Hello!

I'm definitely going to talk too much in this because this was a wild week and I have no bandwidth for self-editing. Tl:dr at the bottom. I'm a first year 7th grade social studies teacher in the US. In about three weeks I'm going to teach my lesson on Polynesia and Oceania. I really want to do this region justice because it was never even mentioned when I was in school. My district's curriculum also sucks ass and I'm basically just writing it myself with no oversight which is legitimately a blast. I am trying to make it favor academic and native sources and not just rely on "X civilization only existed once Europeans found them". To that end, I was hoping for a little bit of guidance. Here is my plan so far;

Day 1-Just talk about the Pacific Ocean in general, size, weather conditions, winds, that sort of stuff.

Day 2-Discuss the different conditions during the ice age, leading to migration down into Taiwan and Indonesia. Use this as a lead in to introduce the Lapita culture.

**Day 3/4-**This is where we'll dive into the wayfinding and island hopping. I've found some good sources academic sources I'll distill to be appropriate for 7th graders. I'll base most of the presentation around documentaries from various expeditions including the Hōkūleʻa canoe.

Day 5-6-This is where I feel like I need the most help. I'd like to spotlight at least two cultures from the region. I'm going to talk about Māori culture and history, but I need a second culture to discuss. I don't know enough about Tahiti, Samoa, the Solomon Islands, Fiji, or any of the other Oceania countries to know exactly where to land. I like to make show off the diversity of an area. For example, with Africa we did Mali, Axum, and Great Zimbabwe to show how one continent can hold a myriad of different cultures. I really want to do that with Polynesian cultures, so I don't paint with two broad of a brush.

Also, this is just in general, what are some good sources like books, youtubers, documentaries, etc about culture and society of early Polynesians? I'm reading Sea People: The Puzzle of Polynesia and have Come on Shore and We Will Kill and Eat You All both by Christina Thompson.

​

Tl:dr: What is another distinct Polynesian cultural group in addition to the Māori that I can teach my 7th grade students about?

Where can I find good sources on early pre-European Polynesian culture?

Hi all, I'm interested in finding recipes for either traditional desserts or just your favorites from when you were a kid. So what are some of your favorite Polynesian desserts (even if you don't know how to make it 👨‍🍳), and where are they from? Thank you in advance!

It's from the book "Sea People" by Christina Thompson for which I only have the audio book so I don't know how it's spelled and I'd love to research it further. TIA.

It is called Mata Austronesia by Tuki Drake. This is a beautiful book with stunning artwork and so many great personal narratives, along with myths and legends. I was very excited to receive this book and I have been interested in learning more about the Austronesian people for the longest time. Now we get their stories in their own words which is super rare I found. Tuki Drake has done a good job in bringing these tales to the masses, and he does it with great reverence and respect, because he too is of this cultural heritage. The book does a really good job of telling so many different stories from all over the world. It really shows that there are so interesting many stories to tell! There is even an illustrated appendix with many words in different Austronesian languages being illustrated for us. Use your mata, don't let them go to waste!

P.S. I can post some images of it if y'all would like me to.

The New Zealand National Party is using Pacific Islanders in their social media - but these people don’t exist. The images were created using AI. How do we feel about this?

Recently, my dad passed away and one of our greatest memories was snorkeling and kissing stingrays. My friend is from Oahu and we went on a trip to Hawaii together, she told me that in Polynesian culture and maybe others your loved ones are reincarnated / represented by stingrays and sharks. This really resonated with me and I got a tattoo of a stingray for my dad. My artist designed it and it ended up looking extremely tribal like, and I’m aware at how delicate the situation is in Hawaii. Given the colonist history, and white people stealing from Hawaii and the culture around it I felt anxiety when I saw it on my skin. I want to be aware of everyone’s feelings, and while there is a deep connection there, I don’t want to take more away from Hawaii, it’s people, and it’s culture. I’m sure I could eventually get it covered up once it heals. I wanted to hear everyone’s opinions on this. Thank you, I know this can be a delicate subject for some.

