Happy Tokehega Day, Tokelau. The Treaty of Tokehega between New Zealand and the United States of America went into effect on this date in 1983 and delineates the boundary between Tokelau and American Samoa, the particular disputed territory being the Swains Island atoll, known as Olohega in Tokelauan. Since then, the dispute has raged on (in as much as a dispute in the Equatorial Pacific rages), and when one looks a little closer at the history of Olohega, it’s no wonder. The atoll is “owned” by the American family Jennings, their ancestor Eli having made claim to the islands in 1856 and since then relied largely on the copra industry for income (with a little slave trading thrown in over the years). Olohega is, however, geographically (and culturally and linguistically) part of the Tokelau Islands, and the Tokelauans sporadically make noise about returning the atoll to its rightful governance. But just to keep things in perspective, the 2010 Decennial Census reports the population of Swains Island as 17 (with some sources claiming 37, most of whom are Tokelauan and on Swains Island for the coconut work). So.....a family-owned territory administered by an unincorporated unorganized territory of the United States of America with a population of 51,000, and a dependent territory of New Zealand with a population of 1,500 who twice have failed to vote in a referendum for further self-government, are duking it out over two islands (one uninhabited) with a total land area of 373 acres and a population somewhere between 17 and 37. Gnarly.
Stamp details: Stamps on top: Issued on: June 22, 1948 From: Atafu, Tokelau MC #1-3
Stamps on bottom: Issued on: August 8, 1969 From: Atafu, Tokelau MC #9-12
