Royal seal of the Polynesian Kingdom of Atooi
    Polynesian Kingdom of Atooi

    Evidence Standards

    How every record on this site is classified, and what each class of record does and does not establish.

    Why this exists

    Evidence classifications describe the source and verification status of a record. They do not by themselves determine sovereignty, jurisdiction, diplomatic recognition, historical interpretation, or legal validity.

    Sovereignty organizations are often read with justified caution, because claim and evidence are commonly presented in the same voice. This archive separates them. Every classified record states where its support comes from, and a reader can see at once whether a statement rests on an outside source, on the Kingdom's own record, on traditional transmission, or on documentation not yet published.

    A state is never assigned to make a record look stronger than it is. Where the supporting document has not been published, the record says so. Gaps are listed rather than left implicit, and the register of material requiring further documentation is public.

    The evidence classifications

    Documentary record

    Supported by a court record, a government record, an archival primary source, an established publication, or another independent third-party source.

    What the record establishes

    That the event, document or statement exists in a source outside the Kingdom's own record-keeping, and says what it is quoted as saying.

    What the record does not establish

    Independent documentation of an event does not establish recognition, legal status, jurisdiction, or agreement by any government or body. A source establishes only its own contents.

    Kingdom record

    Supported by records generated or held by the Polynesian Kingdom of Atooi.

    What the record establishes

    What the Kingdom formally issued, resolved, appointed or stated, and on what date.

    What the record does not establish

    A Kingdom record is evidence of the Kingdom's own act or position. It is not independent corroboration of it, and it does not establish acceptance, recognition or agreement by any other party.

    Documentary record

    A document, scan, or artefact created at the time of the events it concerns — treaties, proclamations, official gazettes, registers, correspondence, and equivalent archival originals.

    What the record establishes

    That the document exists, its date and form, and what its text says.

    What the record does not establish

    A historical primary source does not by itself settle how the document should be interpreted today, nor does it establish present-day status, jurisdiction, or recognition.

    Oral or traditional testimony

    Maintained through oral history, genealogy, chiefly attestation, family custodianship, ceremony, or cultural transmission within Indigenous and customary systems.

    What the record establishes

    What is held and transmitted within the tradition, and by whom it is attested. These are recognised Polynesian and Indigenous forms of record, presented in their own terms.

    What the record does not establish

    Customary and Indigenous records are not equivalent to documentary proof in a civil or judicial setting, and confer no status under the law of any state.

    The claim or event exists in Kingdom records, but supporting documentation has not yet been publicly released or independently corroborated.

    What the record establishes

    Only that the Kingdom reports the matter. Nothing further.

    What the record does not establish

    A pending item establishes no fact about the event itself. It is listed so the gap is visible rather than hidden, and it is not evidence that the event did or did not occur.

    How strongly a record is stated

    The classifications above say where a record comes from. The weights below say how it is written. Strong evidence states itself plainly: an event supported by a court record, a government record or an authenticated primary source is given as what happened, who took part and what record supports it, with one clarification of legal scope where a reader could otherwise misread it.

    Confidence is proportionate to the evidence. The qualifying language used for material awaiting documentation is not applied to court records, government records, or authenticated primary sources, and a single clarification is never repeated on a card, beneath it, and again in the surrounding section.

    Tier A — Independent primary evidence

    Government records, court records, authenticated archival materials, signed counterpart records, and official correspondence.

    How it is presented

    Stated factually and directly: what happened, who took part, and the record that supports it.

    Qualification carried

    One scope clarification at most, and only where the legal or diplomatic effect could otherwise be misread.

    Tier B — Independent corroboration

    Reputable media, academic work, counterpart institutions' own publications, and institutional records held outside the Kingdom.

    How it is presented

    Stated directly, with the source named.

    Qualification carried

    A caveat only where one is necessary.

    Tier C — Kingdom record

    Records issued or held by the Polynesian Kingdom of Atooi: decrees, internal archives, and official Kingdom statements.

    How it is presented

    Identified plainly as a Kingdom record, with the state of any external corroboration given where it matters.

    Qualification carried

    The absence of outside corroboration is stated once, not repeated across the entry.

    Tier D — Traditional and customary evidence

    Chiefly attestation, oral genealogy, investiture, royal-house recognition, ceremonial protocol, and inherited custodial knowledge.

    How it is presented

    Treated as traditional evidence in its own terms, as a recognised Polynesian form of record. It is not described as unverified merely because it is not a Western government document.

    Qualification carried

    Distinguished from recognition by a modern state only where a reader could otherwise take it for one.

    Tier E — Kingdom record

    Claims and events held in Kingdom records whose supporting documentation has not yet been published or corroborated.

    How it is presented

    The documentation status is stated on the record itself.

    Qualification carried

    What is missing is named specifically, rather than described in general disclaimer language.

    Where the framework applies

    The same classifications are used across every part of the archive. More detailed labels appear on individual records — a genealogy link may be marked as a church or civil record, an archival item as a press record — and each of those detailed labels belongs to exactly one of the classifications above.

    Genealogy
    Each link states whether it rests on oral and custodial transmission, on a church, civil, archival or court record, or on documentation not yet published.
    International activity
    Relationships, engagement and recognition are held apart. Attendance and contact are recorded as such and are never presented as recognition.
    Agreements and treaties
    Each instrument carries its classification, its signatories and what it binds. Indigenous bilateral agreements are not presented as instruments between states.
    Meetings and ceremonies
    Documented as occasions with date, place and participants. A ceremony evidences customary practice; a meeting evidences contact.
    Legal claims
    The documentary record, the Kingdom's position and the United States position are stated separately, and procedural outcomes are not presented as substantive rulings.
    United Nations activity
    Presence, press activity and forum attendance are recorded with their sources, alongside the plain statement that the Kingdom holds no membership, observer status or accreditation.
    Cultural history and oral tradition
    Recorded as tradition in its own terms, with a statement of tradition where a narrative is cultural rather than historical or scientific.
    Government structure
    Offices, officeholders and appointing authority are Kingdom records.
    Development and sustainability programmes
    Technology and product claims carry an evidence register covering patents, testing, approvals, partners and performance data, and stay pending until such a document is published here.

    Rules the archive holds itself to

    • A verification status is never invented. If no supporting document has been published, the record reads Documentation pending.
    • A Kingdom record is never counted as independent corroboration of itself.
    • Traditional and custodial records are recorded in their own terms as recognised Polynesian forms of knowledge, and are not presented as documentary proof in a civil or judicial setting.
    • Attendance, contact, correspondence and ceremony are never presented as recognition.
    • Procedural court outcomes are never presented as substantive rulings on status or jurisdiction.
    • Superlatives and performance claims are not used of programmes or technologies unless an independent source published here substantiates them.
    • Corrections supported by evidence are made and dated; the change is recorded rather than made silently.

    Related: Archive Methodology · Corrections & Evidence Updates · Verify a Record · Official Profile