Region / World History
Oceania
Explore 10 selected events from Oceania across the six reading eras, with dates, complete stories, representative locations and bibliographies.
3500–801 BCE
Early Civilizations
800 BCE–499 CE
Classical World
500–1399 CE
Interwoven Worlds
Nan Madol: A Stone-Built Center in the Pacific Islands
Communities along the coast of Pohnpei transported basalt to build artificial islands and ceremonial structures, revealing complex political and religious organization in Micronesia.
Polynesian Voyagers Reach Aotearoa
Eastern Polynesian voyagers reached Aotearoa, where Māori ancestors established communities in a new climate and ecological environment.
Rapa Nui: Moai and Ceremonial Landscapes
Island communities carved monumental statues and built ceremonial platforms, giving ancestral memory a visible place in the landscape.
1400–1749 CE
Global Encounters
Nan Madol: A Stone-Built Center in the Pacific Islands
Communities along the coast of Pohnpei transported basalt to build artificial islands and ceremonial structures, revealing complex political and religious organization in Micronesia.
Rapa Nui: Moai and Ceremonial Landscapes
Island communities carved monumental statues and built ceremonial platforms, giving ancestral memory a visible place in the landscape.
1750–1913 CE
Age of Revolutions
The Treaty of Waitangi and Disputes over Māori Sovereignty
British representatives and Māori chiefs signed a treaty whose Māori and English texts expressed authority differently, becoming an important basis for debates over colonial government and rights.
Women in New Zealand Win the Parliamentary Vote
Sustained petitioning helped secure an electoral law in New Zealand, making it the first self-governing country to grant women the right to vote in parliamentary elections.
Australian Federation: Six Colonies Form a Nation
Six British colonies formed the Commonwealth of Australia, becoming states with governing powers divided between the federal and state governments.
1914–2024 CE
Modern World
Australia's Referendum and the Constitutional Status of Indigenous Peoples
A long rights movement helped bring about a constitutional referendum that removed the exclusion of Indigenous people from population counts and expanded federal legislative powers concerning Indigenous affairs.
Fiji’s Independence and Pacific Nationhood
Fiji became an independent state, with Indigenous and migrant communities confronting institutions shaped by colonial rule.
New Zealand's Waitangi Tribunal: Treaty Claims Enter a Public Process
The Treaty of Waitangi Act established a tribunal to investigate Māori claims that the government had breached the treaty, bringing colonial legacies into an ongoing process of inquiry and negotiation.