Tokehega Day
Tokehega Day is held on September 3. Tokelau, New Zealand. This event in the first decade of the month September is annual.
Tokelau is located about 500km north of Samoa and is home to around 1,500 people. It is part of the Realm of New Zealand and its people are New Zealand citizens. There are more than 7,000 Tokelauans living in New Zealand. Tokelau is a non-self-governing territory of New Zealand.
The global tragedy of colonialism and blackbirding in 1850s-1860s was catastrophic on Tokelau – the loss of lives nearly wiped us out, the theft by deception of Olohega by an American, the Tokehega signing by our elders encouraged by the NZ government who was supposed to protect our rights and us as a people is deplorable. The pain does not subside where there is no justice or mercy.
Between 1856 and 1979, the United States claimed that it held sovereignty over the island and the other Tokelauan atolls. In 1979, the U.S. conceded that Tokelau was under New Zealand sovereignty, and a maritime boundary between Tokelau and American Samoa was established by the Treaty of Tokehega.