Deck 36: Oceania Before 1980

Question 1

In Asmat society personal energy and spiritual power can be acquired through which of the following activities?

A) Ceremonial rituals performed in the men's house
B) Wearing Tatanua masks
C) Yam cultivation
D) Headhunting

Answer 1

D

Question 2

Aside from serving as instruments of communication, what other function did the Iatmul slit-gongs have?

A) They represented light musical presentations.
B) They represented sounds from nature.
C) They represented voices of the ancestral spirits.
D) They represented voices of the gods.

Answer 2

C

Question 3

The Trobriand Islanders show great skill in carving. Which of the following illustrates that skill?

A) Canoes
B) Ceremonial men's houses
C) Yam masks
D) Door lintels

Answer 3

A

Question 4

The shell-like abstract patterns found on the men's ceremonial houses of Belau refer to which of the following?

A) The rooster
B) The sun
C) The gods
D) Shell money

Question 5

In the Iatmul ceremonial men's house, the reenactment of the life and death cycle was performed in the second story of the house. Which of the following describes the reenactment?

A) Ritual dance performed in the second story
B) Clan members enter and exit the second story
C) Uninitiated girls enter and exit through the front entry
D) First wives enter and exit through the front entry

Question 6

Which of the following also describes the relatively unstratified Melanesian groups?

A) Power is vested in groups of elder men.
B) Power is vested in groups of warriors.
C) Power is vested in hereditary leaders.
D) Power is vested in hereditary persons of rank.

Question 7

How was information transmitted from one generation to the next in Pacific Island societies?

A) Verbally
B) Written manuscripts
C) Calligraphy carved on boards
D) Stone carvings

Question 8

Malanggan refers both to the festivals to honor the deceased and which of the following?

A) Yam masks
B) Storyboards
C) Objects and carvings produced for these festivals
D) Ceremony of initiation

Question 9

Women in Oceanic societies were active in creating which of the following?

A) Masks
B) Pottery
C) Relief carvings
D) Canoe prows

Question 10

The Asmat see the human body as a tree; the feet are the roots, and the arms are the branches. Based on this information, what would the human head symbolize?

A) Vines
B) Fruit
C) Rain
D) Earth

Question 11

Because of their social hierarchy, who historically owned art in Polynesia?

A) Women
B) Arnhem
C) Nobility
D) Sepik

Question 12

New Guinea is made up of which of the following countries?

A) Papua New Guinea, Papua, and West Papua
B) Bismarck Archipelago and Irian Jaya
C) New Caledonia and Papua New Guinea
D) Vanuatu and Irian Jaya

Question 13

The ceremonial men's house of the Iatmul in Papua New Guinea is associated with which of the following?

A) Praying mantis
B) Headhunting
C) Female ancestor
D) Yam cultivation

Question 14

The Dilukai figure found on the bai of Belau serves as a reminder to women to conduct themselves decorously. It also symbolizes another aspect of female power. Which of the following is that female power?

A) Wantonness
B) Procreation
C) Protection
D) Civility

Question 15

Which of the following groups would NOT allow women entry into the ceremonial men's house?

A) Iatmul, Papua New Guinea
B) Belau, Micronesia
C) Maori, New Zealand
D) Hawaiians, Hawaii

Question 16

Bisj poles serve as pledges to avenge a relative's death; many of the animal representations that decorate the poles are related to headhunting. Which of the following animals might be represented?

A) Shark
B) Dog
C) Flying fox
D) Cat

Question 17

The Asmat have a rich visual vocabulary for symbols. They consider the female praying mantis to represent which the following meanings in their art?

A) Fertility
B) Female power
C) Family
D) Headhunting/cannibalism

Question 18

Abelam culture of Papua New Guinea revolves around which of the following?

A) Pigs
B) Headhunting
C) The sea
D) Yams

Question 19

Colonization of the Pacific Islands reached its zenith during which century?

A) 20th century
B) 16th century
C) 19th century
D) 18th century

Question 20

In Oceanic societies, men derived political authority by excluding women from participating in rituals and certain object-making endeavors. Women were rarely allowed to produce images that had religious or spiritual powers or that conferred status on their users. Which of the following would account for this exclusion?

A) Men perceived the difference in the innate power of women.
B) Traditional oral history disallowed women.
C) The oral tradition prohibited women from participating.
D) Only men were strong enough to work with the hard materials.

Question 21

Which date range have researchers assigned to the earliest Australian sites?

A) 3,000 or more years
B) 40,000 or more years
C) 100,000 or more years
D) 500,000 or more years

Question 22

Figure carvings on a Maori meetinghouse represent which of the following?

A) Navigation charts
B) Real and mythological ancestors
C) Landscapes
D) Events

Question 23

The last islands of Oceania to be colonized (pre-European contact) were which of the following?

A) Melanesia
B) Polynesia
C) Micronesia
D) Australia

Question 24

The moai serve as silent sentinels on stone platforms, which were burial sites or were used for religious ceremonies. Based on this, which of the following would the moai depict?

A) Sacred earth
B) The gods
C) Ancestral chiefs
D) Disembarkation sites of the ancestors

Question 25

Which of the following is a control mechanism used on Belau (Pelau) warning women to stay away from the ocean and the bai?

A) Blellek
B) Dilukai
C) Kuka'ilimoku
D) Kamehameha

Question 26

What was the purpose of tattoo?

Question 27

Dynamic forms covered with intricate curvilinear designs are most typical of which of the following peoples?

