Tokelau consists of 3 populated atolls: Fakaofo, Atafu, and Nukunonu. A fourth atoll, Olohega, is geographically, but not politically part of the Tokelau islands. After watching the Tagata Pasifika video of Olohega and listening to our class discussion, I realized that the case in Olohega is somewhat similar to what occurred here in Hawaii. In 1856, Olohega was forcefully taken by an American whaling captain, Eli Jennings, who claimed that “he had received it from a ‘Captain Turnbull,' whose existence has never been verified” (Pasifika Foundation Hawaii). The Tokelauans were convinced to sign the legal documents that gave the Jenning’s family possession to their own land. The U.S. government later annexed the island in 1925 and added it to American Samoa. Today, Olohega is still privately owned by the Jennings family. Similar to the Kingdom of Hawaii, the monarchy was overthrown by the U.S. government with the help of the military. Queen Liliuokalani was forced to give up her throne and the Kingdom of Hawaii was annexed to the United States in 1898.
According to Betty Ickes, “the Jennings family ran a corpra plantation on Olohega, but poor living conditions led many workers to leave (TheHonoluluAdvertiser). Many of the Tokelauans of Olohega were removed from their homelands in 1953, and are now settled mostly here in Wahiawa, Hawaii. I find it very sad that these people were deported and have to fight for their own homeland. It would be a difficult battle for them to go against the U.S. government and Jenning’s family to gain their land back since the population of Olohega is so small. However, I hope that actions will soon be made for the return of their island.
To learn more about the story of Olohega visit:
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