R U L E S A D O P T E D B Y T H E B OA R D O F R E G E N T S O F T H E U N I V E R S I T Y O F HAWAII
NOV. 8, 1 95 5 WITH R E G A R D TO T H E R E P R O D U C T I O N O F G R A D U A T E T H E S E S
(a)
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Council.
NIUE ISLAND: LAND USE AND LAND TENURE
IN A RESIDUAL ECONOMY
A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THE
UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT
OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF
MASTER OF ARTS IN
GEOGRAPHY
JUNE 1965
By
Harold Preston Bissell
T hesis Committee:
Peter N. D. P irie, Chairman
Roland J. Fuchs
S. Alan Howard
We certify that we have read this th esis and that in our opinion
it is satisfacto ry in scope and qiality a s a th esis for the degree of
M aster of A rts in Geography.
T hesis Committee:
Chairman
>
-
. —7
z—
PREFACE
In many resp ects the problem s that Niue Island has to face a re no
different from m ost of the islands of the P acific. N early all of the islands
have lim ited physical re so u rces and lim ited economic opportunities for
th e ir inhabitants. Because of these lim itations some islands have a pattern
of an outward flow of people from th e ir home islands to m ore populous a re a s
with g re a te r economic opportunities. Among such islands a re Rotuma, the
Lau Islands, the Tokelau Islands, the Cook Islands, the Tuamotu Islands,
and the Samoa s . F o r Niue, however, the magnitude of the movement in
relation to the size of the population is believed to be g re a te r than any
other group. Such a movement m ust have an effect upon the social and
economic c h ara c te ristic s of the rem aining group of people, and such effects
a re likely to be p artic u la rly obvious and easily observed in Niue a s it is
an extrem e exam ple.
This study is an attem pt to describe the distributional pattern of
em igration from Niue and a s se s s its effects, p articu larly on the patterns
of land use, land tenure, and the econom y. The economy has been described
as "residual" because the proportion of the population which is m ost
econom ically active rem aining on the island is continually decreasing.
iv
This is the fir s t tim e that a study correlatin g the em igration pattern s with
the physical re so u rce s, land use, and land tenure has been done for Niue.
The idea for this p ro ject originate after I had spent 30 months as a
resident of Niue between 1959 and 1961. It was apparent a t that tim e that
em igration had an effect on the island, but the full extent of the effect could
not be analyzed a t that tim e. Subsequently I was able to retu rn to Niue, during
July and August, 1964, w ith the aid of a grant from the E ast-W est Center
at the U niversity of Hawaii. At that tim e I ca rrie d out a m ore extensive and
m ore objective survey of the effects and extent of em igration from Niue.
P relim inary re se a rc h for the project was c a rrie d out in New Zealand a t the
Departm ent of Island T e rrito rie s .
I have attem pted to search out and read every previous work that has
been done on Niue Island and I have relied on some of these works to provide
background m aterial for th is study. To the best of m y knowledge the sections
of th is study on m odem land tenure system s, land use patterns, and
em igration p attern s a r e o rig in al.
I would like to ex p ress my gratitude to M r. John Springford and M r.
Selwyn Wilson of the D epartm ent of Island T e rrito rie s , Wellington, New
Zealand fo r the gracious help and assistan ce which they extended to me
while I was doing prelim in ary re se a rc h in th e ir office. Also I would like
to acknowledge the assistan ce of M r. Lyle Shanks, Resident C om m issioner
V
of Niue Island, M r. Neil Lunt, A griculture Officer, and the Rev. Thomas
Hawthorne, of the London M issionary Society, who gave me a g reat deal
of help and cooperation during the period of field re se a rc h on the island.
H. P. B.
May, 1965
H 3
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
PAGE
PREFACE . » .................................................................................................
iii
LIST OF TABLES...................................... ......................................................
vii
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS...........................................................................
viii
LIST OF F I G U R E S ................. .....................................................................
x
CHAPTER I . THE S E T T IN G .....................................................................
1
CHAPTER II. POPULATION CHARACTERISTICS.................................
21
CHAPTER HI. THE LAND S Y S T E M .......................................................
32
CHAPTER IV. THE AREAL VARIATION IN LAND QUALITY
AND POTENTIAL FOR SPECIFIC USES.................................
42
CHAPTER V . THE PATTERN OF LAND UTILIZATION.....................
51
CHAPTER VI. THE STRUCTURE OF TOE ECONOMY......................
