The Tokelau or Union Islands comprise four reef-surrounded atolls lying on a general northwest-southeast line, between lat. 8° and 11° S. and long. 171° and 173° W. They are due north of Samoa and east of the Ellice Islands. The four islands are: Olosenga, or Swain's Island, once known as Quiros' Island; Fakaofu, or Bowditch Island; Nukunono, or Duke of Clarence Island; and Atafu, or Duke of York Island.

Fakaofu

Fakaofu is composed of about 60 small islets which form a triangle 7.5 miles long and 5.5 miles wide. It lies in lat. 9° 23′ S. and long. 171° 14′ W. The islets are connected by a reef which is awash at high tide. The average elevation is 10 feet, the highest points being on the north and south islets and the most continuous land on the east.

The village is on the western side of the island due to the location of the canoe passage and water wells and is protected from the full force of the trade winds and the heavy seas (fig. 2). The islet is small and can hardly support its present population of 500 persons. Forced in the past to live in one village for self-protection and to keep control of the food supply, the entire population has been able to confine itself to the small area only by extending the floor of the island over the lagoon. Originally walls were built up along the lagoon front to protect the houses from high waves blown up on the lagoon and to construct toilets over the water. Gradually these walls have been pushed farther into the lagoon and the area behind them filled in with loose coral and rubbish. In this way the whole floor of the islet has been widened. On the sea front, walls have been built up to a height of 10 to 20 feet (pl. 10, C), but, except in the case of the landing, these have been constructed back from the original shoreline rather than beyond it.

Figure 2.—Map of Fakaofu. Numbers refer to place names as follows:
2. (Te) Afua (islet)
3. Afua Taulua (islet)
7. Kokoloa (land division)
8. Matafangilasi (land division)
9. Onemangu (land division)
10. Otoka (land division)
11. Vinil (islet)
12. Avaono (islet)
13. Talapeka (islet)
15. Tufafau (end section of island)
16. Savaea (land division)
17. Lalovaoa (land division)
18. Te One (land division)
19. Angasala (land division)
22. Pukaea (land division)
23. Langilau (land division)
24. Onepoto (land division)
25. Te Maile (land division)
26. Matangi (lower division of island)
27. Fenua tapu (village land)
28. Palea (islet)
29. Olokalanga (islet)
30. Ofuna (islet)
32. Seketai (islet)
33. Motuloa (islet)
34. Motu Akea (islet)
35. Niue (islet)
36. Motu iti (islet)
37. Fungalei (islet)
38. Manuafe (islet)
39. Otafi (cluster of four small islets)
40. Otafi Loa (islet of this cluster)
41. Motu Ngangie (two islets)
42. Nukuseseke (two islets)
44. Nukumasanga-iti (tiny islet)
45. Teoki (islet)
46. Pangai (islet)
47. Matakitonga (islet)
48. Vaiasa (islet, given as Tokikimoa on Samoan chart)
49. Falatutasi (islet)
50. Rapa (islet)
51. Te Sungalu (islet)
52. Longotaua (islet, given as Longatana on charts)
53. Motu Turatura (islet, modern name Ta-te-mola)
54. Patamo (islet)
55. Tafola-elo (islet)
56. Tafola-elo (islet; 56 and 55 probably one islet)
57. Tokikimoa (point on Tafola-elo)
58. Otano (islet)
59. Motu Ngangie (islet)
60. Akengamutu (land division)
61. Te Tialau (land division)
62. Te Fakanava (land division)
63. Te Koko (land division)
64. Tangiapasu (land division)
65. Saumatafanga (land division)
66. Motu (islet)
67. Te Kapi o Motu (small islet)
69. Pukava (islet of Sakea group)
71. Kauafua (group of five islets)
72. Kauafua-o-tanifa (islet of Kauafua)
73. Kauafua-uli (islet of Kauafua)
74. Kauafua-o-sumu (islet of Kauafua)
75. Nukulakia (islet)
76. Te Papaloa (islet)
77. Kauafua (two projections of bare coral above water; this name applies to any such “rocks”)
78. Tukumatini (islet)
79. Motu Ngangie (islet)
80. Patalinga (islet)
81. Toliaoso (islet)
82. Nukumatau (islet)
Fenua fala, shown as an islet on old maps, is not at present existent. Mulifenua is a point of land at the end of the northern island. Te Fakanava is the name of northern land sections of the long island. The islets from Mulifenua to Angasala are called Lalo. Kongaloto refers to four land sections adjoining Te Fakanava. Sakea is a group of five islets. The southeast end of Fakaofu, the islet on which the village is situated, is called Tealavaka, the northeast end, Sauma.

Nukunono

Nukunono or Nukunonu lies 60 miles northwest of Fakaofu. Its position is given as lat. 9° 10′ S. and long. 171° 53′ 30″ W., but local ship captains say that this position is from 14 to 16 miles too far east, and they make a correction accordingly when laying a course for the island.

