} They diagnosed me with bronchitis and sinusitis connected to chemical exposure, Heathcote said. [3] At times, the term Pacific Islands only refers to islands within the cultural regions of Polynesia, Melanesia and Micronesia,[4][5] and to tropical islands with oceanic geology in general, such as Clipperton Island. His reporting extends beyond the Cold War. US militarism in the Pacific Wherever the United States military goes, it contaminates and damages the environment and human health, he told me. are among the last inhabitable places on earth to have been discovered by humans. Faces of MCIPAC: Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month As an ethnic/racial term, it is used to describe the original peoplesinhabitants and diasporas of any of the three major subregions of Oceania (Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia).. Melanesians include the Fijians (), Kanaks (New Caledonia), Ni-Vanuatu (), Papua New Guineans . In order to comment, you must be logged in as a paid subscriber. Most Pacific Islands are densely populated, and habitation tends to be concentrated along the coasts. It was full of fabulous riches, but also savage heathens and backward civilizations. Some Polynesians Carry Native American DNA, Study Finds - The New York CAMP FOSTER, OKINAWA, Japan -- In the month of May, the achievements and contributions of Asian American and Pacific Islanders are celebrated and recognized throughout the military community. Most Pacific insular possessions of Latin American nations are either unpopulated or used as military outposts, staffed by natives of the mainland. (2010) 1,392,818. Up to 30 percent of the 270 million cluster bomblets dropped never exploded, killing or injuring 20,000 civilians since the bombing ended. Melanesians include the Fijians (Fiji), Kanaks (New Caledonia), Ni-Vanuatu (Vanuatu), Papua New Guineans (Papua New Guinea), Solomon Islanders (Solomon Islands), and West Papuans (Indonesia's West Papua). Okinawans first realized their island was contaminated with PFAS in 2016 when tests by local authorities detected high levels of the substances in rivers running through and near Kadena Air. The American contingency included 1,321 ships and more than 183,000 troops. [50], In the 2013 New Zealand census, 7.4% of the New Zealand population identified with one or more Pacific ethnic groups, although 62.3% of these were born in New Zealand. The dangerous lurch toward military confrontation in Asia underscores Mitchells concerns. An immigrant chooses to leave and chooses where he or she will go. Dr. Based on hundreds of declassified US documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act and interviews with US veterans and whistleblowers, it documents the Pentagons use, testing, and storage of chemical, nuclear, and other weapons of mass destruction (WMD) in the Pacific and the disastrous impact of its flawed handling and storage of such weapons. [56], According to the Office of Management and Budget, "Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander" refers to a person having origins in any of the original peoples of Hawaii, Guam, Samoa, or other Pacific Islands. They are usually considered Asian, with Aleuts considered Alaskan natives. In his interview, he was unperturbed by the surveillance. These incidents have ranged from small fuel leaks of only several liters that stayed on the base to large spills discharging tens of thousands of liters of fuel and raw sewage into local rivers, he writes. [37], Several hundred distinct languages are spoken in the Pacific Islands. In my language of Bengali, "desh" means homeland and "deshi" means someone who hails from that homeland. }); His book also describes years of high-decibel noise pollution from the American jets flying near residential areas in Okinawa. It is a geographic and often ethnic/racial term to describe the inhabitants of any of the three major sub-regions of Oceania: Micronesia, Melanesia and Polynesia. Updates? Increasingly, many Native Hawaiian people object not only to the way the word has been changed in its grammatical usage, but also to how it is applied to anyone of mixed Asian and/or Pacific Islander heritage, when it implies Native Hawaiian mixed heritage. In their genetic analysis, Cavalli-Sforza, Menozzi and Piazza (1994) identify Micronesians, Polynesians and Melanesians as a separate genetic cluster. During WWII, Okinawa was a major location used in the U.S. military's. The name derives the Greek words melas ('black') and nsos ('island') for the predominantly dark-skinned peoples of New Guinea island, the Bismarck Archipelago, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu (formerly New Hebrides), New Caledonia, and Fiji.[37]. Okinawa is located just 350 miles (563 km) south of Kyushu, and its capture was regarded as a vital precursor to a ground invasion of the Japanese home islands. By signing up, you confirm that you are over the age of 16 andagree to receive occasional promotional offers for programs that support The Nations journalism. