I suspect that these “little people” survived a lot longer in the Pacific than is currently believed.
This is because the Pacific “little people” myths have a very different character than other “little people” myths around the world, a far more “realistic” view. They sound much more like disappeared tribe myths found when one tribe remembers another tribe that lived near them but were wiped out or left the area without explanation.
In Hawaii, for example, there are legends of the “Menehana” little people, but unlike Leprechauns, for example, who were thought of as magical, doing very specific things, the Menehana are thought of as just sort of generically “lucky”, but otherwise there is something of an ambivalence about them, like people have with neighbors who keep to themselves.
This contrasts markedly with other Hawaiian mythology, which is very complex and entertaining, full of gods with rich characters, and lots of stories about what they did. Compared with that, the Menehana myth is dreadfully dull and ordinary.
One other element that is noteworthy is despite not assigning magical properties to the Menehana, they do share the “half belief” of other myths. That is, Hawaiians are loathe to do things known to annoy the volcano goddess Pele; but they are also hesitant to talk about the Menehana, as they might still be around, invisibly spying on what people say about them.
All told, like other Pacific “little people” myths, they seem to be too close to have long been extinct. A bit too ordinary.
There’s an anecdote I read years ago about the wee folk of Ireland... an American girl was studying there, and her host mom referred to them. “Surely you don’t believe in leprechauns”. “No, I don’t. But they’re there anyway.”