I love learning about different cultures and Polynesian culture is one that has peaked my interest. I was wondering if y’all could please recommend some resources (books, websites, etc) that accurately portray/write about Polynesians and their culture. Thank you

Obviously the dance itself is cool, but the chanting and the intensity of the movements is some of the most inspiring shit I’ve ever seen

I saw a real mix of both styles when visiting Hawaii and wondered why some folks chose to get more traditional looking Kākau like Niho Mano (sharks teeth) while others had the modern Polynesian style with Hawaiian elements in it. Is this purely an aesthetic choice? Is this a sacred vs not sacred thing? Genuinely interested in hearing people's thoughts.

Hi! So, this is really random, but I play the Sims 4 and have the Island Living expansion (which I know is probably...not great cultural representation) and when I make families in Sulani I try to make the characters actually Polynesian and give them traditional Polynesian names and/or surnames (to be clear, I do this most of the time I'm trying to make a sim from a specific culture)-usually Hawaiian since that seems like what the world is most based on. Anyway, the websites I use to look up names typically list a lot of names of gods from the mythology of whatever culture I'm looking into as names, and they sound really cool but I'm not sure if naming your kid after a god is disrespectful in any of the cultures they're from, and I don't want to do that if it is. Also, I don't really know how else to get an answer since I don't really know how to word this in a way that would work in a search engine. Sorry, I know I'm probably overthinking this, but I'd be super grateful for an answer!

Hey everyone, I'm writing an essay accompanied by a presentation on Māori culture for one of my college classes. I've learned Polynesian culture is very similar to Māori culture and I'd like to add some areas of differences, how Māori culture has evolved, as well as a paragraph about media portrayal. I want to be respectful of your culture as I'm exploring it and the Māori subreddit won't allow me to post. Any sources or help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks :)

Someone I know made a comment about fire spinning to be appropriative and I wanted to get some perspective on it.

Greetings!

Starting in July, I'll likely be going to live in Samoa for two years (island and community tbd).

I'll be trained in the language pretty intensively for 10 weeks and then sent to assist teachers in a school while living with a local family. I'm honestly very excited to learn about culture, language, cuisine, and history, all the while networking with the locals and falling in love with Samoa as a whole. I really love learning languages and would endeavor to use the local language as often as possible.

My question is this: what are several things everybody coming to (temporarily) live in Samoa should know that you might not find in a book?

I have been obsessed with this tattoo and really wanted to get it to pay respect to such a fascinating culture, the Polynesians. However, I would like to know if anyone knows the meaning or if I can even get a Polynesian tattoo at all as a white man. I truly meaning it when I say I have no ill intentions, I simply want to show my respect for this culture. Please let me know!

I don't really know how to start this but I want to start by saying I am so very interested in Polynesian and Melanesian culture as of late. It is such a beautiful and impressive culture. I wish to visit most if not all of the islands if I can in my lifetime. I'm just so very impressed and intrigued at how a tribe of people branched off and made their lives on a bunch of islands so long ago in the vast Pacific ocean! I see why y'all are so proud of where you come from with a history like that!

I really want to ask Melanesians and Polynesians who may feel this way; are you as proud, for lack of a better term, of my culture as I am of yours? It's a weird question but I don't know how else to contextualize it. Like, I feel so strongly gravitated towards your culture and was wondering if anybody is as interested in mine. Not trying to box myself, or anyone else in, but I'm asking do Polynesians and Melanesians feel like brothers and sisters of African Americans and Africans? I just really want to strike up a conversation because I don't run into too many of y'all and I have been dying to learn more 1st hand accounts! There are not enough books out there or things that cover this culture and a lot of it is still very mysterious to me. I want to hear all of your stories, if you'd be so kind as to share them.

