Page 297 - THE MELANESIA DIASPORA FILE CETAK ISI 10022017

appeared in the 19 century, in 1832, coinciding with a review of the names given by
th
a French expert, Jules Dumont D’Urville about Melanesia, which he derived from two
Greek words mellas (black) and nesos (island). As a region, Melanesia had existed since
thousands of years before the French coined the name. Since the period of the last ice age
(about 20,000 to 14,000 years ago), a long and convoluted story about Austro-Melanesia
ancestors as the inhabitants of the northern hemisphere, including South East Asia and
the Pacific region has been revealed.
In the written history of Pacific region, from around the 16th century until the
th
18 century, missionaries, both of the Catholic Church (Missions) and Protestant (Zending)
began to explore the Oceania region. The area had long become the destination of
massive migration, which is estimated to be about 200,000 years ago. Here is the period
of Europeans’ exploration to the Pacific region. In 1513, Vasco Nunez de Balboa discovered
the Pacific region. The mission was continued seven years later; Ferdinand Magellan
discovered South America and sailed throughout the Pacific region. In the course of his
expedition, the Tuamotu Islands and Guam were discovered. In his expedition together
with the Spaniards, he discovered the Caroline islands continued by Alvaro de Mendana de
Neira and Pedro Fernandez Quiros.
The same source states that in about 1567 Peru was discovered followed by the
discovery of the South Pacific during an expedition to the Solomon Islands. Shortly after
that, in 1606, Chief Pilot Quiros discovered the Cook Islands, Tikopia, and New Hebrides6.
At the same time his colleague, Vaez de Torres, discovered Papua New Guinea, and several
northern islands of Papua New Guinea and Australia. Spanish expedition was motivated by
a treasure of sandalwood, relying on the spirit to spread Christianity.
From 1615 to 1616, the Spanish mission was transferred to the Netherlands; the arrival
of the expedition to the Pacific region is an extension of the Dutch expedition in the area of
Indonesia. A Dutch sailor named Jacques Le Maire, came to the Tuamotu, and discovered
Tonga region, the Bismarck Archipelago, New Ireland and New Hanover. In 1642, Abel
Janszoon Tasman sailed from Batavia to the Pacific region and discovered New Zealand,
Tonga, Fiji and New Britain. Dutch expedition to the Pacific was driven by trade interest,
but from reports and records of this expedition, there was no prospect of building a good
future in the Pacific region in the areas of interest. Tasman argued that Oceania was only

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