Nukunono is the largest island in the group, being 24 miles in circumference and 1,350 acres in area. The longest land mass stretches along the eastern reef. The northern reef is bare and awash. A few islets are sprinkled across the southern side of the reef. The village is on a large islet along the southwest coast (fig. 3). There is no anchorage or passage through the reef to the village, but the sea is protected here and jumping the reef is not very dangerous. Formerly there was a passage through to the lagoon, but it was filled in during a hurricane. In 1914 another hurricane made a deep cut through the southern end of the islet and created the present small islet, Motusanga, south of the village islet. Due to the lack of an adequate water supply, the population has always been relatively small. In 1925 it numbered 229.

The names of the islets and land holdings on the accompanying map (fig. 3) are those given by a native informant. The number of names of islets does not correspond with the number of islets given on existing maps. Sixty of the names given are land divisions on the long eastern island. There is some doubt as to whether Saumangalu and Niututalu are the names of islands or the first two holdings on the long island.

Atafu

Atafu, composed of 42 islets, lies in lat. 8° 33′ 30″ S. and long. 172° 30′ W. (fig. 4). It is the smallest atoll in the group, extending 3 miles north and south and 2.5 miles east and west, and having a land area of 550 acres. The highest land of Atafu is 15 feet above sea level. The present population is 380.

Atahu or Atahumea was the ancient name given the atoll by its earliest inhabitants. However, it is not possible, with present knowledge, to connect Atafu with Atahumea, which appears in the earliest Samoan legends (27).

Olosenga

Olosenga lies in lat. 11° 3′ 30″ S. and long. 171° 5′ 30″ W., 110 miles south of Fakaofu and about 200 miles north of Samoa. Because of its geographical separation from the northern atolls it is not always included within the Tokelau group. The native population seen by Quiros in 1606 had disappeared by 1841. It is now owned by the Jennings family, who page 8

Figure 3.—Map of Nukunono. Numbers refer to place names as follows:
1. Talikilangi (old malae, site of present Catholic Church)
2. La vaka (land between church and cemetery, formerly a canoe passage to lagoon until filled by tidal wave)
3. Asulu (site of present cemetery, and land beyond)
4. Muli
5. Takeletu
6. Tumulivaka
7. Mulifanua (piece of land and tip of island)
8. Te Kamu (islet)
10. Te Fakanavataulotu (islet)
11. Vini (islet)
16. Avakilikili (islet)
17. Nuialemo (islet)
18. Te Palaoa (islet)
19. Laulauia (islet)
20. Saumangalu (islet, name means “the coming of waves”)
22. Lalosumu (northern end of island, land division)
81. Matautu (land division and end of island)
83. Motufala (islet)
84. Motuakea (islet)
85. Manuisi (islet)
86. Tui Masanga (islet)
87. Fatingausu (islet)
88. Ahua (islet)
90. Motusanga (southern end of village island)
91. Sulu-o-kafa (land division in village)
92. Tafata (division in village Talikilangi)
The following names which appear on the map of the Government Report were not in the list given me at Nukunono: Falafala (another name for Natoli?), Atukavakava (general name for the group of islets from Avakiliki to Niututahi?), Lalo (north division of the long eastern island), Mataulanga (central division of the long eastern island), Vaitupu (southern division of the long eastern island), Nasapiti (name for Motuakea and Manuisi), Teguatautafa (name for Te Ahua), A'ai (Samoan word, probably a name given for Motosanga after the hurricane).

page 9

Figure 4.—Map of Atafu. Numbers refer to place names as follows:
1. Fongalaki-ke-lalo
2. Fongalaki-matangi
3. Te Oki
4. Ofangamatuku
5. Te Kokoloa
6. Land division
7. Tungafulu
8. Te Sepu
9. Tuangafulu
10. Laualalava
10a. Tatapiu (small division separating Laualalava into two pieces)
11. Napuku
12. Te Kapi
13. Te Laulasi (land division, land on sea side)
13a. Te Tipi (land division, land on lagoon side)
14. Moutoki vaealua
15. Te Fue
22. Part of Na Utua called Avainia
23. Na Utua
31. Sa-i-fafine
32. Te Olopuka (land division, end of long island)
33. Motufakalalo (two islets)
34. Sakea o Asafo (first of several islets known together as Sakea)
35. Motuatea
36. Sakea o Lupo
37. Sakea Lahi
38. Tangiakuli
39. Tulua-a-langi-maina
40. Sakea o Simi
41. Tulukava
42. Motu te niu
43. Malatea
44. Kauafua-o-sumu
45. Sakea-o-soi
46. Te Motu o Tenumi
47. Veva
48. Kenakena
49. Te Fakaolu-o-fafine
50. Motu-ite Lakia
51. Motu-faka-kakai
52. Tufa
53. Kauafua-o-vae
54. Te Malo o Futa
55. Motu-ite Fala
56. Tafenga
57. Motu o Veku
58. Kauafua to Vake
59. Sakea-lahi
60. Sotoma (“Sodom”)
61. Komoro (“Gomorrah”)
62. Sakea o Kaleopa
63. Sapiti
64. Motu Ateakiaki
65. Niuefa
66. Motu Ngangie
68. Kauafua o Laua
69. Te Puka
71. Tulua o Tiu
74. Kauafua o Folasanga
75. Hanuia i te Tonuia (rocks)
76. Islet

page 10 have held it since 1856. Less than a hundred people now live on the island, most of them laborers from Fakaofu and Atafu.