Hey, I didn't forget about Micronesians either, so if any of y'all are in here and want to strike up conversation as well, please feel free to do so!

Without getting too personal, my mother took me from my father (Native Hawaiian) when I was very young when she found out that he wanted to return home and take me with him (they met while he lived in California for a short time). I guess it got pretty nasty but eventually he let my mother and her side of the family take custody of me and he went back to the island and I never knew anything about him other than his name.

I tried with no success to locate him once I turned 21 and then again around the time I turned 30. My second search was upsetting as I was able to find information about a man with my fathers name and correct age had passed away in the correct area.

I just want to know where I come from but am I basically out of luck with nothing else to go on?

When I was younger I remember seeing a photo of mom & dad together and his tribal tattoos were visible - if I were able to locate this lost photograph what information could I find from his tattoos?

I apologize if this is the wrong place but I don’t know where else to search or where to ask these questions. Thank you for your help

Edit: just in case it helps any, dad supposedly was from the Lihu’e area. My last was changed to my mothers last name from “Kealamakia” which was my fathers.

Hello! I’m really excited to be visiting Samoa next week for work. I’ve asked our host what clothing expectations are, and he said to dress modestly. My question, are there any good reference photos or suggestions on where I can look to see what sort of items women wear there? It seems tank top and shorts is out, but I’m also from a climate where I’m used to the cold, so I want to be sure I can stay cool 😅

I’d love any suggestions for links or any terms I can search for to help me bring clothes that’ll blend in better!

This has been floating around Twitter (which I am not surprised) and the comments are horrific. Although there may be statistically ‘true’, I believe this is not an honest reflection of the world as we see that everyone is capable and competent at anything so long as they try and put there efforts into their goals

Hello all! I have been in a relationship with a Samoan girl for the past year, and she recently posted a song called “Taute” by RSA Band. I was looking for a translation because the song is beautiful, but i couldn’t find a reliable translation. I was wondering if there was anyone here that could help me?

Hi all, I have a couple questions. I’ve looked on Google and Wikipedia, but l wanted to make sure from real people who are a part of Polynesian culture so that I can be as respectful as possible. I am white (ashkenazi Jewish) American and I’m trying to educate myself on other cultures so that I can be a better ally. I have two roommates; one is half Samoan but grew up in America and one is white. My white roommate owns a few tiki themed mugs, and I wasn’t sure if that was appropriation. To me it seems like the result of the historical co-opting of Polynesian culture for the sake of consumerism. I spent this afternoon reading about what the word tiki means, about the varying myths of Tiki the first man, and about the origins and criticisms of American “tiki culture” as a fad rooted in colonialism and imperialism. Prior to today, I was aware of the problem in general, but I hadn’t really taken the time to learn about the specifics. I know it’s just the tip of the iceberg, but it’s a start. Anyways, I guess my first question is this: is it disrespectful for me as a white person to drink from a mug meant to look like a tiki? And a related question: many years ago my aunt bought a tiki mask as a gift for my brother when she was traveling, but I can’t even guess what island it was from because it was so long ago. (I’ll ask next time I see her.) In your opinion, is it cultural appropriation and/or disrespectful for a white person such as myself or my brother to display the mask on a bedroom wall? I cannot participate in this closed culture, but I would still like to learn about it and appreciate it if possible. I’d like to hear as many perspectives as possible on this. If it is harmful to even one person, I do not want to do it. Finally, any suggestions for how I (a person who doesn’t have much money) can support and boost the voices of Polynesian people? Any responses would be greatly appreciated. (I’m keeping in mind that taking the time and energy to educate people can be a burden that white people tend to expect or take for granted from minority groups, which is a concept that I’m not entirely foreign to as a nonbinary autistic, although I’ve never experienced it in this particular way.)

I know the kapu system was abolished a long time ago, so my question is, is Hawaiian religion still practiced today? If so, is it a revival, or is it inherited by people who existed before the kapu system was abolished?