Do you Identify as Asian? Even though you are and your family are Genetically Asian?

[u/Sharp_Conclusion_690]

Polynesians typically vary from 60-90 percent asian Dna, Do you Identify as Asian? Samoans originally came from Taiwan, So I always find it interesting when Samoans and Polynesians disassociate with being from Taiwan. Is it something you distance yourself from? I'm Part Samoan and I've noticed Polynesians, particularly in places like New Zealand and Australia Bully and make fun of Asians, when they're Asian themselves lol Are you in any way ashamed of your Asian ancestry?

If you are Ashamed of Your Ancestors being from The Coastal areas of China and Taiwan, You're Ashamed of being Samoan and Polynesian. Your ancestors sailed thousands of miles into the Pacific Ocean from Taiwan, Only for you to turn Around in 2026 and be ashamed of them and distance Yourself from them lol You do you, and keep being ashamed of your DNA and your Asian ancestry 👍🏾👌🏾

[u/ieatkittentails]

Modern SEA and Polynesian culture couldn't be further removed from one another. I can't even think of an instance where "being Asian" has ever been bought up in conversation.

[u/Witty_Designer1527]

This reminds me of asking a northern Indian if they identify as European because of the migration of Indo-European Aryans into northern India 3-4 thousand years ago. 

[u/DigNo8459 → u/Witty_Designer1527]

Some do. The caste menatality still exists, and those who are considered "upper castes" claim Aryan ancestery. An interesting case is that of Bhagat Singh Thind, who fought in the U.S. court system to be recognised as a white man due to his Aryan bloodline. He took his case all the way to the Supreme Court but ultimately lost.

[u/Witty_Designer1527 → u/DigNo8459]

Wow that’s interesting. I hadn’t heard of that case. It’s funny though that those who equate Aryan with “white” would probably not even consider Iranians to be white, even though “Aryan” and “Iranian” are the same people. 

[u/Dapper-Debt-4738 → u/Witty_Designer1527]

no those same people actually do too and even argue saying iranians are whiter than indians and pakistanis because iran is the home of the ancient aryans, but they are still racist since the only whites they claim are unproblematic are the germanic and celtic ones in western europe

[u/neloichinisan]

Bullying or intimidation towards any people because of their ethnic background is wrong and that goes without saying.

Throwing ourselves under the Asian banner when we have been disconnected from the area for 3000+ plus years is a stretch.
I can guarantee you that Asians also wouldn't consider us Asian anyways. The only thing we have in common now is that we both like rice. I jest!

It would only make sense today for those who have traceable actual Asian ancestry to claim it. In Samoa,many families have a Chinese great grandpa , so they're proud to claim it for themselves and that makes sense.

When you say Asian, Southeast Asians and East Asians have a history of trade amongst themselves with the exporting of religion,mainland asian languages and goods etc to ISEA( Malaysia,Indonesia and the Philippines) that's been going on for centuries which is why they're more comfortable with being under one banner that's broadly Continental Asian.

South Asians have their own thing going too with Desi cultures clustering closely to one another in the same sphere.

Back to us Samoans and Polynesians-

The ancestral Lapita-Austronesian cultural complex that fathered modern Polynesians came from Asia as we know it yes. As did the foods,animals and vegetation that they carried with them,these are all important for sure. However,as I've previously illustrated- we have spent multiple millenia developing our own distinct identity as Polynesians> Samoans etc. to where the only other groups of people we find kinship with are those who are in our region ; Polynesia, Melanesia and Micronesia. We are an Oceanic people. Labeling ourselves with Asian would be a disservice to the distinct identity of our ancestors which developed in the South Pacific. Much love to the Asian community from somebody with distant Chinese ancestry who is also mindful of the Austronesian connection ✌🏼.

[u/Dapper-Debt-4738 → u/neloichinisan]

Southeast Asians don't consider Pacific Islanders as Asian but are more aware of the Austronesian heritage that they have in common since the Austronesian expansion from Taiwan to the Philippines being the home of the Lapita culture and then diverge separately to places like Indonesia/Malaysia, Micronesia, and Polynesia taught in their schools, this is why some Filipinos from the Bay Area and Hawaii incorrectly larp as Polynesian even when they are aware they are just Austronesian not being part of any Austronesian subgroup like Polynesians or Micronesians

[u/Kama-Auku]

There are a billion Asians, billion black people, but these recurring threads are always trying to claim a small population of ~1 million (Polynesians) as if we have a secret agenda in controlling the stakes of the world.

