Melanesian in a sentence

Austronesian peoples added to the native Melanesian population around 2000 BCE. citation Melanesian features are strongest in the islands of Kei and Aru and amongst the interior people of Seram and Buru islands.

The Melanesian nations, which have been courted by China and the US for security and economic ties in the strategic South Pacific, will instead send ministers to the 18-member bloc meeting opening in Rarotonga, Cook Islands, on Monday.

They are made up of many islands and are predominantly Melanesian, but they also have cultural groups from the other two Pacific Islander regions spread throughout them.

When he arrived, there were reportedly some 60,000 Kanaks, the indigenous Melanesian inhabitants of the island, living there.

Ethnically Melanesian, most Papuans are Christians who have few cultural links to Muslim-majority Indonesia.

When his DNA tests came back from the laboratory, he was surprised to find he’s made up of 2 per cent Melanesian as well as 15 per cent Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander.

The researchers suggest the added DNA must have provided some benefit for it to remain in the Melanesian for so long.

Aspects of Fijian culture are similar to the Melanesian culture of the western Pacific but have a stronger connection to the older Polynesian cultures.

Essentially combining a typically Melanesian grammar with a mostly English vocabulary, Bislama is the only language that can be understood and spoken by the majority of Vanuatu's population as a second language.

Icon of the Melanesian Brotherhood Martyrs at Canterbury Cathedral (Anglican Communion) A modern metal icon of St. Nicholas by the Bulgarian artist Georgi 'Chapa' Chapkanov.

In 1526–1527 the Portuguese explorer Jorge de Menezes accidentally came upon the principal island and is credited with naming it "Papua", after a Malay word for the frizzled quality of Melanesian people's hair.

In 1867, the headquarters of the Melanesian Mission of the Church of England was established on the island.

In return for Vanuatu's lifting of the biscuit ban on 25 October, the Fijian government announced on 7 December that it was lifting its kava ban for the sake of freer trade among the members of the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG).

In the centre, more traditional Melanesian cultural systems dominate.

It appeared that, having developed their sailing outrigger canoes, the Polynesian ancestors migrated from East Asia, moved through the Melanesian area quickly on their way, and kept going to eastern areas, where they settled.

It was also claimed that this system was more consistent with the Melanesian style of government, however this was quickly undermined by opposition to the 1970 constitution and the committee system by elected members of the council.

Later added to this Austronesian-Melanesian mix were Indian, Arab, Chinese, Portuguese and Dutch descent.

On 27 August, Tavola announced that following negotiations at the Melanesian Spearhead Group meeting in Papua New Guinea, he expected the Vanuatu government to lift the biscuit ban soon.

The belief in a mythical messianic figure named John Frum was the basis for an indigenous cargo cult (a movement attempting to obtain industrial goods through magic) promising Melanesian deliverance.

The initial Micronesian population, which remains the overwhelming majority today, was visited by Polynesian and Melanesian invaders before the first European sailors visited the islands in the 17th century.