Abstract
This article focuses on the underwater cultural heritage (UCH) located across the Pacific Ocean by sampling three temporal themes: living heritage and traditional indigenous cultural heritage, the global connections of the Manila Galleon trade, and the modern warfare of World War II (WWII). Many of the traditional cultural practices (living heritage) and tangible cultural heritage related to indigenous people of the Pacific are coastal and sea related. Their world encompasses the sea, which was not seen as a barrier as but a much-used connection to people occupying the thousands of islands. The Pacific contains an extensive maritime cultural heritage, including UCH, which reflects the cultural identity of people living in the region. From the 16th to 18th centuries, the Spanish Empire prospered through an elaborate Asia-Pacific trade network. The Manila Galleon trade between Manila, Philippines, and Acapulco, Mexico, connected into the existing Atlantic trade transporting commodities such as porcelain, silver, spices and textiles from Asia to the Americas and Spain. Of the 400 known voyages between 1565 and 1815, approximately 59 shipwrecks occurred, of which only a handful of galleons have been investigated. The scale of WWII heritage in the Pacific region reflects the intensity and impacts of global conflicts fought across the world’s largest ocean. Associated UCH includes near shore defensive infrastructure, landing and amphibious assault craft, submerged aircraft, and a wide range of ships and submarines, auxiliary, combatant and non-military casualties alike. Twentieth century warfare involved massive losses of material. The legacy of submerged battlefields in the Pacific is complex. Interest is high in the discovery of naval UCH, but critical aspects are often intertwined. Archaeology, history, reuse, memorialisation (gravesites), tourism, unexploded ordnance, environmental threat (fuel oil), ownership and salvage all shape what we can learn from this resource.
Highlights
The three components of the underwater cultural heritage (UCH) located in the Pacific are a cross section of the temporal and cultural diversity of the UCH in the region: Living Heritage1 and traditional indigenous cultural heritage, the Global Connections of the Spanish Manila Galleon trade, and the legacy of Modern Warfare from World War II (WWII)
The first section of this article focused on traditional indigenous heritage of Oceania, which consists of material culture and located partially or wholly underwater, but much of the heritage related to the sea in Oceania is living heritage, which includes the sacred and spiritual relationships people have with the natural heritage
While the 2001 Convention is an important framework for the preservation of UCH in Oceania, its programmes and activities need to acknowledge living heritage components, or collaborate with programmes through other UNESCO Conventions, such as the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage to ensure a holistic and contemporaneous approach to preserving UCH
Summary
The three components of the underwater cultural heritage (UCH) located in the Pacific are a cross section of the temporal and cultural diversity of the UCH in the region: Living Heritage and traditional indigenous cultural heritage, the Global Connections of the Spanish Manila Galleon trade, and the legacy of Modern Warfare from World War II (WWII). Its focus is on tangible cultural heritage, and it purposely does not include the term “shipwreck”, but uses the broader term “underwater cultural heritage”, and should have relevance to many of the countries in Oceania. Why has it not been ratified more broadly in Oceania? It could be interpreted that FSM and Niue value their UCH as important components of their living heritage, and/or perhaps there were other social-cultural-political reasons for ratifying the 2001 Convention. The dominance of tangible cultural heritage and the dissociation with living heritage in the 2001 Convention could possibly be a hindrance for other countries in Oceania to ratify it
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