thumb|right|200px|A man from the Nukufetau atoll, 1841, drawn by Alfred Agate. Tuvaluans are a Polynesian people, with the origins of the people of Tuvalu addressed in the theories regarding migration into the Pacific that began about 3000 years ago. There is evidence for a dual genetic origin of Pacific Islanders in Asia and Melanesia, which results from an analysis of Y chromosome (NRY) and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) markers; there is also evidence that Fiji playing a pivotal role in west-to-east expansion within Polynesia.
thumb|right|200px|A man from the Nukufetau atoll, 1841, drawn by Alfred Agate. Tuvaluans are a Polynesian people, with the origins of the people of Tuvalu addressed in the theories regarding migration into the Pacific that began about 3000 years ago. There is evidence for a dual genetic origin of Pacific Islanders in Asia and Melanesia, which results from an analysis of Y chromosome (NRY) and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) markers; there is also evidenc.e that Fiji playing a pivotal role in west-to-east expansion within Polynesia