French Polynesia Genealogy: Difference between revisions

no edit summary
No edit summary
No edit summary
Line 7: Line 7:
&nbsp;[[Portal:French Polynesia|French Polynesia]] lies south of Hawaii and east of Tonga and Samoa. It is composed of 118 islands. From north to south the major island groups are:<br>
&nbsp;[[Portal:French Polynesia|French Polynesia]] lies south of Hawaii and east of Tonga and Samoa. It is composed of 118 islands. From north to south the major island groups are:<br>


*''Marquesas Islands''
*''Marquesas Islands''  
*''Tuamotu Islands''
*''Tuamotu Islands''  
*''Society Islands''
*''Society Islands''  
*''Gambier Islands''
*''Gambier Islands''  
*''Austral Islands <br>Papeete, Tahiti ''of the ''Society Islands&nbsp;''is the capital. The population is about 92,000. About half of the people in French Polynesia &nbsp;live on the island of ''Tahiti.''
*''Austral Islands <br>Papeete, Tahiti ''of the ''Society Islands&nbsp;''is the capital. The population is about 92,000. About half of the people in French Polynesia &nbsp;live on the island of ''Tahiti.''
'''Family History Work Ideas'''<br>Ives Perrin served as LDS Mission President in Tahiti, and as a Church educator in the islands of French Polynesia for several years. His suggestions for the steps a person from French Polynesia should take to get records after interviewing family members are as follows:
'''1. Secure an official government record.<br>'''&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Citizens are required to do this by law, but people on the outer islands sometimes put it off. People have a Polynesian name and an official French name. We must have the French name when we declare births with the government. We can find our parents’ records, which tell where we are from.
'''2.&nbsp;Go to the Family History Center in Papeete and ask for help from the directors.<br>'''&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Presently, Elder and Sister Gautier are the FHC Directors. They both are fluent in French, and Sister Gautier knows Tahitian. They both understand the full situation of getting access to records.
'''3.&nbsp;If&nbsp;you do not speak French, you should ask a translator to go with you.&nbsp;<br>'''&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; A&nbsp;person needs to know the French language to use the government records.<br>'''4.&nbsp;Use the Family History Library Catalog to gain access to the records the Family History Library has.'''
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; One oral genealogy which a member gave to Ives contained 77 generations. It is also in the ''Family History Library Catalog ''under the '''''subject'''''<b>&nbsp; French Polynesia - Church History</b>. It also appears in the book ''Seasons of Faith and Courage, ''by S. George Ellsworth and Kathleen C. Perrin, Published by Yves R. Perrin. This book is also in the ''Family History Library Catalog.'' Use a ''Title'' search to find it.
Ives recommended that we read the book ''Tahiti in Ancient Days''. It has information about Thor Heyerdahl’s expeditions. Another book with information about Heyerdahl’s research is ''American Indians in the Pacific.''
==== '''Resources available for all of FrenchPolynesia&nbsp;'''<br>Use the Family History Library Catalog.  ====
Go to the Internet at '''''familysearch.org'''''and click on the '''Library '''tab. From that tab, click on the '''Family History Library Catalog'''.We can type in '''French Polynesia '''to get a list of the islands and island groups and to see what records were made under this large jurisdiction.
Then we should type in the name of each island group for records in that jurisdiction and then type in the name of the island that interests you. On''Tahiti,''records are listed under the name of the town.&nbsp;
Also, we should do a keyword search on '''Tahiti'''. Over 220 items will appear.<br>Note: All of these islands are a protectorate of ''France.''The people of these islands are full citizens of France. School children must learn French history. French is the governing language, and the civil records are kept in French. Jurisdictions are organized the same way <br>Births, marriages, and deaths are recorded by the government, and citizens are required to have an official government record. Tables are published by the government every ten years giving an index to the names in the records.This facilitates genealogical research up to the time when the French first came to the islands. They have been keeping records since the early 1800's. <br>Notarial records are available from the year 1862. <br>Large numbers of civil registration records are available from 1843. <br>A large number of oral genealogies and land records are also available.
'''Cole Jensen Collection'''
An important collection of compiled genealogies for the Pacific Islands is found in the ''<u>Cole-Jensen Collection: Oral Genealogies and Genealogical Information Collected from the Polynesian Peoples and from the Pacific Islands.&nbsp;</u>'' These&nbsp;records were collected over a 50 year period and microfilmed in 1984 by the Genealogical Society of Utah.&nbsp;The original collection consisted of 51 binders.&nbsp; The original materials no longer exist as an intact collection.&nbsp; However, there are &nbsp;nine microfilms of the binders available at various&nbsp;family history centers.&nbsp; They are numbers '''1358001-1358009'''.&nbsp; This collection contains family group records, pedigree charts, and oral genealogies collected from the&nbsp;&nbsp;islands of Hawaii,New Zealand, Samoa,&nbsp;Tonga, Niue, Cook Islands,&nbsp;and&nbsp;French Polynesia,&nbsp;including the Society, Marquesas, Austral Islands, and the Tuamoto Archipelago.&nbsp; The Mciorfilm numbers for French Polynesia are:
<br>
<br>When we put our family history together, we may not have many dates to work with. Because of this, we need to ''study the history of the islands where our ancestors lived by starting with the historical background for the island group of our ancestors''. To see a time line for each of the island groups and to find research resources for them, please click on each of the&nbsp;island groups listed below&nbsp;separately.&nbsp; This is because the Wiki can only hold certain amounts of information at one time, so it has been separated into sections.
[[Austral Islands|Austral Islands&nbsp;]]<br>[[Gambier Islands|Gambier Islands]]&nbsp;<br>[[Marquesas Islands|Marquesas Islands]] <br>[[Society Islands (includes Tahiti)|Society Islands&nbsp;]]&nbsp;(includes Tahiti)<br>[[Tuamotu Islands|Tuamotu Islands]]


