08/28/2026
"I am a storyteller. I specialize in Polynesian legends, and I have a love for Marquesan legends and histories. Back in about 1989 or 1990, I started getting into Marquesan genealogy because I'd been studying the stories and histories. My way to thank those who handed down the stories or who were in the stories is to gather up all their names and introduce them to their descendants. It is a token of my love for them.
"I went to the Bishop Museum in Hawaii to look through their archives. While I was there, they pulled out a collection of photographs that had been taken in 1920 of about 120 people from the Marquesas. I thought what I could do was create a genealogy project. I went through all the available birth, marriage, and death records and built one huge community genealogical tree. Then I started matching the photographs to the genealogies. I had some great successes. For example, I have a friend whose mother passed away two years ago. I was able to show him a photograph of both his mother and father that had been taken in 1920. They both died around 1960, so it was a very special experience.
"Every two years, I go back to the Marquesas. I'll walk down the street, pull out my phone, and say, 'Hey, I've got your genealogy on my phone. What's your name?' Within about a minute, I'm showing them four, five, or even six generations of their family. After I show them their genealogy, I take a picture of them holding their family tree with their finger pointing to their name. That way I can remember who they are. I'm introducing people to their own ancestors, and that brings me a lot of joy." —Daniel Longstaff
You can help others discover their family history too. Check out FamilySearch's Get Involved program. Click the link to get started. https://www.familysearch.org/en/getinvolved/?cid=SO-00063918
