The Marquesan people emigrated from Marquesas Islands, a group of volcanic islands in French Polynesia in the southern Pacific Ocean. The total population of the islands is just over 10,000.

They speak Marquesan, a collection of East-Central Polynesian dialects, only spoken in the Marquesas Islands of French Polynesia. They are usually classified into two groups, North Marquesan and South Marquesan, roughly along geographic lines. The Maequesan people in the United States not only speak Marquesan but are also conversant in English.

Culturally, they are Marquesan a mélange created by the layering of the ancient Marquesan culture, with strong influences from the important Tahitian culture and the politically important French culture.

The majority Marquesan people claim Roman Catholicism with a small minority claiming Protestantism.