TIKI culture is an art, music, and entertainment movement that originated in the United States and was influenced by Polynesian, Melanesian, and Micronesian cultures. Cultures that have influenced Tiki culture, inspired by the art of Oceania, include Australia, Melanesia, Micronesia, Polynesia, the Caribbean Islands, and Hawaii. The name is derived from the Maori word tiki, meaning the earliest humans, and is usually presented in the form of pendants and the important taonga (heitiki). Heitiki is often used as a lucky charm and has been commercialized by Europeans, hence the name tiki culture. Despite spanning more than 10,000 miles and encompassing many unrelated cultures, religions, and languages, the tiki aesthetic merges into a "trans-Pacific cultural fantasy" and "colonial nostalgia."
