Sixteen Barn Stars

Niue (pronounced NEW-ay) is a tiny island nation in the South Pacific, best known for limestone cliffs and caves, rock pools and coral reef diving. 1600 people live in Niue, which means “behold the coconut.”  In January of 2004 Niue was hit by a category five Cyclone Heta. The storm caused two deaths and more than $85 million in damage there. In a matter of hours, all of the country’s vital records were completely destroyed. Years earlier, FamilySearch volunteers had meticulously microfilmed many of Niue’s vital records and stored them (along with oh so many others) in granite vaults high above Salt Lake City. These priceless documents include more than 30,000 images of birth, death and marriage records, and an index of Europeans who emigrated to Niue. The documents also include genealogies of Niue women, which are used to determine property rights. All of these valuable records were copied and restored to Niue to help them rebuild their lives.