Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 16.djvu/258

* POLYNESIANS. 220 POLYNESIANS. the C'aiicasio (livisimi. « Im |Hi>.--ilily in llic Xeo- litliic ppiiod iiiijiiHtcd frmn tlif A^siatic inainland. In till' bist u-sagi' the tiiiii Polynesian may be considered to denote the section of the brown raee inhabiting the innumeialilc islands of Micro- nesia. Polynesia proper, and parts of Melanesia, and in a special and particular sense the natives of the islands of the eastern Pacific, Hawaii, Ell ice, Samoa, Tonga, Hervey, Society, Low, Marquesas, and minor groups, together with those of New Zealand. Physically the Polynesians are a prepossessing race,"being'tall. syMinietrically built, and hand- some in form and feature — indeed. Dr. Mctiee tells us that "the Samoiin excelled the Greek in bodily vigor and statuesque beauty." The Jlaori of New Zealand is a good example of this race. The so-called Micninesians differ but little in physical type from the I'olyncsians of the eastern Pacific. The color of the Polynesians varies from dark brown to almost while, while tlu'ir features are often rejiMrted as having a European cast, a fact which has been nuule the most of by the advocates of the Caucasian theory. The hair is dark, smooth, and straight, with here and there a tendency to curliness or crispiness, indicative perhai)s of a strain of Papuan blood. Their naiveK', sensitiveness, hospitality, courage in bat- tle (compare the ilaoris). sensuality (e.g. Tahi- tians), skill in boat-building and navigation (Tongans and Samoans. in particular), love of outdoor games, swimming (Maoris, llawaiians), eloquence in song and story, and otiier prominent qualities have been emphasized by dilTerent writers and travelers. The words tulloo and taboo, which have come into English from Poly- nesian languages, commemorate a custom and an institution widespread anumg them. The chief industries of the Polynesians at the time of the coming of the Eur«peans were fishing, agriculture, and the exploitation of vegetable substances and fibres for clothing and ornament, art in wood, shell, etc.. and the activities con- nected with l>oat-building and navigation. In certain parts of the Polynesian domain cooking wa.s almost a fine art. Cannibalism was not infrequent. The great feasts of the Polynesians were an important factor in their social activi- ties. Among characteristic expressions of Poly- nesian art and industry may be mentioned cocoa- fibre sennit (for wrapping axe-handles), the bamboo-knife. Ihc ornamental and symbolic axes of the Hervey Islands, etc., the double canoe and the outrigger, the mat sail, laixi or bark cloth, feather- work, the stone tigures (often of gigantic size), platforms, and edifices of Easter Island, Tonga, the Carolines, etc. — probably more numer- ous and occirring in more diverse regions of Polynesia than is generally believed — which have unnecessarily been looked u)ion by some writers as evidences of a great prc-l'olynesian civiliza- tion, or attributed to Hindu or Snuth .American culture-hearers. The bamlxio or stick maps of the Marshall Islanders and the stone ground maps of other places deserve to be noted, and so, too, the 'temples' and fortifications of a number of tribes, particularlv the Maori pah. Rock-sculp- tures exist in many places, and the celebrated 'picture-writing' of Easter Island (q.v. ) has re- ceived much attention from ethnologists. The dance and secret societies, profane and religioiis. have attained great vogue and develop- ment in Polynesia, where professional musicians. singers, poets, and literary association have abounded. The lasciviois side of the Polynesian character is represented by the Indti-liiiUt dance of Hawaii and the arcoi societies of Tahiti. The 'fire-walk' ceremony still survives, especially in Taliiti. The marriage sy.stems of the Polyne- sians varied at diflerent times and places, from monogamy to polygamy, with all the grades between. A peculiar practice of the Hawaiians gave rise to L. H. Morgan's recognition of the 'Punaluan family' as one of the stages in luniiau social progress. (See Polyandry.) Much of the present sexual immorality of the Polynesians is due to contact with the v.hites. In the matter of government and social or- ganization, Polynesian peoples present all grades from democracy of an almost pure type to what might well be termed absolute and limited monarchies. C1ver a considerable pcu'tion of Polynesia the division into nobles and common ))Cople occurred as in mediaeval Europe. In spite of the fearful ravages of vices and <lispases in- troduced by the Euri)peans. the decreases due to the monopoly by the white man of the best land, etc., and other related causes, which in many cases of the island groups have practically de- ])opulated some and decimated others, an increase of population is reported from certain sections both of English and Erench Polynesia. All over the Polynesian area languages show (he conniion origin from one parent stock, i)rac- tically identical with tlic jiarent stock of the ilalayan tongues, and proving a Malayo-Polyne- sian iniity. The dialectic variations in Polyne- sian languages are to a large extent phonetic. The mythology, folk-lore, and ])rimitive j)oetry of the various Polynesian peoples is rich «nd imaginative, cosmogonic tales and ancestor- myths, ])rinntive epics and hero-stories being ])articularly abundant. Love-songs and political orations were extensively cultivated, while the luircpo, or professiomil ])oct, was f(UMi(l in many of the larger groups. In its poetical and literary ex|iression the Polynesian mind shows a combina- tion of naivete and metaphysics which is very curious. Facts of language, mythology', art, general culture, and distribution of food-jilants point to the peopling of the Polynesian area from the east to the west, with the Samoan group as the chief centre of dispersion. Tlicir distribution over the vast extent of the Pacific was made possil)le by the seaworthiness and size of their vessels and their skill as navigators. They are comparatively recent intruders into an area that is it.self geologically recent. Brinton (1H!I0) places the se])a ration of the Polynesian branch from the Malay at "aboit the beginning of our era." According to Horatio Hale, the Marqiiesas Islands were peopled somewhat less than '2000 years ago, the Hawaiian grouj) in the seventh century a.m., Karotonga and the (Jambier Islands in the thirteenth, and New Zealand in the fifteenth century, while the colonization of some of the other islands was actively going on in the time of Cook — indeed, some of the islands of the Low Archipelago seem not to have been inhabited even in the middle of the eighteenth century. The initial luiint of departure of the Polynesians from the Malay area is said to have been the island of Burn. The culture of the Polynesians is more or less intimately connected with the food- products o£ the Pacific islands — the pig, the hen.