Island Origins
This Polynesian island nation is known for its sacred tattoos, fire dancing, and being the birthplace of the word "tattoo".
What is Samoa?
Pacific Islanders were among the earliest to master this form of travel, essential for their migration.
What is open-ocean navigation / canoe voyaging?
This European country colonized much of Polynesia and Melanesia, including Tahiti.
What is France?
True or False: Pacific Islanders are grouped with Asian Americans in US government statistics.
What is true?
These neck adornments made of flowers are worn at graduations, weddings, and other parties / ceremonies.
What are leis?
These three cultural regions divide Oceania: Polynesia, Melanesia, and ________.
What is Micronesia?
The Hokule'a is a traditional double-hulled canoe that was used to revive this ancient practice in the 1970s.
What is wayfinding?
The US tested nuclear weapons on this atoll, devastating its environment and people.
What is Bikini Atoll?
The first Pacific Islander elected to US Congress.
Who is Tulsi Gabbard?
This NFL player has popularized throwing up the Tongan T's, also nicknamed the "Tongan Tiger".
Who is Talanoa Hufanga?
The Indigenous people of New Zealand.
Who are the Maori?
Many Samoans, Tongans, and Micronesians migrated to this US state in the 20th century, creating large diaspora communities.
What is Hawai'i?
In 1898, the US annexed this former Pacific kingdom.
What is the Kingdom of Hawai'i?
Pacific Islanders have among the highest rates of service in this US institution.
What is the military?
This Kanaka 'Oiwi actor starred in a DC film as an underwater superhero.
Who is Jason Momoa?
The ancient navigators of this nation used stick charts to map ocean swells and currents.
What is the Marshall Islands?
Compact of Free Association (COFA) agreements allow citizens from these nations to live and work in the US.
What are the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and the Republic of Palau.
These regional terms — Polynesia, Micronesia, and Melanesia — were coined in the 19th century by this French explorer and scholar, reflecting a European attempt to categorize Pacific peoples by geography and (often racialized) physical traits.
Who is Jules Dumont d'Urville?
Many Marshallese work in this Arkansas city due to COFA migration.
What is Springdale?
This traditional drink is used for cultural ceremonies, usually honoring chiefs and other esteemed guests.
What is kava?
This Pacific Island is home to the Chamorro people and is a US territory.
What is Guahan? (also acceptable - Guam)
The word for a deep spiritual connection to land and ancestors in many Pacific cultures.
What is aloha aina? (also acceptable - mana)
This system allowed Westerns to claim land in Oceania by declaring it "terra nullius", meaning what?
What is "land belonging to no one"? (also acceptable - "empty")
This 1990 US census category first separates Pacific Islanders from Asians.
What is Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islanders (NHPI)?
Known by his stage name Fiji, his real name was ______.
Who is George Veikoso?