Melanesians
Girls from Vanuatu.
|
|
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| (+12,000,000) | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
|
Indonesia New Guinea Australia Solomon Islands Fiji Vanuatu New Caledonia |
|
| Languages | |
| Melanesian languages | |
| Religion | |
| Christianity (predominantly) | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Moluccans, Papuans |
Melanesians are the dominant inhabitants of Melanesia. Most speak one of the many Papuan languages, though a few groups such as Moluccans, the Motu and Fijians speak Austronesian languages. Melanesians occupy islands from Eastern Indonesia to as far east as the islands of Vanuatu and Fiji.
Early European explorers noted the physical differences among groups of Pacific Islanders. In 1756 Charles de Brosses theorized that there was an 'old black race' in the Pacific who were conquered or defeated by the peoples of what is now called Polynesia, whom he distinguished as having lighter skin. By 1825 Jean Baptiste Bory de Saint-Vincent developed a more elaborate, 15-race model of human diversity. He described the inhabitants of modern-day Melanesia as Mélaniens, a distinct racial group from the Australian and Neptunian (i.e. Polynesian) races surrounding them.
In 1832 Dumont D'Urville expanded and simplified much of this earlier work. He classified the peoples of Oceania into four racial groups: Malaysians, Polynesians, Micronesians, and Melanesians. D'Urville's model differed from that of Bory de Saint-Vincent in referring to 'Melanesians' rather than 'Mélaniens.'
Bory de Saint-Vincent had distinguished Mélaniens from the indigenous Australians. Dumont D'Urville combined the two peoples into one group. Based on his research, Jonathan Friedlaender states, "The first settlers of Australia, New Guinea, and the large islands just to the east arrived between 50,000 and 30,000 years ago, when Neanderthals still roamed Europe." The original inhabitants of the group of islands now named Melanesia were likely the ancestors of the present-day Papuan-speaking people. Migrating from Southeast Asia, they appear to have occupied these islands as far east as the main islands in the Solomon Islands, including Makira and possibly the smaller islands farther to the east.
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Wikipedia