Pacific Islander

From Free net encyclopedia

A Pacific Islander or Pacific Person (plural: Pacific People) is a term used in several places, such as New Zealand and the United States, to describe people of a certain heritage.

In New Zealand, the term is applied to a person who has emigrated from one of the smaller islands of the Pacific to New Zealand in modern times, or one of their descendants born in New Zealand. While the majority of these people originate from Polynesia, others come from Micronesia and Melanesia. The term is used to distinguish these people from the indigenous New Zealand Maori (who are also Polynesian but arrived in New Zealand many centuries earlier), and from other ethnic groups. A major reason for making the ethnic distinction is that the Pacific People collectively suffer from socio-economic disadvantages and require culturally targeted social and health assistance.

In Australia, "Pacific Islander" means a person from islands in the Pacific, as in New Zealand.

In the United States, "Pacific Islander" refers to people from the same locations. In U.S. usage it is most commonly seen as "Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders".

It excludes people who trace to non-Pacific Island origins (e.g., descendants of Chinese or European colonists) that may now reside on the islands. It would also exclude New Zealanders, except the Maori who are Polynesian, nor would it include Australians or indigenous Australians (except perhaps Torres Strait Islanders, who are generally not included under the designation "Australian Aborigines").

For instance U.S. Census category was "Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders" (NHPI). NHPI refers to people having origins from any of the indigenous peoples of Hawaii, Guam, Samoa, or other Pacific Islands. It includes people who indicated their race or races as "Native Hawaiian", "Guamanian or Chamorro", "Samoan", or "Other Pacific Islander", or wrote in entries such as Tahitian, Mariana Islander, or Chuukese.

Inhabitants of the Chinese, Taiwanese, Japanese, Philippine, and Indonesian islands, although technically located in the Pacific Ocean, are not considered Pacific Islanders and are classified as "Asians" on the U.S. Census.

See also

• "Oceanic"
• South Sea Islanders, or Kanakas, the descendents of Pacific Islanders blackbirded to Australia in the period 1860 to 1906
• Closing the gaps
• History of Oceania
• History of the Pacific Islandsde:Pazifische Insulaner

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