Britannica
Sources used in this answer
Where was weaving practiced in Oceania?
Created from Britannica articles
using AI.
AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
Oceanic art and architecture
An Aboriginal Australian decorating a tightly woven dilly bag with white, yellow, and ochre (red) paints, Northern Territory, Australia, 1948.
In the context of Oceanic visual arts, weaving was a specialized practice limited to specific regions. It was primarily practiced in the following areas:
- The Caroline Islands (excluding Palau)
- Polynesian outliers located east of the Solomon Islands
- Parts of the Santa Cruz Islands
- Parts of Vanuatu
- The Saint Matthias Group (northwest of New Ireland)
- A few locations on the northern coast of Indonesian New Guinea1
In these regions, weavers utilized simple backstrap looms to work with strips of banana fibre rather than spun yarn or thread. While weaving was a woman's craft in the Caroline and Saint Matthias islands, it was performed by men in the other listed areas. Additionally, Maori women in New Zealand employed a form of "finger weaving," similar to net making, to create textiles from flax fibres. It is important to distinguish this from the widespread practice of plaiting, which was used throughout Oceania to create items such as mats, baskets, and ceremonial objects.12