HISTORY

The three major Western Polynesian islands are Samoa, Tonga and Fiji. These islands share oral traditions of their interactions together through marriage, war, myths and legends. This pre-European contact has been well documented  through linguistics, anthropology and archaeology.

Genetic testing of Tagata Samoa indicates their ancestors came from Southeast Asia and Melanesia about 2,800 years ago.  

CONTACT WITH OUTSIDERS

The first European to sight Sāmoa was a Dutchman named Jacob Roggeveen. He visited in 1722.

In 1768, the French explorer Louis-Antoine de Bougainville named Samoa, the Navigator Islands. Regular visits to Samoa by American trading and whaling vessels began in the 1820s. The early English missionaries and traders arrived to Samoa in the 1830s. German influence began in the 1850s with the development of large plantations for coconut, cacao, cocoa and hevea rubber. The first Chinese had arrived by the 1870s. 

Research about Samoa and the surrounding Pacific region is ongoing in where genetic genealogy utilises DNA to provide clues that may get you beyond your brick walls.

Genetic genealogy is extremely helpful particularly for Samoans with Tongan, Fijian, European and or Chinese ancestors who settled in Samoa and married into Samoan families. 

References: 

Hunt, T. (2005). Samoa's Pre-contact Connections in West Polynesia and Beyond. Polynesian Society, 114(3), 227-266. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/241140908_Samoa's_Pre-contact_Connections_in_West_Polynesia_and_Beyond?fbclid=IwAR0EmzX7CBbiSitS3jsEApuISCYHUwcu3bDpyYNpJtwCY-FXSzBT5FBufnI

Gibbons, A. (2016). 'Game Changing' study suggests first Polynesians voyaged all the way from East Asia. https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2016/10/game-changing-study-suggests-first-polynesians-voyaged-all-way-east-asia?fbclid=IwAR080eGZ_SyCn5hP2gjxn54Pyj2JSmMvjORNAqPahyx_CJncFKitGZY3fKU

IMPORTANT

Please be prepared for the possibility that although your gafa indicates direct paternal and or maternal Samoan, Chinese or European ancestry, DNA results could indicate that your maternal and or paternal ancestral line is not associated with Samoan, Chinese or European ancestry. This would happen if you had an unknown ancestor in your Y-DNA and or mtDNA line.

Administrators of all FTDNA group projects are volunteers and receive no compensation of any kind from FTDNA.

If you are unsure if your background qualifies for this project, contact the project administrator for further details. You can do this by clicking on the REQUEST TO JOIN THIS GROUP link in the upper right hand portion of this page.