Panethnic identity among Pacific Islanders: a case study from two Salt Lake County high schools

Utahns with family heritage from the Pacific Islands are classified as "Pacific Islander" (PI) by the Utah State Office of Education and as "Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander" (NHPI) by the U.S. Census Bureau. Are these merely bureaucratic, institutional labels, or do young people in this category actually identify with a panethnic group including people from different national heritages? Interviews with students at two Salt Lake County high schools provide evidence that students of Pacific heritage identify with a panethnic "Polynesian" or "Poly" group. Within this sample, specific national heritages are honored, but they don't form rigid boundaries, and conflicts rarely arise between ethnic subgroups. Some students see this as different from their parents' or grandparents' experiences, which they see as having been more divisive.