When we say The Pacific Islands, it is an enormous 800K square km (300K square miles) global area, with over 12 million people, hundreds of languages spoken and over 1000 islands.

The region has three colonial groupings of Micronesia, Melanesia, and Polynesia, depending on whether you are talking about land, culture, people, and languages.

Prior to colonization, the Pasifika people did not divide themselves into these three groupings.

For instance, sometimes Hawai’i and Aotearoa (what some call New Zealand) are included or excluded when talking about the Pacific Islands.

Colonizers of the Pacific Islands include the United States, France, England, Germany, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, and Japan.

Some of the islands are still being occupied and colonized today.

Each island has its own practices, cultures, and histories, and even within islands, there are further distinct cultures.

Someone could, for example, be Pacific Islander, and also within this could be Melanesian, and then within this be Fijian. and then even further, within Fijian culture, there are more nuances.

And that specificity matters because all of those identities are important and unique.

Pasifika people are vast with distinct and hugely diverse heritages and traditions. In the Pacific Islands and also across the globe.

When referring to the Pacific Islands and Pasifika, remember to try to be specific so that we can honor intentional identities.

Happy Pacific Islander, Native Hawaiian, Asian American Heritage Month everyone.