==== Case Study: Gisele Maeva Takanga Buchin Tehaavi, including historical background  ====
==== Case Study: Gisele Maeva Takanga Buchin Tehaavi, including historical background  ====
Line 96: Line 66:


There is also a picture of the Mission Schooner. It was in use from 1950 to 1956. I sailed to all of the islands with the mission president when I was a member of the Church Band. He organized it and I was in it for 3 years. I later became a teacher in the elementary schools of our Church. Our home is now in ''Moorea, Tahiti''.  
There is also a picture of the Mission Schooner. It was in use from 1950 to 1956. I sailed to all of the islands with the mission president when I was a member of the Church Band. He organized it and I was in it for 3 years. I later became a teacher in the elementary schools of our Church. Our home is now in ''Moorea, Tahiti''.  
==== More Family History Work Ideas ====
&nbsp;Ives Perrin served as LDS Mission President in Tahiti, and as a Church educator in the islands of French Polynesia for several years. His suggestions for the steps a person from French Polynesia should take to get records after interviewing family members are as follows:&nbsp;
'''1. Secure an official government record.<br>'''Citizens are required to do this by law, but people on the outer islands sometimes put it off. People have a Polynesian name and an official French name. We must have the French name when we declare births with the government. We can find our parents’ records, which tell where we are from.
'''2. Go to the Family History Center in Papeete and ask for help from the directors.<br>'''Presently, Elder and Sister Gautier are the FHC Directors. They both are fluent in French, and Sister Gautier knows Tahitian. They both understand the full situation of getting access to records.
'''3. If you do not speak French, you should ask a translator to go with you. <br>'''A person needs to know the French language to use the government records.<br>4'''. Use the Family History Library Catalog to gain access to the records the Family History Library has.'''
One oral genealogy which a member gave to Ives contained 77 generations. It is also in the ''Family History Library Catalog ''under the subject ''French Polynesia - Church History.'' It also appears in the book ''Seasons of Faith and Courage'', by S. George Ellsworth and Kathleen C. Perrin, Published by Yves R. Perrin. This book is also in the Family History Library Catalog. Use a ''Title'' search to find it.
Ives recommended that we read the book ''Tahiti in Ancient Days.'' It has information about Thor Heyerdahl’s expeditions. Another book with information about Heyerdahl’s research is ''American Indians in the Pacific''.
'''Resources available for all of French Polynesia <br>'''Use the Family History Library Catalog. <br>Go to the Internet at familysearch.organd click on the Library tab. From that tab, click on the Family History Library Catalog.We can type in French Polynesia to get a list of the islands and island groups and to see what records were made under this large jurisdiction.
Then we should type in the name of each island group for records in that jurisdiction and then type in the name of the island that interests you. OnTahiti,records are listed under the name of the town.
Also, we should do a keyword search on Tahiti. Over 220 items will appear.<br>Note: All of these islands are a protectorate of France.The people of these islands are full citizens of France. School children must learn French history. French is the governing language, and the civil records are kept in French. Jurisdictions are organized the same way <br>Births, marriages, and deaths are recorded by the government, and citizens are required to have an official government record. Tables are published by the government every ten years giving an index to the names in the records.This facilitates genealogical research up to the time when the French first came to the islands. They have been keeping records since the early 1800's. <br>Notarial records are available from the year 1862. <br>Large numbers of civil registration records are available from 1843. <br>A large number of oral genealogies and land records are also available.
Cole Jensen Collection
An important collection of compiled genealogies for the Pacific Islands is found in the Cole-Jensen Collection: Oral Genealogies and Genealogical Information Collected from the Polynesian Peoples and from the Pacific Islands. These records were collected over a 50 year period and microfilmed in 1984 by the Genealogical Society of Utah. The original collection consisted of 51 binders. The original materials no longer exist as an intact collection. However, there are nine microfilms of the binders available at various family history centers. They are numbers 1358001-1358009. This collection contains family group records, pedigree charts, and oral genealogies collected from the islands of Hawaii,New Zealand, Samoa, Tonga, Niue, Cook Islands, and French Polynesia, including the Society, Marquesas, Austral Islands, and the Tuamoto Archipelago. Look for the Mciorfilm numbers for French Polynesia by isalnd group, listed below.
Get further information for individual island groups.<br>When we put our family history together, we may not have many dates to work with. Because of this, we need to study the history of the islands where our ancestors lived by starting with the historical background for the island group of our ancestors. To see a time line for each of the island groups and to find research resources for them, please click on each of the island groups listed below separately. This is because the Wiki can only hold certain amounts of information at one time, so it has been separated into sections.
Austral Islands <br>Gambier Islands <br>Marquesas Islands <br>Society Islands (includes Tahiti)<br>Tuamotu Islands


&nbsp;See also the Portal: French Polynesia in FamilySearch Research Wiki.&nbsp;  
&nbsp;See also the Portal: French Polynesia in FamilySearch Research Wiki.&nbsp;  
0

edits