TAGATA PASIFIKA - OLOHEGA

Special programme on history of Olohega Island known as Swains Island which was part of Tokelau and is now part of American Samoa. In 1856 American Whaler Eli Jennings bought the island and his descendants ran it as a copra station. The USA annexed Olohega in 1925 without consulting the Tokelau people and in 1980 signed the Tokehega Treaty with New Zealand which allowed New Zealand to keep guardianship of Tokelau, but left the ownership of Olohega with the United States and the Jennings family. In 1953 the Tokelau workers on Olohega protested against harsh labour conditions. They and their families were evicted by the Jennings family from Olohega and so migrated mainly to American Samoa and Hawaii. Their descendants and the people of Tokelau are now calling for return of Olohega to Tokelau.