Oceania

A carved Māori hei-tiki pendant in nephrite pounamu (New Zealand greenstone), with shell inlaid eyes, 19th century — the most sacred object of Māori culture, accumulating the mana (spiritual power) of all who wore it across generations.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have lived in Australia for at least 65,000 years, making their culture the oldest continuous civilisation on Earth, built around a profound spiritual connection to Country.

Over three thousand years, Polynesian navigators settled the entire Pacific Ocean using only the stars, ocean swells, wind patterns, and the behaviour of birds and sea creatures, achieving one of the greatest feats of exploration in human history.