CanoeTokeLau.com
Title
Canoe Tokelau - Polynesian sailing and star navigation
Description
About Tokelau Where's Tokelau and what is it? A day in the life: Tokelau First words in Tokelauan Sounds of Tokelau
About Tokelau
Tokelau is three small atolls in Polynesia, with a land area of only 9 square miles. 1,600 people live on the three atolls- rings of islets around a central lagoon. The islands were settled as part of the planned population of the Pacific islands by skilled seafarers who made their way East across the ocean using large voyaging catamarans. The location of settled islands was known by reference to the stars, ocean currents and many other factors, just as used by Tokelau voyagers who made their own journeys around the Pacific in similar voyaging catamarans- known as canoes or, "vaka" in Tokelauan.
With a maximum height above sea level of less than 5 metres, Tokelau is vulnerable to climate change and the extreme weather that it brings. In early 2005, the atolls were hit by 4 cyclones, culminating in the devastation of cyclone Percy which on February 28th caused widespread damage. Tidal surges washed over the islands, destroying crops and washing away materials, tools, belongings and the rudimentary sea walls designed to minimise damage. The BBC Radio 4/ RGS documentary about Tokelau, "Hoping for a Miracle" asked Tokelauans about the threat of climate change and came to some pretty sorry conclusions.