62
CHAPTER VII. TOE EFFECT OF THE OUTWARD FLOW ON TOE
NIUEAN ECONOMY AND TOE LAND TENURE SYSTEM .
72
APPENDIX..........................................................................................................
78
ILLUSTRATIONS................................... ‘ .....................................................
86
BIBLIOGRAPHY.............................................................................................. 102
LIST OF TABLES
TABLE
PAGE
I
VILLAGE POPULATION 1962 ...............................................................
22
II
POPULATION AGE AND SEX STRUCTURE (1961)..........................
24
III
ANNUAL DEPARTURES AND ARRIVALS OF NIUEANS . . . .
26
IV
ORIGIN OF DEPARTURES AND ARRIVALS........................................
28
V
RELATIVE PROPORTION OF SOIL TO ROCK IN EACH
SOIL T Y P E ..............................................
45
APPENDIX I
ARRIVALS AND DEPARTURES BY VILLAGE OF
ORIGIN......................................................
78
APPENDIX II
VALUE OF IMPORTS AND EXPORTS, 1949-1962 . . . .
84
APPENDIX ID
AMOUNT OF EXPORTS, 1949-1962.........................................
85
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
PLATE
1
PAGE
BOTH TERRACES AS SEEN FROM THE NORTH OF
ALOFI B A Y .................................
86
WAVE-CUT PLATFORM AND CLIFFS WHICH RING
THE ISLA N D ...................................................................................
87
MAKASEA PIT DUG INTO THE CORAL SAND WHICH
UNDERLIES THE SOIL THROUGHOUT THE CENTRAL
PORTION OF THE IS L A N D ....................
88
SECONDARY WEED AND SCRUB GROWTH AT
ABANDONED VILLAGE SITE OF FATIAU..............................
89
TYPICAL AGRICULTURAL PLOT WHICH HAS BEEN
BURNED AND CLEARED FOR PLANTING...............................
90
6
SMALL ROCKY PLOT PLANTED IN T A R O ............................
91
7
NEW ROAD WHICH HAS BEEN CUT THROUGH THE
FOREST IN THE NORTH-CENTRAL PART OF THE
IS L A N D ............................................................................................
92
TYPICAL ONE-HALF ACRE DISCED PLOT IN THE
SOUTHERN PART OF THE ISLAND WHICH HAS BEEN
PLANTED TO TARO AND KUMARAS.......................................
93
9
DISCED PLOT IN THE NORTHERN PART OF THE ISLAND
94
10
TYPICAL COCONUT GROVE OF THE COPRA BELT . . . .
95
11
CLEARED AND IMPROVED COCONUT PLANTATIONS
NEAR L IK U .....................................................................................
96
PERIPHERAL ROAD IN THE FOREST NORTH OF
HAKUPU............................................................................................
97
2
3
4
5
8
12
ix
PLATE
13
PAGE
PERIPHERAL COASTAL ROAD ON THE LOWER TERRACE
N E A R A L O F I...........................................................................
.
98
14
COPRA-BUYING DAY AT TRADING STORE IN LIKU. . . .
99
15
WOMEN SELLING PLAITED WARE ON ALOFI GREEN
ON THE MONTHLY BOAT-DAY................................................
16
100
VILLAGE OF VAIEA WITH NEW STYLE NATIVE
HOUSING...........................................................................................101
LIST OF FIGURES
FIGURE
PAGE
1
LOCATION MAP..........................................................................
xi
2
ROAD SYSTEM AND VILLAGES............................................
20
3
TOTAL ARRIVALS, DEPARTURES, AND DEFICIT,
1955-1963 ..............................................
30
NIUE ISLAND POPULATION AGE AND SEX STRUCTURE,
1 9 6 1 .............................
31
5
S O IL S .............................................................................................
50
6
AREAS BEST SUITED FOR CULTIVATION OF SPECIFIC
CROPS...........................................................................................
61
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»NIUE
A itutakio
R arotonga
CHAPTER I.
THE SETTING
The Form of the Island.
Niue Island, which is an island dependency of New Zealand, is a
solitary isolated island in the South Pacific Ocean. It is the larg est island
annexed by New Zealand, being some forty m iles in circum ference with an
a rea of about one hundred square m ile s. It is not p art of any group of
islands but stands by itself, with the Vava'u Group of the Tongan Islands
being clo sest islands, som e 300 m iles to the w est. Rarotonga is about
580 m iles east, and the n ea re st Samoan islands lie about 350 m iles to the
north-w est.
