing
- Cloth made from bark
- Palm frond weaving (painted)
- Fiber skirts
- Family patterns
- Jewelry (made of shells and seeds; burned seeds and used as light in house when on stick/string)
- Bag (finer and thinner material more special it is)
Cloth made from bark (clothing)
- Pound flat and press adhesive to put together and banana lead and charcoal made into stencil and pressed on it
- Smoke to make yellow
- Can be painted
- Wrapped as baby and dead with bark cloth
Come in and out of this world with it - Loin cloth
Fiber skirts (clothing)
- Fijian liku (fiber skirt) from 1875
- Very short
- Didn’t wear much else
Tools (materials used)
Shell, Coral, Stone, Wood, Bone/Teeth
Bone and Teeth as tools
- Largest source of bone was whale
- Also used human, dog, and pig bones
- Teeth usually ornaments
Different tools
- Ornaments
- Adzes w/ handles
- Shell adze
- Stone adze
- Shell coconut grater
- Stone food pounder
- Tattoo needles
- Wooden hair combs
What is a (shell) adze?
- Like an axe put on its side
- Makes shallow hole and can hollow out log with it and gently shaves
- Shell from giant clam
Housing
- Timber structure
- Woven palm/mat walls
- Mats on floor
- Grass roofs
- Some post/pillars to elevate floor
Examples of Housing
- Conical center-pole house with thatch roof
Thatch from coconut palm
Water slides down thatch’s - Oval house with open walls
- Stone pillar set for house
What limits life of houses is…
- Roofs
- Replace every 10 years and takes time
- Storm can damage roof
Transportation (Examples)
- Outrigger canoes
- Rafts (Bamboo)
- Canoes (from Anuta video hundreds of years old because not a lot of resources to make it and done so well it lasts)
Outrigger canoes
- Outrigger: Two rails with pole connecting them on side of boat and it is for stability; reduces raft (skimming surface of water to make them go faster)
- Some have platforms to haul things
Occupations (general for all Pacific Islands)
Men
- Fishing (Foraging and making all equipment for it (boats, fishing lines, etc))
- Farming (Weeding and collecting and planting)
- Working shell, wood, stone (Making tools)
Occupations (General for all Pacific Islands)
Women
- Collecting mollusks, small reef fish
- Child care
- Cooking
- Making bark cloth, mats, fiber bags, containers (household things) (Wealth for household from women craft because need it for marriage so have stockpile of things to give)
Occupations (General for all Pacific Islands)
Children
- Helping Mom/Dad/Grandparents, gathering firewood
- Respect and helping taught at young age
Kinship and Authority (General for all Pacific Islands)
- Dedication to family (Ohana)
- Respect for elders
- Decisions made by elder men or council of men (hierarchy by age) (As get older have more control, respect and influence)
- Ranked societies (Eldest in chiefly families (males and females)) (Samoan Matai chiefly title holders)
- Unranked societies (Most influential men)
