TllK Ai;.ST[?ALIAN .AIUSEUM MAGAZINE. 



Native Races of The Mid-Pacific. 



By W. W. Thorpe. 



An exhibit recently installed in the 

 Melanesian Room, is a series of plaster 

 facial masks of the natives of the Paci- 

 fic, taken and coloured from life. 



The three main groups of these 

 peoples are the Polynesians, Micrones- 

 ians and Papuasians, the latter, for con- 

 venience, being separated into three sub- 

 divisions, namely: The Melanesians pro- 

 per. The Papuo-Melanesians. and the 

 Papuans. 



THE POLYNESIANS. 



These people have often been referred 

 to as "The White Race of the Pacific." 

 because of Caucasie traits in their per- 

 sonal appearance and conduct. For-' 

 merly they were scattered over a very 

 wide area, but are now considerably re- 

 duced in numbers, and in some islands 

 almost extinct. They ranged over a 

 very huge triangular region, apex at tka 

 Hawaiian Islands in the north-east, and 

 New Zealand forming the south-west 

 corner, while their most easterly limit 

 has been fixed at Rapanui or Easter Is- 

 land. Within this triangle lie the El- 

 lice, Phoenix. Navigator, Cook, Austral, 

 and Marquesas Islands, and other smal- 

 ler archipelagos. Some islands coming 

 more within the geographical area of 

 Melanesia are Polynesian in population, 

 i.e., Ongtong Java (Lord Howe's 

 Group), and Rennell Island in the 

 Solomon Group. 



The Polynesians entered the Pacific 

 at some time subsequent to the Melanes- 

 ians. In all probability they came 

 down from the Malay Peninsula, 

 through Java and the East Indies, to 

 the Solomons and adjacent groups, but 

 finding them already occupied by the 

 Melanesians, and unable to settle there, 

 they passed on until islands were dis- 

 covered either to be uninhabited, or with 

 a limited population, which they either 

 destroyed or with whom they mingled. 

 Their point of contact with the fixed 

 Melanesian population seems to have 

 been the Fijian Group. 



The Polynesians are heavily built and 

 well-proportioned. Their height fully 



e(jualling that of the European. Apart 

 from the nose being jirtificially flattened, 

 the features in the main are attractive. 

 The skin is dark brown with an olive 

 tinge. These tints are faithfully por- 

 trayed in the Hawaiian Group already 

 set out in the Museum. The hair is 

 also vei-y dark brown, sometimes black, 

 and wavy, but not in any way resem- 

 bling the texture of the Papuan or 

 Melanesian, or the' straight hair of the 

 Malay. The head is of peculiar shape 

 in that it is broad, sloping high from 

 the forehead, and flattened at the back. 



The typical Polynesian is open and 

 candid, unsuspicious, and devoid of 

 treachery, cheerful and good-natured. 

 He is a good fighter and an undaunted 

 navigator. Cleanliness and a taste for 

 neatness are characteristic of these 

 people. The language is euphonious, 

 and they possess an abundance of songs 

 and traditions which have been handed 

 down through many generations. 



The Polynesian constructs a wooden 

 dwelling of a very substantial nature, 

 and the detail of structure is often re- 

 markable. The women excel in the 

 manufacture of a cloth commonly known 

 as tapa, a fabric prepared from beaten 

 bark and tastefully decorated with na- 

 tive dyes and stains. This material is 

 often beaten to a delicate thinness and 

 several pieces are joined together, form- 

 ing huge rolls up to one hundred feet 

 in length. Tapa in course of manufac- 

 ture forms part of the Hawaiian tab- 

 leau, while a large sheet may be seen 

 as a background to the Fijian exhibits 

 in the wall eases. 



It is in wood carving that one sees 

 Polynesian art at its best. We have 

 only to point to the productions of the 

 Maories and Marquesans in support of 

 this statement. On the other hand these 

 people made no pottery, and, in its 

 absence, wooden vessels and gourds were 

 used as receptacles. Being a seafaring 

 people, special efforts were expended in 

 canoe-building. These were often of 

 gi'eat size, and it took years to con- 

 struct one vessel. 



