Pacific Island Guide to Family History Research



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by Noel Neville Cardon

Because Pacific Island family history is based largely on an oral tradition, we face special challenges in doing it. And we need to use special methods. These methods are not widely known among family history researchers, so in writing this guide, we found Pacific Islanders who had been successful in doing family history work and learned from them how they did it.The people who shared their stories and information with me were very kind and generous, and it is their hard work that has made this guide possible. Most of their names are in the Bibliography.

I tried to find someone from each of the island groups to interview, but was not able to get a case study from all groups. My hope is that one of the case studies in Step 9 will be close enough to your situation to help you.

Table of Contents

How to Use This Guide Latter-day Saint Pacific Island Heritage Steps of Research for Pacific Island Ancestors


 * Step 1. To start, write down the basic information you know from memory.
 * Step 2. Gather written records you and your family already have
 * Step 3. Learn more about the customs and history of your Pacific Island ancestor
 * Step 4. Gather oral histories from your oldest relatives
 * Step 5. Organize your information onto paper forms and computer.
 * Step 6. Organize your papers and keep them safe
 * Step 7. Keep track of what you have done and plan what to do next
 * Step 8. Find and record Temple Ordinances that have already been done.
 * Step 9. Do enough research to verify that the person really lived and how the person is related to your family
 * By clicking on this step 9, you will get information about:
 * Island naming customs
 * How dates have been estimated
 * How to decide whether a name is male or female
 * Other general Pacific Island ways that relate to family history
 * The important Cole Jensen Collection and its Index or Directory
 * Oral Genealogies collected during the 1970s
 * How to use records from institutions near you
 * How to use photographic collections
 * How to use the Family History Library Catalog
 * Step 10. Temple sealing policies
 * Step 11. Prepare names for temple submission
 * Step 12. Share what you found and did

Table of Island names (current, historical, and native names) Pacific Islands


 * Cook Islands (Includes Rarotonga)
 * Easter Island
 * Federated States of Micronesia, Marshall Islands, and Palau
 * Fiji
 * French Polynesia
 * Austral Islands
 * Gambier Islands, Marquesas Islands, Tuamotu Islands
 * Society Islands (includes Tahiti)
 * Hawaii background and case study
 * Hawaii research helps
 * Kiribati (Gilbert Islands)
 * Nauru
 * New Caledonia
 * New Zealand Maori customs and background
 * New Zealand Maori research ideas
 * Niue
 * Samoa (Western and American)
 * Solomon Islands
 * Tokelau
 * Tonga
 * Tonga customs
 * Tuvalu (Ellice Islands)
 * Vanuatu
 * Wallis and Futuna Islands

Bibliography

= How to Use This Guide =

Steps 1 through 7 and Steps 9 and 12 are the same for all Pacific Island researchers. They will help you get started with your basic family history work.

Some of the information in Steps 8, 10 and 11 are about temple work of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS or Mormon). Just use the information in the guide that will be of help to you in your needs. You will find that you will be skipping back and forth from one step to another as you do your research. This is normal, so feel free to do it.