Focusing on Family in the Process of Samoan Migration

A Case of Three Women’s Migrant Experiences to Auckland in the 2000s

抄録

In the contemporary era, mass migration from the Pacific Islands to oversea places such as New Zealand, Australia, and the U.S. has dramatically changed daily village life. Family plays an important role in migration, yet few studies reveal how migration has influenced family in the Pacific. This paper aims to consider the influences of family and related factors in migration processes and incentives pertaining to Samoan women in the 2000s. For this purpose, the paper focuses on the life stories of three Samoan women who migrated in the 2000s from the Independent State of Samoa to Auckland, New Zealand. Samoan migration research has typically understood incentives of Samoan migration and contexts for sending remittances as rooted in the Samoan socio-cultural system and driven by collectivity, because Samoan people seek economic opportunity out of an obligation to their ‘āiga. All three women who were born in Samoa and came to New Zealand, however, differed in terms of migration processes. As each grows older, the incentives for migration become more complex, and an obligation to their ‘āiga does not necessarily serve as a strong factor behind migration. However, three different possibilities exist for how family has affected the process of migration in these three cases. First, the relationships between migrants and their natal or spouse’s family before migration have no small effect on out-migration. Second, favor for the nuclear family as a priority, especially for married Samoan women, might prompt their migration. Third, parents and extended families in Samoa continue to carry a strong influence on the migration of their underage children and family members. Although the processes of Samoan migration to Auckland were not simple, migration was still strongly enmeshed with family in many senses.