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 Vote for world’s smallest  nation
Citizens of the tiny South Pacific territory of Tokelau, three coral atolls with a population of 1,500, begin voting February 11 in a referendum designed to give them self-government.
The microstate, seized by Britain in 1889 and handed to New Zealand to administer in 1926, is poised to become the world’s smallest self-governing island territory.
Three specks of land totaling 12 square kilometers (4.6 square miles) with populations of 400, 500 and 600 make up the island group.
 
Without an airport and linked to the outside world by telephone and cargo ship, Tokelau, which lies midway between New Zealand and Hawaii, has decided that a change in its status must be approved by two-thirds of voters.
About 600 of its citizens are eligible to vote in the referendum.
Voting in New Zealand’s last Pacific colony takes place over five days with results due February 16, New Zealand administrator for the territory, Neil Walter, said.
 
Tokelau is one of 16 non-self-governing territories left on the U.N. decolonization list, which also includes Gibraltar, Western Sahara and Guam.
Four U.N. observers are on the tiny islands to observe the voting process.
Independent nationhood “has never to my knowledge been suggested seriously” as an option for the three atolls, Walter said, “so what they are exploring ... is self government which is full control over their own affairs with continuing New Zealand support.”
 
“That’s pretty much what they have already, they’ve been running themselves ... for a number of years now with New Zealand in a strong support role,” he said.
“This act of self-determination would ... simply formalize that position,” he added.
Local leaders and New Zealand officials expect Tokelau, once independent, to sign a free association agreement with New Zealand—which will give it access to aid, foreign affairs, transport and other key supports.
 
The plan would restore the islands’ sovereignty lost 117 years ago when they were annexed by Britain and provide ongoing support from New Zealand. It also making the microstate eligible for aid from other nations and multinational agencies.
Walter said the islanders’ had developed a “homegrown (governing) product” based on three traditional village councils as well as a 21-member national parliament, or General Fono.
 
The islands have an income of some NZ$3 million ($2 million) a year mainly from fishing license fees for tuna and customs charges.
New Zealand aid tallies NZ$9 million ($6 million) a year and it has set up a NZ$25 million ($17 million) trust fund for the islanders.
“If New Zealand were to cease support, Tokelau would not remain a viable living culture and community,” he said.
Tokelau’s residents would retain New Zealand citizenship if the referendum was approved by voters over the next few days, Walter said.
 
TOKELAU - Culture
The people may be Christian, but Faka Tokelau - the Tokelauan way of life - is Polynesian culture at its most untouched, thanks to the atolls’ isolation and NZ’s hand’s-off approach to administration. The strength of village community and its system of sharing are the defining characteristics, along with the enormous respect afforded elders. Daily life is ordered in each village by a council of elders and family representatives (taupulega), with most men joining the fishing, harvesting and construction workforce, and women responsible for village cleanliness and health.

Each atoll has one village, squeezed onto its highest island (motu). The three villages are divided territorially into two faitu, which compete against each other in fishing, action songs, dancing, sports and kilikiti (village cricket with up to 50 players per side). Despite increasing incursions made by the outside world, all resources are shared between families according to need. The most obvious features of the three villages are their churches and village hall (fale fono).

The atolls are cramped beyond belief, so individualism and a need for privacy aren’t a real virtue in Tokelau. Visitors should dress conservatively, keeping those bikinis and skimpy outfits for another time and place. Resources are scarce, so don’t help yourself to fallen coconuts. If you’re invited into the home of a local, remember to remove your shoes on entering and to sit cross-legged, rather than with your legs stretched out.
 
Tokelau is staunchly Christian, and Sunday is devoted almost entirely to church-going. As many activities (including work) are forbidden on Sunday. The religious distribution amongst the atolls reflects the staggered arrival of Samoan missionaries in the 19th century: Atafu is almost completely Protestant; Nukunonu is largely Catholic; and Fakaofo is split between the two faiths, due to the simultaneous arrival of Catholic and Protestant missionaries. Interdenominational conflict is rare as it runs contrary to the overriding concept of village unity (maopoopo). Prior to the arrival of Christianity, Tokelauans worshipped a god called Tui Tokelau, along with the usual pantheon of Polynesian gods. The coral slab personifying Tui Tokelau still stands in the village of Fakaofo.
 