A) Maori
B) Hawaiians
C) Arnhem Land aborigines
D) Rapa Nui people

Question 28

The Hevehe cycle of the Elema from Papua New Guinea reinforces the cultural and economic relations and social structure of the community. Which of the following would be the dominant authority in the society?

A) Warrior caste
B) Elder males
C) Elder females
D) Chieftains

Question 29

Malanggan rites are mortuary festivals. Which of the following explains the purpose of these rites?

A) To facilitate the soul's transition from the world of the living to the realm of the dead
B) To celebrate the birth of the chief's first son
C) To facilitate the construction of the men's house
D) To facilitate the first hunt of the season

Question 30

The word tattoo is of what origin?

A) Polynesian
B) Melanesian
C) Micronesian
D) Australian

Question 31

The Maori meetinghouse is filled with ancestors who are a very potent force. Which of the following describes the conceptualization of the meetinghouse itself?

A) It is the great goddess.
B) It is the first ancestor.
C) It is body of an ancestor.
D) It is the great Maori.

Question 32

The concept of Dreamings is associated with the natives of which country?

A) New Guinea
B) Australia
C) New Ireland
D) Irian Jaya
E) Polynesia

Question 33

Which of the following Polynesian groups is primarily responsible for the major art form of barkcloth weaving and decorating? a
Uninitiated boys
B) Women
C) Uninitiated teenagers
D) Men

Question 34

What is one possible explanation for the eradication of tattooing in Polynesia?

A) Practice lost favor when metal needles were introduced
B) Designs became stale
C) Practice lost favor when European sailors wanted tattoos
D) Missionary zeal worked to eradicate tattooing

Question 35

Where is Arnhem Land?

A) Central Australia
B) Hawaii
C) Irian jaya
D) Northern Australia

Question 36

Storyboards (Belau) relate to which of the following?

A) Important events
B) Wars
C) Religious practices
D) Songs

Question 37

What does an Asmat bisj pole represent?

Question 38

What is mana?

A) Shell money
B) Women's power
C) Spiritual power
D) Men's power

Question 39

For the Asmat headhunting was a way of maintaining a balance of which of the following?

A) Political power
B) Family power
C) Jurisdiction
D) Spiritual power

Question 40

Tatanua masks are part of the Malanggan mortuary ceremonies. Which of the following describes the function of tatanua masks?

A) They represent spirits of the great ancestors.
B) They represent spirits of Malanggan.
C) They represent spirits of specific deceased people.
D) They represent spirits of clan elders.

Question 41

Briefly describe Polynesian societies.

Question 42

What did Dreamings mean for the Australian Aborigines, and what effect did it have on their art?

Question 43

How does the praying mantis reflect Asmat figural symbolism?

Question 44

How did the Hevehe cycle assist the Elema in their society?

Question 45

Briefly describe the people of Micronesia.

Question 46

What is the meaning of the Maori barge boards (the angled boards outlining the house gables)?

Question 47

Briefly describe Melanesian societies.

Question 48

How does the yam of the Abelam people reflect Abelam identity?

Question 49

How do the feather cloaks of Hawaii reflect its hierarchical society?

Question 50

The Iatmul men's house represents what function to the community?

Question 51

How did the Iatmul men's house control the society?

Question 52

Who is a "Big Man" in Melanesian society?

Question 53

What is Kula?

Question 54

Why is the tatanua mask important to the Malanggan mortuary ceremonies?

Question 55

How does the Hawaiian war god Kuka'ilimoku reflect the political and social environment of Hawaii?

Question 56

How does Dilukai (Belau, Caroline Islands) celebrate woman's power?

Question 57

What are storyboards, and how do they relate to Belau art?

Question 58

What is X-ray style, and who uses it?

Question 59

Who was Jules Sébastien César Dumont d'Urville, and how did he affect the study of Oceania?

Question 60

Explain the concept of the life force in Oceanic cultures and how it affects the art forms. Use examples to support your essay.

Question 61

What does this feather head god have in common with the Hawaiian full-length wooden gods?

Question 62

Compare the thematic relevance of this statue with that of the Rarotonga staff god .

Question 63

Describe the development of Oceanic art in the 20th century. How has it evolved? What effect did the function of the objects have on the form? How do they differ from group to group, and how are they similar? Use specific examples to support your essay.

Question 64

How do these images represent status?

Question 65

Contrast Micronesian life and art imagery with Polynesian life and art imagery. How do they reflect their respective environments and societies? Use examples to support your essay.

Question 66

How do these works identify their respective cultures?

Question 67

How do these images differ in functionality?

Question 68

How do these images represent power within their respective communities and cultures?

Question 69

What was the purpose of these figures?

Question 70

How are these works of art related?

Question 71

How did these images represent their respective communities and cultures?

Question 72

Contrast the art of tattoo as a symbol designating status and rank in the Polynesian groups of the Marquesas and the Maori. Use specific examples to support your essay.

Question 73

Compare and contrast Asmat society with Maori society. Consider the social order within each group. How did the visual imagery of each group reflect that social order? Use examples to support your essay.

Question 74

Describe the Asmat universe. How do their depictions reflect their respective society and philosophy? How has it changed in the last half of the 20th century? Use examples to support your essay.

Question 75

How did the landscape of Australia affect the creative universe of the Aborigines? Use examples to support your essay.

Question 76

Compare and contrast the Malanggan rites with the Asmat ancestor pole rites. Use examples to support your essay.

Question 77

How did these images represent their cultures?

Question 78

Contrast these two images; what do they represent?

Question 79

What do these images signify?

Question 80

How do the architectural elements of a Maori men's meetinghouse express Maori life views? Include the political and social interchange in your essay.