Chinese Indentured Laborers in Samoa: 1903-1948

This project follows the survival of Chinese indentured laborers in Samoa in the 20th century, including plantation labor, smuggling, violence, and marriage to indigenous Samoans. With only about 7,000 people, they were an insignificant group compared to the wave of emigration from China in the 20th century. As I read about their archives, I felt that these stories and experiences should be uncovered and remembered in relation to the Chinese community in today's Samoa and how we tell the story of "minority groups" in history. Based on the newspaper in the Archives of New Zealand and Chinese archives, this project reveals more details about the lives of these maritime migrants.