Tokelauans are Polynesian, closely related to Tuvaluans, Samoans and Cook Islanders. The sprinkling of European surnames is the legacy of the whalers and beachcombers who visited in the late 19th century; their subsequent intermarriage has led to today’s Tokelauans being described as ‘an improbably bizarre genetic mixture’. Today’s local population of around 1500 is far outstripped by the number of Tokelauans living away from home; New Zealand’s Tokelaun population is 5000 or so.
Tokelauan is a Polynesian language, closely related to Tuvaluan and Samoan. Most people speak some English, thanks to their frequent contact with NZ, and it’s taught as a second language in Tokelau’s schools.
 
Traditional foods such as fish, kumala (sweet potato), breadfuit, taro, pork and poultry are cooked on both kerosene stoves and the ubiquitous earth oven (umu). This traditional diet is increasingly being supplemented with imported processed foods, and the islanders’ general health is suffering as a consequence; obesity is on the rise. Fresh water is scarce and tank-collected rainwater tastes brackish. Kaleva, made from fermented coconut sap, is drunk in lieu of imported spirits. Its alternative name, sour toddy, gives you an idea of the taste.

History
Tokelau’s atolls have been populated for around 1000 years, with traditional tales linking the original Polynesian settlers with Samoa, the Cook Islands and Tuvalu. The three atolls were fiercely independent until the Tokelau wars of the 18th century, when Fakaofo conquered Atafu and Nukunonu to create the first united entity of Tokelau.

The first Europeans to visit the islands were Commodore John Byron in 1765 (Atafu) and the sailors of the US American whaler General Jackson in 1835 (Fakaofo). Missionaries soon followed, with Catholic Samoans converting the people of Nukunonu in the 1840s, Protestant Samoans converting Atafu in 1858 and the two groups later battling for the souls of Fakaofo.

The atolls’ already-minuscule populations were drastically reduced to a mere 200 in the 1850s and 60s when Peruvian slave traders seized around 250 people, 500 islanders were removed by missionaries, and diseases such as dysentery took hold.

Atafu 
Dubbed Duke of York Island by its first European visitor, British commodore John Byron, Atafu is the smallest and northernmost of Tokelau's three atolls. Its 42 islets measure a grand total of 3.5 sq km (1.3 sq mi), and the tiny lagoon is 17 sq km (6.5 sq mi); the population is around 500. 
Protestant Atafu is the more traditional of the three atolls, with rationed alcohol sales and a greater reliance on old-style dugout canoes.
The island also has more traditional houses, largely due to its prized supply of building wood, kanava; these houses are increasingly being replaced by cyclone-proof concrete and corrugated-roofed housing.

Fakaofo
Named Bowditch Island by an American expedition in 1841, Fakaofo's 62 islets measure 4 sq km (1.5 sq mi) and its lagoon is 50 sq km (20 sq mi). It's not the biggest of the three atolls, but it has the highest population, at around 580.
Fakaofo has three churches, to cater for its Protestant and Catholic inhabitants. Shady Fale Island is the major settlement, and some families have moved to adjacent Fenuafala to relieve some of the enormous population pressure.
There's so little land that Fakaofo's domestic pig population is forced to live on the reef. Fakaofo has a prime example of a traditional village hall, with the coral slab personifying Tui Tokelau still standing outside.
 

Nukunono
Nukunonu was named Duke of Clarence Island by Captain Edwards of HMS Pandora in 1791, while searching for HMS Bounty mutineers.
It's the largest of the three atolls, with 24 islets measuring 4.7 sq km (1.8 sq mi) all up and the largest lagoon at 98 sq km (38 sq mi).
Two motos are settled on Catholic Nukunonu, and the other feature of note is its extremely pragmatic village hall - a cargo shed. 

Lars Widerberg
Contact: Intercessors Network

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More about Tokelau:
* About: Tokelau
* UN News