Pacific Islander Americans

A History of Migration

The first Pacific Islanders are thought to have left Asia at least 2,000 years ago. Sailing in small boats from southeast Asia, the early Pacific Islanders settled in the area we know as Micronesia and Melanesia. As island populations increased, people began to disperse on longer trips in larger vessels, venturing to the more isolated islands of Polynesia, eventually reaching Hawai'i and Rappa Nui (Easter Island) in the middle and southeast Pacific, respectively. The journeys were long and dangerous, but those who survived prospered until foreign disease and technology ravished the Pacific.

During the 16th century, European and American voyagers “made contact” with “natives” of the Pacific. In a colonial fashion, Western explorers laid claim to sovereign land, destroyed native culture, and introduced diseases that ravished the island population. By the time ships from Europe reached the Pacific, they needed fresh bodies to man their voyages, and the Pacific Islands became a spot for corporal replenishing.

During World War II, some Pacific Islanders were forced to leave their island homes because of nuclear weapon testing. The Marshall Islands in Micronesia were the site of many nuclear tests and remain one of the most radioactive places in the world. The U.S. government provides special migration and monetary aid to the governments of former test regions because of the nuclear contamination. The extent to which the United States provides enough care for these displaced Pacific Islanders is contested.

As the jet plane has replaced the ship as the primary means of oceanic transportation, migration [Page 1666]within the Pacific has increased and stratified. Whereas a common passenger jet can fly the span of the Pacific Ocean in less than 16 hours, a steamship would require multiple months to travel the same distance. Research has suggested that jet travel creates a migration gap where only the most privileged can out-migrate.

The largest threat to the Pacific Islanders is brain drain. Brain drain occurs when intelligent, high-achieving young adults leave their home islands to pursue an education or career on the U.S. mainland. When these Pacific Islanders wish to return home, they find that attractive jobs are not available and the quality of life is lower in the Pacific, while the cost of living is higher. As a result of these factors, many Pacific Islanders remain in the United States and contribute to the Pacific Islander American population.

...