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Western Polynesia

About 1000 BC, experienced and intrepid mariners travelled 700 marine miles from the main Melanesian islands to colonise Western Polynesia, a cultural area made up of several archipelagos: Fiji, Tonga, Western Samoa, American Samoa, Niue, Wallis and Futuna. Intense cultural exchange followed, particularly between Fiji, Tonga and Samoa, which led to certain cultural similarities.

Pottery from the Fiji Island

For the last 3,000 years, women from the kai wai (sea people) communities of the Fiji Islands have been making pots for cooking, storage and exchange. Their technique consists in holding a stone against the inside of the pot while flattening the outside with a wooden paddle (tata). The vessels are decorated with a shell and left to dry in the sun before being baked in an open fire, and then rubbed with resin from the dakua tree to make them watertight.

This practice declined after the Second World War, until it served only the tourist market. Since the 1980s there has been a revival of the tradition.