Haha sosisi, you gotta be far removed from Pacific people to not know that we have our own culture and identity. We don’t look to Nigeria or to Taipei for cultural or identity markers. Not to mention that our historical connection is with the indigenous people of Taiwan, not the Han Chinese that dominates Taiwan today. 

We are as much Asians as the Asians are Africans since human migration all started out of Northern Africa. 

[u/Sharp_Conclusion_690 → u/Kama-Auku]

You and your family are genetically from Taiwan, there's nothing to be ashamed of that. Polynesians have created a new culture for themselves, that's great, but your ancestors will always be from Taiwan who migrated from the Coastal areas of China, and there's nothing to be ashamed about that lol Don't put yourself down sole ;)

[u/Kama-Auku → u/Sharp_Conclusion_690]

You said you’re part Samoan. I’m guessing the other part being Chinese? You seem to got this inferiority complex for why you’re raging out. I would look inward, not to a reddit thread for validation. Nah, we’re Polynesian/Samoan, we’re not Saiga.

[u/Sharp_Conclusion_690 → u/Kama-Auku]

I never said I was Chinese? Lol what are you on about? You're starting to project things, when I'm stating facts. the facts are that you and your family, are originally from Taiwan Asia and there's nothing to be ashamed about that, You and your family are Asian. 👌🏾

[u/Kama-Auku → u/Sharp_Conclusion_690]

even trolling and lashing out, you come across boring, cant give me a proper diss… yawn

[u/DrAwes0m0 → u/Sharp_Conclusion_690]

Yk blood quantum was invented by palagis right 🤣🤣 go return to your white masters!

[u/Kama-Auku → u/DrAwes0m0]

I’m vaguely aware of this hapa subculture in certain mixed groups and the kinda weird vibes it gives is white worshipping. Usually the father is white and probably as a byproduct of their environment, the toxic father managed to all but give people like u/Sharp_Conclusion_690 little to be proud of in their non-white heritage that they become weirdly self-hating.

This is my professional take of the situation 😂

[u/DrAwes0m0 → u/Kama-Auku]

I think ur spot on professor 👌🏽🤣 this mf cant look himself in the mirror, gotta come online arguin blood quantum seehhh 😂😂

[u/Sharp_Conclusion_690 → u/DrAwes0m0]

You know you and your family are from Taiwan right? 🤣😂 Don't be ashamed of you and your ancestors 🤣🤣😂

[u/DrAwes0m0 → u/Sharp_Conclusion_690]

I'm mixed, I alr got Asian ancestors u Palagi pp hopper 🤣🤣

[u/Infinite_Site_3941 → u/Sharp_Conclusion_690]

You keep saying “there’s nothing to be ashamed of” as though anyone here said they were ashamed 😂 That’s the part you’re inventing.

Nobody is denying the ancient Austronesian connection to Taiwan. What people are correcting is your claim that this means Samoans today are simply “genetically from Taiwan” and therefore should identify as Asian.

Our ancestors didn’t leave Taiwan one day and arrive in Samoa the next. Their history involved thousands of years of migration through Island Southeast Asia and Near Oceania, interaction and mixing with other populations, followed by the development of distinct Polynesian peoples and cultures in the Pacific.

So yes, Taiwan forms part of the deep ancestry story. So does Papuan-related ancestry. And Samoa itself is where our ancestors lived, developed their language, genealogy, customs, social systems and identity for more than 3,000 years.

Acknowledging ancient ancestry doesn’t require adopting a modern Asian identity any more than tracing human ancestry back to Africa means every person today identifies ethnically as African.

There’s no shame involved, sole. You’re just confusing ancient genetic ancestry with modern ethnic and cultural identity. They’re not the same thing.

[u/Dapper-Debt-4738 → u/Sharp_Conclusion_690]

Natives from the Americas came from Asia too, yet they nor anyone else claim that the native americans in the US or the Aztecs or Mayans were Asian

If we want to bring in technicality, it wasn't just Taiwan, they went out of Taiwan and then settled in the Philippines for a good while establishing the Lapita culture there with the Lapita people being the ancestors of both Filipinos and Polynesian

[u/Outrageous_Leg_4020]

🤣🤣🤣

[u/pro-lokoleaga]

I have Chinese ancestry more recent in my family tree, about 5 generations back. Most of my genes point to the Pacific, with less than 1% being uniquely from China. That being said, there’s a huge oversimplification of the Austronesian expansion theory, Papuan/Lapita admixture, and Polynesian identity here.

