French Polynesian American are

Americans Americans are the Citizenship of the United States, citizens and United States nationality law, nationals of the United States, United States of America.; ; Law of the United States, U.S. federal law does not equate nationality with Race (hu ...

with

French Polynesia French Polynesia ( ; ; ) is an overseas collectivity of France and its sole #Governance, overseas country. It comprises 121 geographically dispersed islands and atolls stretching over more than in the Pacific Ocean, South Pacific Ocean. The t ...

n ancestry. The number of French Polynesian Americans is unknown. In the 2020 US census 7,935 people claimed to be of

Tahiti Tahiti (; Tahitian language, Tahitian , ; ) is the largest island of the Windward Islands (Society Islands), Windward group of the Society Islands in French Polynesia, an overseas collectivity of France. It is located in the central part of t ...

an origin while another 754 people claimed to be of "French Polynesian" origin, without specifying the island of origin. Thus, more than 8,000 people claimed some form of French Polynesian ancestry. In addition, others 9,092 people asserted be of Polynesian origins, but they indicated no specific origin.

History

Between 1800s and 1860s, Pacific Islander sailors arrived in the United States. Some of them were Tahitians, who settled in Massachusetts and later California. In 1889, the first Polynesian Mormon colony was founded in Utah and consisted of Tahitians, Native Hawaiians, Samoans, and Māori people. Page 116. During the 20th century, the annual number of French Polynesians who moved to the US was small but with certain growth between the 1950 and 70s. So, while in 1954 just three French Polynesians arrived in the United States, in 1956 entry of 14 French Polynesian immigrants it was recorded and in 1965 were admitted other 49 people of same origin. However, since the 1970s, the number of French Polynesians admitted each year has been more varied: in 1975, 47 French Polynesians were admitted, increasing to 59 admitted in 1984, then decreasing to 19 in 1986. For its part, in 1991 it was registered that 31 French Polynesians emigrated to US with legal status in this year and, in 1997, other 21 French Polynesians obtained admission to live in the US.

Culture and Demography

Tahitian Americans celebrate the French Polynesian celebration of

Bastille Day Bastille Day is the common name given in English-speaking countries to the national day of France, which is celebrated on 14 July each year. It is referred to, both legally and commonly, as () in French, though ''la fête nationale'' is also u ...

on July 14. This date is known as France's independence day in French-speaking countries. Half of Tahitian Americans reside in the state of

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

. Hawaii's population is 0.2% Tahitian.

Notable people

Vaitiare Bandera Vaitiare Eugenia Hirshon (born August 15, 1964), previously known as Vaitiare Bandera and Vaitiare Hirshon-Asars, is an American actress best known for her appearances in ''Stargate SG-1''. Career Vaitiare was a spokesperson for Miller Beer f ...

, actress *

Frank Grouard Frank Benjamin Grouard (also known as Frank Gruard, Benjamin Franklin Grouard, and Standing Bear) (September 20, 1850 – August 15, 1905) was a Scout and interpreter for General George Crook during the American Indian War of 1876. For the ...

, Scout and interpreter in the

American Indian Wars The American Indian Wars, also known as the American Frontier Wars, and the Indian Wars, was a conflict initially fought by European colonization of the Americas, European colonial empires, the United States, and briefly the Confederate States o ...

Conrad Hall Conrad Lafcadio Hall, (June 21, 1926 – January 4, 2003) was a French Polynesian-born American cinematographer. Named after writers Joseph Conrad and Lafcadio Hearn, he became widely prominent as a cinematographer earning numerous accolade ...

, cinematographer * Cole Hikutini, American football player

References

{{Pacific Islander Americans American people of French Polynesian descent Oceanian diaspora in the United States