The land was raised at one time so that the atoll formed an unbroken ring enclosing the lagoon. This became landlocked, and the water is now not too brackish for animals to drink. The greatest elevation of the island is about 20 feet. It has good soil and supports a far better vegetation and gardens than are to be found on the northern atolls.

The reef completely surrounds the island and has no opening for the passage of canoes. On the western side, where the reef is narrower, a passage has been blasted out to allow whale boats to enter to transport copra. Opposite this passage is the storage shed for copra, the small village of native laborers' houses, and a church. A road goes from this settlement around the island. Along the western shore of the lagoon are deep pits bordered by mounds 8 to 10 feet high, the taro beds of the former population. These are unused today. Their depth and extent imply a population of several hundred people, at least, and a residence on the island for many generations.

Winds and Currents

The Tokelau Islands are cooled by the southeasterly trades for more than half the year and are consequently comfortable for living in spite of their nearness to the equator. Because of the prevailing wind direction, the villages are built on the eastern shore of western islets of the atolls. The change in winds divides the year into two seasons, the winter months of the southeasterly trade winds and the summer months of variable northerly winds and calms, when the sun becomes blistering hot.

The ocean currents about these islands change with the seasonal winds. During the trade wind season, the set of the current is from east to west, with a drift ranging from 0–20 miles per hour. In the middle of summer the current changes, descends from the north, and runs parallel to the general northwest-southeast line of the islands. It turns east below Fakaofu and finally sets to the east and northeast (33).

Water Supply

The rainfall in the Tokelau Islands comes mainly from daily showers during the trade wind season and an occasional downpour. The record of rainfall for 9 months in one year, October to July, was 134 inches (24). The rain was very irregular, however, and fell mostly at the end of the period. From the end of November to the end of February the rainfall is less and periods of drought often set in.

Fakaofu has several wells and a modern cistern of 11,150 gallons capacity, filled from the catchment area of the roof of the Protestant Church. Nukunono has one poor well. Atafu has three wells but only one is available to the village. This well water is slightly brackish and not extremely clean. During the dry months wells frequently dry up and the natives must rely upon coconuts to drink. Before modern cisterns were built, the natives hollowed out the lower part of the trunks of coconut trees, leaving the opening on the under side of the trunk so that the rain streaming down the trunk could be collected in a place unexposed to the sun. From these meager supplies the natives drew their drinking water. When all supplies failed over a long period without rain, the natives were forced to abandon their homes.

Botany

The islets are entirely covered with sand and coral piled 8 to 10 feet above the water. The loose rubble allows all the rain to drain through immediately without collecting, except in rare instances, carrying with it all decaying vegetable matter from which soil might be formed. Since few plants can exist in sand and coral alone, the flora has little variety and agriculture is almost impossible.

The following table gives a complete list of the vegetation of Tokelau. Scientific names are given from specimens, many of which were collected by E. H. Bryan, Jr.

Table of Botanical Specimens

• Ateate (Fleurya ruderalis?, Wedelia biflora)

• Esi (Carica papaya)

• Fatae (Cassytha filiformis)

• Fai (Musa paradisiaca?)

• Fala (Pandanus)

• Fau (Pipturus)

• Fui (Ipomoea grandiflora)

• Kanava (Cordia subcordata)

• Katuli (Portulaca quadrifida)

• Kiekie (Pandanus, Freycinetia)

• Laumea (bird's-nest fern?)

• Lautamatama (Achyranthes velutina)

• Maile (Polypodium nigrescens?)

• Maile kimoa (Nephrolepis hirsutula)

• Masoa (Tacca pinnatifida)

• Mati (Ficus tinctoria)

• Milo (Thespesia populnea)

• Mumuta (Cyperus rotundus)

• Mutia (Fimbristylis cymosa var. microcephala)

• Nase (Eleusine indica)

• Nasevau (Procris pedunculata)

• Ngangie (Pemphis acidula)

• Ngasu (Scaevola frutescens)

• Nguna (Lepidium bidentoides)

• Niu (coconut, Cocos nucifera)

• Nonu (Morinda citrifolia)

• Polo (Solanum viride)

• Puapua (Guettarda speciosa)

• Puka, pukavaka (Hernandia ovigera)

• Pukavai (Pisonia grandis)

• Pulaka (Cyrtosperma chamissonis)

• Taamu (Alocasia macrorrhiza)

• Talo (taro, Colocasia esculentum)

• Tiale (Gardenia taitensis)

• Totolo, tolotolo (Triumfetta procumbens)

• Vao (grass, in general)

• Vao tuitui (Cenchrus echinatus)