Facts About the Pacific Islands

Rapa Nui, also known as Easter Island, is an island in Polynesia that is famous for its giant moai statues. Its original name, Rapa Nui, translates to "Great Rapa," whereas the first European explorers named it "Easter Island" because they found it on Easter Day in 1722. The island contains more than 600 statues, and archaeological excavations have shown that there are three distinct cultural periods. The origins of the statues are a mystery, although some have theorized they were built for agricultural prosperity.

The Sri Siva Subramaniya Temple is the largest Hindu temple in the Pacific and can be found in Nadi, Fiji. It is a towering, colorful structure in a traditional Dravidian style that features ornate carvings, depicting a number of Hindu gods. The temple is specifically dedicated to the god of seasonal rains, Lord Murugan. The central temple features a large sculpture of Lord Murugan, while the other temples are dedicated to Shiva, the God of Destruction, and Ganesh, the elephant-headed God of Beginnings. The complex is decorated with brightly colored murals that detail scenes from Hinduism.

Nan Madol is an ancient city built on top of a coral reef that can be found in Pohnpei, Micronesia. Once a city that hosted the Saudeleur, a people who ruled the island for more than a thousand years, Nan Madol was abandoned a few centuries ago. Its stone walls and columns are the only things that remain. The structures display an impressive feat, as the Saudeleur had to hoist slabs of volcanic rock, weighing an average of 1.850 tons, without pulleys, levers, or metal to build them. Next to Rapa Nui, Nan Madol is another spectacular stone structure of the Pacific.

Mau Piailug was a Micronesian navigator from Satawal who taught the traditional method of wayfinding for open-ocean voyaging. One of his most well-known students was Nainoa Thompson, a master navigator. Piailug worried that the tradition of wayfinding would be lost, so he shared his knowledge with the Polynesian Voyaging Society. Piailug's efforts sparked a second Hawaiian cultural renaissance and led to a revival of Polynesian navigation.

Israel Kamakawiwoʻole, also known as Iz, was a Hawaiian musician, singer, and songwriter. His medley of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World" reached international fame and was selected for preservation in the U.S. National Recording Registry. He was also known for promoting Hawaiian rights and independence through his lyrics, raising awareness of his belief that Native Hawaiians had been given a second-class status by the tourism industry.

Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu, also known as Kumu Hina, is a community leader and teacher who embodies both male and female spirit, a Hawaiian concept called being māhū. While the term is derogatory in modern slang, the concept traditionally holds cultural and spiritual significance, an idea that Wong-Kalu is trying to revive. As a transgender woman, she also founded the Kulia Na Mamo transgender health project, which provides outreach and support services to transgender individuals.

Haunani-Kay Trask was born in 1949 to a family who advocated for Hawaiian statehood. Despite this, Trask spent her life fighting for Hawaiian independence and became the leader of the Hawaiian sovereignty movement. She spent several years in the mainland while attending the University of Wisconsin and the University of Chicago, where she joined the Black Panther Party. Eventually, she returned to Hawai‘i to teach at the University of Hawai‘i at Manoa, specializing in Polynesian women, Hawai‘i‘s political movements, and the Pacific Islands.

The Polynesian Panthers were a liberation activist group that fought for Polynesian and Māori empowerment in Aotearoa (New Zealand). They were inspired by the Black Power movement in the U.S. and Māori protests within the country. Founded in 1971 by young Pacific Islander immigrants who faced racial discrimination and police brutality, they protested the Vietnam War, ran food co-ops, and promoted Polynesian languages and visibility in mainstream Aotearoa culture.

Duke Kahanamoku was a five-time Olympic medal winner in swimming and is known for popularizing the sport of surfing. Between winning Olympic medals, Kahanamoku traveled the world to perform in swimming and surfing exhibitions. Many people were introduced to surfing for the first time by these exhibits. When he used his surfboard to save eight fishermen after their boat capsized, the news popularized surfing as a sport and also a tool for lifeguards. Later in life, he acted in several Hollywood movies before retiring to Hawai‘i.