Community hub
Recent from talks
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
Pacific Islander Americans
Pacific Islander Americans (also colloquially referred to as Islander Americans) are Americans who are of Pacific Islander ancestry (or are descendants of the Indigenous peoples of Oceania). For its purposes, the United States census also counts Indigenous Australians as part of this group.
Pacific Islander Americans make up 0.5% of the US population including those with partial Pacific Islander ancestry, enumerating about 1.4 million people. The largest ethnic subgroups of Pacific Islander Americans are Native Hawaiians, Samoans, and Chamorros. Much of the Pacific Islander population resides in Hawaii, Alaska, California, Utah, Texas, and Minnesota.
Pacific Islanders may be considered Oceanian Americans, but this group may include Australians and New Zealander-origin people, who can be of non-Pacific Islander ethnicity. Many Pacific Islander Americans are mixed with other races, especially Europeans and Asians, due to Pacific Islanders being a small population in several communities across the mainland US.
American Samoa, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands are insular areas (US territories), while Hawaii is a state.
Migration from Oceania to the United States began in the last decade of the 18th century, but the first migrants to arrive in the country were Native Hawaiians. People from other Oceanian backgrounds (except Australians and Māori) did not migrate to the United States until the late 19th century. The first Native Hawaiians to live in the present-day US were fur traders. They were hired by British fur traders in Hawaii and taken to the Northwestern US, from where trade networks developed with Honolulu. However, they charged less than Americans for doing the same jobs and returned to Hawaii when their contracts ended. The first Native Hawaiians to live permanently in the US settled in the Astoria colony (in present-day Oregon) in 1811, having been brought there by its founder, fur merchant John Jacob Astor. Astor created the Pacific Fur Company in the colony and used the Native Hawaiians to build the city's infrastructure and houses and to develop the primary sector (agriculture, hunting and fishing). The labor employment of the Native Hawaiians was done to make them serve the company (although later, most of them worked for North West Company when this company absorbed the Pacific Fur Company in 1813).
After 1813, Native Hawaiians continued to migrate to the Pacific Northwest. They migrated to work in companies such as the Hudson's Bay Company (which absorbed the North West Company in 1821) and the Columbia Fishing and Trading Company, as well as in Christian missions. Since 1819, some groups of Polynesian Protestant students immigrated to the United States to study theology. Since the 1830s, another group of Native Hawaiians arrived on California's shores, where they were traders and formed communities. So, they made up 10% of the population of Yerba Buena, now San Francisco, in 1847. During the California gold rush, many other Native Hawaiians migrated to California to work as miners.
In 1889, the first Polynesian Mormon colony was founded in Utah and consisted of Native Hawaiians, Tahitians, Samoans, and Māori. Also in the late 19th century, small groups of Pacific Islanders, usually sailors, moved to the western shores, mainly on San Francisco. Later, the US occupied Hawaii in 1896, Guam in 1898, and American Samoa in 1900. This fact diversified Oceanian emigration in the US.
However, the first record of non-Hawaiian Pacific Islanders in the US is from 1910, with the first Guamanians living in the US. In the following decades small groups of people from islands such as Hawaii, Guam, Tonga, or American Samoa immigrated to the US. Many of them were Mormons (including most of Tongans and American Samoans), who immigrated to help build Mormon churches, or to seek an education, either in Laie or Salt Lake City. However, the immigration of Pacific Islanders to the US was small until the end of World War II, when many American Samoans, Guamanians (who got the American citizenship in 1929), and Tongans immigrated to the US. Most of them were in the military or married with military people, but some Pacific Islanders, particularly Tongans, looked for a job in several religious and cultural centers. Since then the immigration increased and diversified every decade, with a majority immigrating to the Western urban areas and Hawaii.
Hub AI
Pacific Islander Americans AI simulator
(@Pacific Islander Americans_simulator)
Pacific Islander Americans
Pacific Islander Americans (also colloquially referred to as Islander Americans) are Americans who are of Pacific Islander ancestry (or are descendants of the Indigenous peoples of Oceania). For its purposes, the United States census also counts Indigenous Australians as part of this group.
Pacific Islander Americans make up 0.5% of the US population including those with partial Pacific Islander ancestry, enumerating about 1.4 million people. The largest ethnic subgroups of Pacific Islander Americans are Native Hawaiians, Samoans, and Chamorros. Much of the Pacific Islander population resides in Hawaii, Alaska, California, Utah, Texas, and Minnesota.
Pacific Islanders may be considered Oceanian Americans, but this group may include Australians and New Zealander-origin people, who can be of non-Pacific Islander ethnicity. Many Pacific Islander Americans are mixed with other races, especially Europeans and Asians, due to Pacific Islanders being a small population in several communities across the mainland US.
American Samoa, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands are insular areas (US territories), while Hawaii is a state.
Migration from Oceania to the United States began in the last decade of the 18th century, but the first migrants to arrive in the country were Native Hawaiians. People from other Oceanian backgrounds (except Australians and Māori) did not migrate to the United States until the late 19th century. The first Native Hawaiians to live in the present-day US were fur traders. They were hired by British fur traders in Hawaii and taken to the Northwestern US, from where trade networks developed with Honolulu. However, they charged less than Americans for doing the same jobs and returned to Hawaii when their contracts ended. The first Native Hawaiians to live permanently in the US settled in the Astoria colony (in present-day Oregon) in 1811, having been brought there by its founder, fur merchant John Jacob Astor. Astor created the Pacific Fur Company in the colony and used the Native Hawaiians to build the city's infrastructure and houses and to develop the primary sector (agriculture, hunting and fishing). The labor employment of the Native Hawaiians was done to make them serve the company (although later, most of them worked for North West Company when this company absorbed the Pacific Fur Company in 1813).
After 1813, Native Hawaiians continued to migrate to the Pacific Northwest. They migrated to work in companies such as the Hudson's Bay Company (which absorbed the North West Company in 1821) and the Columbia Fishing and Trading Company, as well as in Christian missions. Since 1819, some groups of Polynesian Protestant students immigrated to the United States to study theology. Since the 1830s, another group of Native Hawaiians arrived on California's shores, where they were traders and formed communities. So, they made up 10% of the population of Yerba Buena, now San Francisco, in 1847. During the California gold rush, many other Native Hawaiians migrated to California to work as miners.
In 1889, the first Polynesian Mormon colony was founded in Utah and consisted of Native Hawaiians, Tahitians, Samoans, and Māori. Also in the late 19th century, small groups of Pacific Islanders, usually sailors, moved to the western shores, mainly on San Francisco. Later, the US occupied Hawaii in 1896, Guam in 1898, and American Samoa in 1900. This fact diversified Oceanian emigration in the US.
However, the first record of non-Hawaiian Pacific Islanders in the US is from 1910, with the first Guamanians living in the US. In the following decades small groups of people from islands such as Hawaii, Guam, Tonga, or American Samoa immigrated to the US. Many of them were Mormons (including most of Tongans and American Samoans), who immigrated to help build Mormon churches, or to seek an education, either in Laie or Salt Lake City. However, the immigration of Pacific Islanders to the US was small until the end of World War II, when many American Samoans, Guamanians (who got the American citizenship in 1929), and Tongans immigrated to the US. Most of them were in the military or married with military people, but some Pacific Islanders, particularly Tongans, looked for a job in several religious and cultural centers. Since then the immigration increased and diversified every decade, with a majority immigrating to the Western urban areas and Hawaii.