ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses Polynesia in general terms, explores the Māori and Hawai'ian societies, and examines the broad framework of Aboriginal Australian culture and educational thought and practice. It discusses contemporary educational challenges and practices surrounding all three of these indigenous populations. 'Polynesia' is a nuanced term that has been defined geographically and culturally in different ways by different individuals at different times and for different purposes. In general, Polynesia is taken to include the islands in the 'Polynesian Triangle', which is a geographic area including New Zealand, Easter Island, and Hawai'i at its extreme corners, with Tahiti in its center and Sāmoa to the far west. The different Polynesian cultures tend to fall into two broad cultural groupings, the eastern and western Polynesian cultural zones. All of the Polynesian groups valued quite similar traditional religious beliefs and practices. The precolonial, indigenous population of Australia is actually divided into two distinct groups: the Torres Strait Islanders and the Aboriginal peoples.
