The Taupulega, or council, of each atoll holds the decision making power in Tokelau. It's made up of the heads of each family on the island and decides everything from spend of public finances to how to deal with waste. Here on Atafu, they begin proceedings with a song.
After school the students of Fenua Fala hit the lagoon for some relief from the scorching tropical heat. The lagoon is a balmy 25º degrees or more most days.
Tala Tyrell cleans the solar panels on Fenua Fala, to keep the array operating at top efficiency. The solar farm—which meets 100% of Fakaofo's power demands—was installed in 2012 and is due for a major upgrade to lithium batteries.
Fakaofo is the smallest and most southerly of Tokelau's three atolls. Two islands are inhabited, the tiny islet of Fale, and featured in this video, the larger island of Fenua Fala. Can you see the school and solar farm?
Nukunonu's lagoon is nearly 100 square kilometres in area. Some areas are deep, but here near Tokelau Island in the east, locals can find clams growing in coral structures in the shallows—easy pickings for a Sunday picnic.
Only one islet of the Atafu atoll is inhabited, and like the other atolls in Tokelau, it's 100% powered by solar. As a result, locals get around in electric carts, like in a fancy golf resort. Take a tour of the coral roads.
Everything in and out of Tokelau arrives on this ferry, the Mataliki, which makes the 10-day round-trip linking Fakaofo, Nukunonu and Atafu atolls, then back to Samoa, and then repeat. The cargo is loaded on to a barge to get through the shallow channel to the wharf, then offloaded to shore.
Volleyball is ever-popular on Atafu atoll, especially in late afternoon when it's cooler. On the adjacent field, a younger crew enjoys touch rugby.
In the Pisonia forest on Tokelau Island, Nukunonu, Troy William, Isaac Perez and Dominic Manuele check holes under trees for monstrous coconut crabs. Each the size of a dinner plate, they make a tasty meal—think muddy crayfish flavour.
Tokelauans rely on their ocean estate for sustenance and survival. Students from Matauala School on Atafu atoll plant corals on netting within the lagoon. After they grow the corals can be located to deeper, cooler reefs with a greater chance of survival in a warming world.
Every year the sea surface temperatures rise in Atafu, leaving behind towering coral structures that couldn't stand the heat.
Southeasterly trades blow through the louvred windows, lifting the smoke of Mass. The hymns are full-throated. While congregations wither in the West, every household turns out for the service on Nukunonu. The joy and structure of Catholicism seem to match the conservative family values and collective responsibility that is baked into Tokelauan culture.
On the eastern islets of Nununonu's 98-square-kilometre lagoon, petrels have set up camp in greater numbers than ever before. As the local community receives more goods from the outside world, and exercises greater efforts in conservation, hunting these seabirds for food has become increasingly rare. Terrestrial ecologist Moeumu Uili visits the colony to update the count.
A school of barracuda circle the outer reef at Fenua Loa, Fakaofo, a sign that fish life is in good health, even while corals are recovering from recent heatwaves.
As aluminium boats have replaced traditional dug-out canoes—called paopao in Tokelau—for fishing. But on Nukunonu, Suega Isaia and four-year-old Alowhenua keep the tradition alive.
3
$1 trial for two weeks, thereafter $8.50 every two months, cancel any time
Already a subscriber? Sign in
Signed in as . Sign out
Ask your librarian to subscribe to this service next year. Alternatively, use a home network and buy a digital subscription—just $1/week...
Subscribe to our free newsletter for news and prizes