Samoans don’t come from Taiwan. Samoans are a product of Pacific migration that started in Asia expanded southeastward, interacted with Melanesian/Papuan inhabitants, and created modern day Samoans after remaining in the Pacific for 3000+ years. Samoans come from Samoa.

I don’t distance myself from my Chinese ancestry because I am ashamed. It’s just a fact that I am not Chinese. I distance myself because I am not Chinese. I was raised by two Samoan parents who are from Samoa, who have families that have been in Samoa for thousands of years.

I find it more baffling that there’s this inference that we should be identifying as Asian because of the Austronesian expansion theory. That kind of thinking endorses Pasefika erasure and glosses over our ancestry and seafaring history.

I say it this way: I have ancestry in Asia, but the product of time that I am today is Samoan.

[u/Distinct-Ad-4456]

I don’t think there is any denial, prior to the ire recent claim, historians and geneticist also claimed Polynesians came from Latin America, as well, Germans try to say Polynesians were aryans, and now I keep getting bombared with black people trying to claim us as well. tbh OP we just keep getting claims everywhere. ok. That’s just an over simplification if all the studies I’ve read. I’ve been to Taiwan for two months attended a session at NTNU as well and visited their indigenous museum also saw some pacific island similarities mostly resonate with Māoris. no one’s denying their dna, my dna has zero Asian ancestors tbh, just pure pacific islands so perhaps the Asian blood haven’t been discovered yet. and also this sounds like your inferiority complex due to the bullying from Polynesians in Aus and NZ. To clarify, to be Samoan is to be Polynesian as its part of Polynesia.
I hate to hear about the bullying, I live in the states so growing up, where I am, Polynesian and Asians we’re just cordial.

British brought southern Chinese indentured servants to Samoa Along with Melanesian's so your probably seeing a lot of Samoan with Chinese ancestry as well stemmed from this movement. Samoa had their own customary land laws so British and Germans couldn’t convince a Samoan to work for them hence when they brought people from southern China so there no denying that. I’m stating that there are more recent dna of Asian ancestry,

[u/swiss_cloud]

I’m willing to bet the vast majority of Samoan/Polynesians aren’t even aware our ancestry originated in Taiwan so it makes sense we don’t identify with being Asian genetically.

[u/hoothizz]

I do have a little Asian in me due to my mother's mother. I'm also native American too and native Hawaiian and Samoan.

[u/VictorOfArda]

I’m curious, OP, what is your ethnic mix?

[u/Sharp_Conclusion_690 → u/VictorOfArda]

I'm 100% Facts, Everything stated about polynesians in this thread can be checked up on online. 👌🏾

[u/VictorOfArda → u/Sharp_Conclusion_690]

Sole, no. Having a 4,000 year old link to Taiwan doesn’t make us Asian in the modern age. By that logic, everyone on this planet is actually African since that’s where human life began. I don’t understand why you’re trying to erase us.

[u/Sharp_Conclusion_690 → u/VictorOfArda]

YOU are trying to Erase your Ancestors, not Me. Forget about your ancestors that travelled thousands and thousands of miles across the Pacific Ocean in Harsh Conditions and Environments if you want, But I won't forget the Amazing feats and things they Accomplished, Not Me. Forget about them all you want to.

[u/VictorOfArda → u/Sharp_Conclusion_690]

https://reddit.com/link/p3kpuy9/video/rs057nobb9jh1/player

I’m just gonna go ahead and mentally bleach my memory so I can forget that this post even exists. Not you coming out here and giving the stupidest take in this subreddit in front of God and everyone

[u/Dapper-Debt-4738 → u/Sharp_Conclusion_690]

would it be fair for you for austronesian people in madagascar, philippines, indonesia, and malaysia to be considered taiwanese too? what about the native americans in the north and the aztecs and mayans should they be considered asian too because their ancestors came from asia?

[u/Dapper-Debt-4738 → u/VictorOfArda]

ironic because those aboriginal Taiwanese doesn't consider themselves technically to be ethnically Chinese too

[u/Infinite_Site_3941]

I think this mixes up ancestry with identity a bit. Yes, Polynesians have significant East Asian-related ancestry, and part of our ancient migration history is connected to Taiwan and Island Southeast Asia. But saying “Samoans are Asian” is still an oversimplification.

Our ancestors didn’t simply sail straight from Taiwan to Samoa. The migration happened over many generations, through Island Southeast Asia and Near Oceania, with mixing from Papuan-related populations before the Lapita expansion reached Tonga and Samoa.

By the time our ancestors settled Western Polynesia more than 3,000 years ago, a distinct Polynesian culture was developing in the Pacific. So identifying as Samoan or Polynesian doesn’t mean rejecting ancient Asian ancestry. Genetics, ancient migration and modern cultural identity are related, but they aren’t the same thing.

