Europeans arrived to the lands numerous times through history, but there were few efforts to truly colonize the region, other than perhaps establishing some plantations along the coasts. It wasn't until the 1900s when the Europeans made any truly great effort to control the lands and alter the culture.
In the 1900s most efforts to change the people and their traditional culture came in the form of religion as many missionaries arrived and spread Christianity. This effort was very successful as most of the people today are Christian. However, few outside influences arrived since the lands didn't prove profitable to most European settlers and those who did find profit generally found it along the coasts, hence only changing the culture in limited geographic areas.
Today communication and technology have united the people in many ways as many people are abandoning their native languages for a more commonly spoken language, such as Tok Pisin. The people are also urbanizing as cities have more jobs and better paying jobs than much of the island can offer. In these cities the culture is one that contains aspects of the many people of the islands as well as Europe. In land the cultures, languages, and lifestyles remained authentic in many ways as historic traditions, cultures, and languages survive, or even thrive.