The island is a raised coral atoll which has em erged in two distinct
sta g e s. This is reflected by the presence of two separate te rra c e levels,
the rem nants of ancient coral reefs (Plate 1). The outer edge of the upper
te rra c e is the m ost noticeable feature on the island. This feature, known
geologically a s the Mutalau Reef, is an ancient atoll some 3/4 m ile wide
which has been ra ised above sea level some 180 to 215 feet.
^■Schofield, J. C ., The Geology and Hydrology of Niue Island, South
Pacific, New Zealand Geological Survey, Bulletin n .s . 62, (Wellington,
1959), p . 9.
2
E ncircled by this "reef" is the central basin-like portion of the island
which is known geologically as the Mutalau Lagoon.
2
These two features are
raised rem nants of an ancient atoll and together they com prise the upper
te rra c e of the island, which occupies the m ajor portion ot its total a re a . The
Mutalau Reef itse lf is composed entirely of lim estone which has been highly
weathered, and the en tire re e f is now known geologically as a karrenfeld.
The central basin of the island is a gentle undulating plain which slopes
inward at the ra te of fifteen feet p e r m ile to an elevation of about 100 feet.
However, the surface detail of the plain is in fact very rough and uneven in
many a re a s . W eathering has left many residual pinnacles risin g about five
feet above the general surface of the plain and numerous cave openings a re to
be found. As the soil cover is very thin in m ost places the rocky and rough
nature of the plain is all the m ore obvious. The forest a re a s in p articu lar,
where soil cover is generally thinnest, have a very rough surface with many
lim estone outcrops and pinnacles.
T here a re no strea m s o r any surface drainage within this in terio r
basin. The island is composed entirely of lim estone of th re e types, reef rock,
beach conglom erate, and cemented o r loose coral sand, and it is very perm eable
so that nearly all m oisture p ercolates rapidly through the soil and subsurface
ro c k s. Recent drillings have proven the existence of a freshw ater lens which
2Ibid.
3
underlies the island. This lens, which reaches up to a height of approximately
ten feet above sea level, is apparently the resu lt of w ater percolating down
through the perm eable subsurface of the island. The presence of num erous
solution caves throughout the in terio r basin is furth er evidence of the
perm eability of the lim estone rock.
Surrounding the outer edge of the Mutalau Reef, but at a lower elevation,
is the other obvious te rra c e on the island. This feature, which is known
geologically as the Alofi T e rra c e , is found 65 to 80 feet above the sea level
and ranges in width from 50 to 275 feet. The Mutalau Reef ris e s steeply,
but not v ertically , in a rugged slope from the inner edge of the Alofi T e rrace,
while the outer edge drops in v ertical cliffs to the sea around the entire
p e rim e te r of the island. The te rra c e appears to be composed entirely of
ree f rock s im ila r to that of the Mutalau Reef, and is apparently largely a
wave-out platform cut into the lim estone cliff on the outer edge of the original
Mutalau Reef when the sea stood at the level of th is te r ra c e .
3
In addition,
reef-building co rals m ay have contributed to this platform on its seaward
edge. The Alofi T e rra c e is dissected by num erous faults and chasm s, such
as those a t Vailoa and M atapa.
Surrounding m ost of the island at low-tide level is a wave-cut platform
which is accompanied by a fringing re e f of form ing coral (Plate 2). This
3Ibid., p . 10.
4
platform is up to 400 feet wide in some places, but it is alm ost entirely
absent at some of the headlands w here wave erosion is s e v e re . The reef
itse lf is composed of pink algal lim estone and is broken in places by gaps at
right angles to the seaw ard edge.
4
These gaps a re generally sm all and the
only one larg e enough to allow a boat to en ter is at Alofi. This gap has been
artificially widened to a width of about forty feet to allow access to the wharf.
The floor of the ocean drops away quite steeply from the edge of the
reef and within le ss than 1/4 m ile it exceeds fifty fathoms in depth. Because
of this steep floor, and the lack of a protective reef, th ere a re no good
anchorages at Niue. It is im possible for com m ercial ocean-going vessels
to come alongside the wharf, therefo re, ships m ust come a s close to the
shore a s possible and unload into lig h ters which can en ter the gap in the reef
and come alongside the w harf. The only anchorage of im portance is a t Alofi on
the w est side of the island.
F o ssils on both te rra c e s of the island indicate that the island was
form ed during the P leistocene. An apparent correlation between reef and
te rra c e levels on Niue with established sea levels of the Pleistocene Epoch
indicates that the island cam e into being a s a resu lt of eustatic changes in the
level of the s e a .
