Our Oceanian family - our Melanesian, Micronesian and Polynesian communities have grown rapidly in Washington (Coast Salish territories) as the highest growing racial group (NH/PI) according to the US Census in 2020. We are Indigenous Oceanians whose ancestors are the greatest of ocean navigators.

Due to systemic racism rooted in data collection, and the allocation of federal funding, NH/PIs have been deemed invisible and under-resourced in the past century. Our infrastructures of care in North America have experienced significant chronic under-investment. When disaggregated as a unique Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander (NH/PI) grouping, we see tremendous disparities that our people face across all structural and social determinants of health factors compared to other racial groups.