Tokelauans invited to New Zealand

Tokelauans invited to New Zealand

In the early 20th century, the Cook Islands, Niue and Tokelau became New Zealand possessions. Their citizens were therefore free to enter New Zealand as British subjects and, after 1948, as New Zealand citizens. This right of free entry remains, even though each country has attained a measure of self-government. In the 1960s Tokelauans were encouraged to emigrate because the three tiny islands of the group could no longer support the population. These young Tokelau women, arriving in 1966, came to work in church institutions in Auckland.