Have you ever seen a blond-haired African-American?
The black islanders who migrated to the south Pacific thousands of years ago are known as Melanesians. The ancestors of the present-day Papuans were probably the first people to live on the collection of islands that is now known as Melanesia. They are a section of Oceania that extends from the Pacific Ocean’s western shore to the Arafura Sea and then eastward to Fiji. The region is made up of Vanuatu, the Solomon Islands, Fiji, and Papua New Guinea. Thus, indigenous Melanesian people are typically split into two main groups based on differences in genetic makeup, culture, or language, such as Papuan- and Austronesian-speaking communities.
The Solomon Islands’ Melanesian population is the center of attention due to their dark skin tone and golden hair. As to how they acquired their blonde hair, there are several theories, ranging from sun and salt bleaching to heavy fish eating to genetic inheritance through mixed breeding with the Americans/Europeans who founded the island.
Blonde Hair is Frequently Found in Melanasia
In Melanesia, where Melanesians of various islands (along with some indigenous Australians) are one of the only groups with blond hair who are not derived from Europeans, blond hair evolved independently.
In native communities outside of Europe and North Africa, it is therefore uncommon. Blond hair is more prevalent in children than in adults, and as in Europe and some parts of Asia, it tends to darken as a person ages. This has been linked to an allele of TYRP1 that is specific to these people and is not the same gene that causes blond hair in Europeans.
The Melanesians’ Diversification and Differentiation
Studies have revealed a great degree of genetic variation and divergence among the populations of the Melanesian islands, with the peoples being distinguishable not only by the islands themselves but also by their languages, topographies, and sizes. Following the recent arrival of Polynesian ancestors on the islands, as well as during the tens of thousands of years following first settlement, this diversity emerged. Particularly, it was discovered that Papuan-speaking communities were the most distinct, whereas Austronesian-speaking tribes along the coasts were most intermingled.
As more Homo erectus races or sub-species have been found since the late 20th century, more DNA analysis has changed the course of research. Furthermore, the evidence from Melanesia indicates that they may have had a presence in southeast Asia, where the ancestors of the Melanesians later emerged.
Methods used by Melanesians
In contrast to the Malay and Javanese people in the western portion of the archipelago, who primarily practice Islam, the Melanesians living in eastern Indonesia predominantly practice Christianity. Prior to contact with Europeans, the indigenous Melanesian people engaged in cannibalism, head hunting, kidnapping, and enslavement similar to the Asmat tribe. However, the community is now predominately Christian. Some people still live in rural areas, nevertheless.
Even though the pre-history of the majority of island Melanesia has not been completely documented, evidence suggests that the cultural, linguistic, and political fragmentation that existed at the time of European arrival—with a half-dozen languages and cultures frequently represented on a single island—was at least partially the result of transformation that had taken place during the previous 2,000 years. However, it appears that throughout this time, hierarchical governmental institutions and related trade networks collapsed and that linguistic or dialectal divisions become more pronounced.
The indigenous peoples of Melanesia have assimilated into the global economic system as a result of the pressures of Christianization and Westernization; in some regions, this system has been in place for more than a century. Even the most distant areas had changed and become accessible by the early 21st century. Additionally, different Christian sects and even specific missionaries have shown varying degrees of understanding of and familiarity with regional languages and traditions. Together, colonial rule and the spread of missions led to the abolition of numerous cultural practices, some of which were violent and exploitative while others were highly complex and rich.
Elites are becoming more and more unified by a shared (Westernized and Local) culture as well as political and economic goals that cut through linguistic, cultural, and geographic boundaries. Because of this, ancient rituals (such kastom) and “the Melanesian way” (their original way of life) have come to dominate cultural nationalist beliefs. The preservation or revival of antiquated transaction systems is a manifestation of the emphasis on traditional culture as a source of identity. Art festivals, cultural institutions, and kastom ideas have helped to restore traditional cultural elements including ceremonial trade, dance and song, and oral traditions that had been long suppressed by more orthodox and missionary strains of Christianity.