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. Tim ShorrockTwitterTim Shorrock, who has been reporting on Korea for The Nation since 1983, is a Washington, D.C.based journalist and the author of Spies for Hire: The Secret World of Intelligence Outsourcing. Gerald Mohler, another Marine, was told to camp in the area, and said he later suffered from chronic breathing problems and neurological damage. For me, such tactics are a sign of success, he told me. More than 48 distinct Asian and Pacific Islander ethnic groups exist representing a diverse range of cultures, languages, religions, and immigration patterns. The most significant and lasting intervention was a U.S. bombing campaign from 1964-1973, in which two million tons of bombs were dropped on Laos. "The Pacific Islands: An Encyclopedia." The Battle of Okinawa was one of the bloodiest and costliest of World War II in the Pacific. Chris Gelardi and Sophia Perez Micronesians make up the second largest, including primarily Chamoru from Guam; as well as other Chamoru, Carolinian from the Northern Mariana Islands, Marshallese, Palauans, and various others. Rohin Guha, executive editor of The Aerogram. The Okinawan prefectural assembly unanimously backed a letter demanding the removal of the base off the island. An ethnic group. A survey of U.S. history from its beginnings to the present, American History Unbound reveals our past through the lens of Asian American and Pacific Islander history. "Chinaman" was a racial stereotype; a foreign (and unassimilable) menace who competed with whites for jobs, had a lower standard of living, and was racially inferior to whites. In the resulting three-month-long campaign, U.S. forces sustained about 12,000 dead and 36,000 wounded before they were able to establish complete control of the island. magazine_button_text_384157 = ''; [39][41], The Polynesian islands are scattered across a triangle covering the east-central region of the Pacific Ocean. [9], In the North Pacific, non-tropical islands in and around Alaska, Japan and Russia were inhabited by people related to Indigenous American and Far East Asian groups,[10] with some Japanese ethnic groups also being theorized to be related to Indigenous Pacific groups. Sweet potatoes, rice, and soybeans are also grown on the island, and textiles, sake (rice wine), and lacquerware are manufactured. var magazine_button_url_384157 = ''; "Internment" and "relocation" implies benign protection, but these were military stockades with sentries and barbed wire to keep American citizens from getting out. There are approximately 400 million people of Austronesian descent in the world today. Will there be a 'Crazy Rich Asians' effect at Sundance? Illustrations Pacific Islands By Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center Original Thumbnail Medium Detailed Description Map shows the Pacific Ocean and locations of countries, islands, island nations, and atolls. Okinawa, ken (prefecture), Japan, in the Pacific Ocean. Details as to civilian casualties are virtually unknown, but Okinawan authorities and the U.S. military estimate 100,000-150,000 Okinawans perished. magazine_button_text_384157 = ''; [8] In an often geopolitical context, the term has been extended even further to include the large South Pacific landmass of Australia. In July 2019, at the inaugural Indonesian Exposition held in Auckland, Indonesia launched its Pacific Elevation program, which would encompass a new era of elevated engagement with the region, with the country also using the event to lay claim that Indonesia is culturally and ethnically linked to the Pacific islands. These distinctions also matter to those of us who are looking at them, how we perceive them, and what degree of empathy we feel for them. var magazine_button_bg_color_384157 = ''; The triangle is bound by the Hawaiian Islands in the north, New Zealand in the west, and Easter Island in the east. Although Japan surrendered on Aug. 14, 1945, the Japanese on Okinawa did not officially surrender until Sept. 2, 1945. [57], There are at least 39 different Pacific Island languages spoken as a second language in the American home. His investigations have won him high praise in Japan. Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month : Home The island was used to launch wars in Korea and Indochina; during the U.S. occupation (1945-52), Okinawans' were driven from their land, much of which was turned into US military bases, and were victimized by frequent crimes and accidents involving military personnel. Before 1955, most Japanese treated U.S.-occupied Okinawa as a "forgotten island," as Times Magazine reporter Frank Gibney initially phrased it in 1949.16 Indeed, Japanese Diet approval of the U.S. jurisdictional separation of the Ryukyus from Japan without the islanders' consent implicitly assumed and affirmed a separate identity. On October 23, 1992, AAPI Heritage Month was permanently designated after Congress passed Public Law 102-450. And there are many wrongs. Yellowface is the term used to describe non-Asian actors (typically white) putting on makeup, including prosthetics, to look like a stereotyped version of an Asian person.