The 'indigenous peoples of Nauru' are an
ethnicity, which inhabit the
Pacific island of
Nauru. They are most likely a blend of
other Pacific peoples.
The origin of the Nauruan people has not yet been finally determined. It can possibly be explained by the last Malayo-Pacific
human migration (ca.
A.D. 1200). It was probably seafaring or shipwrecked
Polynesians or
Melanesians, which established themselves there because there was not already an
indigenous people present, whereas the Micronesians were already crossed with the Melanesians in this area.
The Nauruans have two elements of their population: the native Melanesians and the Polynesians who had immigrated long before. The Melanesians are represented through coarse, dark hair; the Polynesians are lighter brown and have smoother, black hair. Through these two extremes the diverse transitions came to exist.
The Nauruans, which lived as indigenous before 1900, maintained hygiene and cleanliness and cared for their bodies. At about 1920,
influenza spread through Nauru, which took a heavy toll on the indigenous people. In 1925 the first cases of
diabetes was diagnosed by doctors. Today, depending on age, every second to third Nauruan is diabetic - a higher rate than any other country in the world.