Melanesians
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Melanesians are the predominant and Indigenous inhabitants of Melanesia, in an area stretching from New Guinea to the Fiji Islands. Most speak one of the many languages of the Austronesian language fa
Biak people in Southwest Papua, Indonesia
A Fijian mountain warrior, photograph by Francis Herbert Dufty, 1870s.
Girls from Vanuatu
Polynesians
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Polynesians are an ethnolinguistic group comprising closely related ethnic groups native to Polynesia, which encompasses the islands within the Polynesian Triangle in the Pacific Ocean. They trace the
Māori people in the North Island, New Zealand
1827 depiction of Tahitian pahi double-hulled war canoes
A portrait of Māori man, by Gottfried Lindauer.
Kava ('ava) makers (aumaga) of Samoa. A woman seated between two men with the round tanoa (or laulau) wooden bowl in front. Standing is a third man, distributor of the 'ava, holding the coconut shell cup (tauau) used for distributing the beverage.