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Pacific Islanders

Mau Piailug sits cross-legged and points to a diagram on woven mat. He teaches navigation to two kids and a man seated next to him.

What do Pacific Islander efforts to protect their cultures and the environment teach us about resilience and sovereignty?

Chapter objectives
  • Learn about Pacific Islander cultures and histories in Oceania and the historical relationships between Pacific Islanders and the United States.
  • Understand the significance of Pacific Islander forms of self-determination in the arts, government, popular culture, and everyday life.
  • Explore how Pacific Islander stories about creative expression, migration, multiethnicity, political conflict, resistance, and spirituality relate to their own experiences.

This chapter explores the critical and creative contributions of Pacific Islanders, the Indigenous peoples of Oceania, in the United States and internationally. Separated into five parts, the introduction offers an overview of Pacific Islander populations, environments, political systems, and migration patterns. The four remaining sections examine the cultural, political, and spiritual importance of sacred spaces in the Pacific; Pacific Islander histories of survival under American and Japanese military rule, including the impact of World War II in shaping the migration and labor pathways for Pacific peoples; Pacific Islander perceptions of and resistance to climate change and sea level rise; and Pacific Islander participation and leadership in cinema, sport, and other popular cultures. This chapter highlights notable Pacific Islanders like the powerlifter Nancy Abouke, the poet Kathy Jetñil-Kijiner, the actor Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, and the educator Agueda Iglesias Johnston, among others.

Modules in this chapter


Pacific Islanders Overview

Sacred Spaces

World War II

Climate Change in Oceania

Pacific Islanders in Popular Culture

Pacific Islanders Overview

Sacred Spaces

World War II

Climate Change in Oceania

Pacific Islanders in Popular Culture

Chapter Sources


“Adaptation to Climate Change: Contemporary Challenges and Perspectives.” In Climate Change and Impacts in the Pacific, edited by Lalit Kumar. Springer, 2020.

Aikau, Hokulani K. A Chosen People, A Promised Land: Mormonism and Race in Hawaiʻi. University of Minnesota Press, 2012.

Alegado, Rosie. “Opponents of the Thirty Meter Telescope Fight the Process, not Science.” Nature, August 16, 2019. https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-02304-1.

“American Samoa at a Glance.” U.S. Army Reserve. Accessed August 26, 2025. https://www.usar.army.mil/Portals/98/Documents/At%20A%20Glance%20Prints/Samoa_ataglance.pdf.

Barman, Jean, and Bruce McIntyre Watson. Leaving Paradise: Indigenous Hawaiians in the Pacific Northwest, 1787–1898. University of Hawaiʻi Press, 2017.

Brown, Marie Alohalani. “Mauna Kea: Hoʻomana Hawaiʻi and Protecting the Sacred.” Journal for the Study of Religion, Nature and Culture 10, no. 2 (2016): 150–169.

Bryant-Tokalau, Jenny. Indigenous Pacific Approaches to Climate Change: Pacific Island Countries. Palgrave Macmillan, 2018.

Camacho, Keith L. Cultures of Commemoration: The Politics of War, Memory, and History in the Mariana Islands. University of Hawaiʻi Press, 2011.

Carroll, Seforosa. “Climate Change, Faith and Theology in the Pacific (Oceania): The Role of Faith in Building Resilient Communities.” Practical Theology 15, no. 5 (2022): 409–419.

Case, Emalani. “Ea: Lessons in Breath, Life, and Sovereignty from Mauna Kea.” Biography 43, no. 3 (2020): 568–574.

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The Asian American Studies Center acknowledges the Gabrielino/Tongva peoples as the traditional land caretakers of Tovaangar (Los Angeles basin, So. Channel Islands) and pay our respects to the honuukvetam (ancestors), ‘ahiihirom (elders), and ‘eyoohiinkem (relatives/relations) past, present, and emerging.

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