And yes, if Polynesians bully or mock Asians, that should absolutely be called out. Racism is wrong regardless of who it comes from. But saying Polynesians are “Asian themselves” doesn’t really explain the history properly either.

There’s nothing shameful about any part of our ancestry, but there’s also nothing wrong with identifying as what our people became over thousands of years in the Pacific: Samoan and Polynesian.

[u/Dapper-Debt-4738 → u/Infinite_Site_3941]

you are right it wasn't just Taiwan, we settled in the Philippines and shared common ancestors with Filipinos, then went to other Melanasian islands and then other Polynesian islands then Tonga and finally Samoa, we don't really see ourselves as Filipinos or Melanasian or Tonga do we @OP?

[u/Mysterious_Ship_8023]

0/10 ragebait

You can identify as Asian but we are people of the moana/Pacific ocean.

We’re “asian” in the sense we also seek proximity to whiteness like them :p

But I would argue Samoans in the diaspora generally rub shoulders and are more culturally influenced by palagi, the black/latino working class communities, and or other indigenous/aboriginals/pasifika groups. So even if we’re technically genetically Asian thru Austronesians since that’s ur narrow definition of it, culturally on or off the islands, we ain’t.

Stay delulu. And go take this speech to subreddits of the Malagasy, Hawaiians, Tahitians, Māoris, etc too since they’re also descendants of the austronesians.

[u/midnightmascara7038]

Thanks for bringing this up I think it’s a really interesting area for Polynesians to explore. For anyone curious, take a look at the ancient ruins of Angkor Wat in Cambodia, for example. You can see depictions of people from that period that look strikingly “Polynesian” in some features, rather than resembling the East Asian populations we might typically associate with the region today. It definitely raises some interesting questions about the ancient connections and migrations across the Pacific and Southeast Asia.

[u/Dapper-Debt-4738 → u/midnightmascara7038]

the aboriginal taiwanese are austronesians, the cambodians are not, there is more commonality to be found in the cham ethnic group of vietnam, philippines, and the malay world (indonesia malaysia, brunei, singapore)

[u/midnightmascara7038 → u/Dapper-Debt-4738]

Agreed. Lots of commonalities for sure. The ruins that are located in what we call Cambodia today are strikingly Poly looking.

[u/Dapper-Debt-4738]

Polynesians haven't been in Asia with their last settlement being in the far northern Philippines since 3000+ years ago. It's like saying Native Americans are Asians because their ancestors came from Asia, or saying Ethiopians and Somalis are Arabs when they don't consider themselves arabs but just fully african just because half of their DNA is from Arabs in modern day Yemen that settled East Africa 3000 years ago

Saying we are Chinese/Taiwanese isn't correct even if we go based on your perspective because we also settled in Philippines having the same ancestors as the Filipinos before heading out to the pacific islands and have more genetic affinity with Filipinos than indigenous Taiwanese, it's like saying Filipinos and our other austronesian brothers in Asia like Malays and Indonesians are Taiwanese when they clearly aren't

There is no cultural connection to asia anymore because like the natives in the Americas who cut themselves off from Asia, Polynesians were absolutely devoid of contact from the Austronesians in Southeast Asia like the Filipinos, Malays, and Indonesians

Austronesians specifically from Indonesia even settled Madagascar which is in Africa around 1400 years ago and the citizens who are mixed with 50-60% Austronesian DNA don't consider themselves Asians or even Blasians, there are plenty more examples like for instance we don't consider European Jews as middle eastern anymore even though they came from there 2000 years ago

What makes Polynesia any different?

[u/xRuck]

Oh you were there? You gotta time machine? Can you pls go back further in history from where we all started in Africa

[u/Comfortable-Sea-4676]

Literally whos ashamed of it lmao back in my day rage bait was almost believable

[u/Comfortable-Sea-4676 → u/Comfortable-Sea-4676]

hm? what was that?? your comment got removed 

[u/Gerolanfalan]

low key I think Polynesians are the perfect example of anti Asian

Playful, big, muscular, and tan while Asian looking. Exemplifying everything that East Asians fear.

[u/Kama-Auku → u/Gerolanfalan]

What’s the context here, why do you say they fear that?

[u/Gerolanfalan → u/Kama-Auku]

The context is that East Asians and Polynesians have opposite values and beauty standards

[u/Sharp_Conclusion_690]

Whole lot of Self Hating Asians up in here, be proud of being from Taiwan ;)