4Ibid.
5Ibid.
5
Numerous faults would indicate that tectonic forces
5
contributed to raisin g the island to its p resen t le v e l.
The rough v ertic al coastline of Niue combined with the rocky and dry
in terio r of the island do not p resen t an enticing picture upon firs t observation,
The original s e ttle rs of Niue, a fte r overcoming the initial difficulties in
landing, might have been fu rth er discouraged upon seeing the rough and
unpromising nature of the island. Although these ancient Polynesians stayed,
the rugged surface of Niue and the lack of stream s on the surface continued
to be a lim iting facto r on the development of the island to the p resen t day.
Climate and Vegetation.
Another modifying elem ent which has affected the development of
Niue h as been the clim ate, which is controlled largely by the location of Niue
in a tropical latitude 19° S. Niue lies within the a rea of the Pacific Ocean
which is generally classified as being in the Af clim ate regim e of the Koppen
clim atic classification. This classification would mean that Niue is in an area
of uniformly high tem p eratu res with a fairly high amount of precipitation
distributed throughout the y e a r. However, in actuality Niue displays
c h ara cteristics of being in a transition zone in that during many y ears there
is a definite seasonal distribution of precipitation with droughts occurring
occasionally during the m onths of the w inter season which extends from April
to November. Rainfall averages about 80 inches annually with the g reatest
amount coming in the sum m er months, which fall between Decem ber and A pril.
6
The prevailing winds in Niue a re from the south-east during m ost of
the y ear, however, during the sum m er months they may som etim es Mow from
the north-w est. It is during this period that h u rrican es may strik e Niue as
the island lie s within the h u rricane zone, but th is happens infrequently.
T em peratures in Niue a re m oderate with the mean annual tem perature
being about 77° F . The hottest p a rt of the y ear com es between Decem ber and
April and coincides with the wet season, however even a t this tim e of y e a r do
the tem p eratu res ra re ly exceed 90°. Between April and November the mean
tem perature is about 74°, the nights being somewhat cooler than during the
re s t of the y e a r. The tem p erature ra re ly drops below 60° during this period.
One of the m ajo r facto rs which affects the clim ate of Niue is the low
height of the island. Because of th is Niue does not benefit from orographic
rainfall and th erefo re does not receive as much rainfall a s do some of the
higher islands in the sam e general a re a of the Pacific. T his, combined with
occasional irre g u la r distribution of precipitation, tends to lim it agricultural
production.
The vegetation of Niue is a reflection of the prevalent clim atic conditions,
therefore th e re a re not as many species of plants to be found on Niue as might
be found on an island with b etter m oisture and soil conditions, nor do some
species thrive a s well h e re a s they do in other a re a s . However, despite the
lack of soil and abundant m oisture the vegetation on the island is ra th e r dense
in m ost a r e a s . About 459 species and v arieties of plants have been identified
7
on Niue, and it is estim ated that 45-50 p e r cent of these plants a re indigenous
to the island.**
Although conditions for plant growth a re nearly uniform over the entire
island, and generally plants a re distributed throughout the island, it is
noticeable th at a re a s of heavy fo rest a re now found only on the upper te rra c e .
This dense broadleaf fo rest, which covers an estim ated 22,000 a c re s (34
p er cent of the total land area), is one of the m ost noticeable features on Niue.
F o rest cover rem ains now m ainly where the soil is the least suited for
ag ricu ltu re, and the a re a s with suitable soils have generally been cleared of
fo rest cover. Although it is im possible to determ ine exactly the extent of
fo rest cover p rio r to human occupation, p resen t conditions would indicate that
at one tim e the island m ust have been completely covered with forest, although
this may not have been en tirely so on the low er te rra c e
The a re a s now free
from fo rest have been cleared over a long period of tim e by the Niueans for
ag ricu ltu ral p u rp o se s.
Within the fo rest a re a s there is a variety of types of tre e s , nearly
always standing in mixed g ro v es. The m ost common types of tre e s to be found
in the fo re sts, given h e re with th e ir Niuean nam es in parentheses, a re as
follows; Eugenia inophylloides (kafika), Eugenia Richii (kolivao), Rhus
taiten sis (tavahi), M angifera indica (mago), e tc . Nearly all v arieties of
plants to be found on Niue a re found within the fo rest a r e a s .
**Yuncker, T . G ., The F lora of Niue Island, Bishop Museum Bulletin
178, (Honolulu, 1943), pp. 9-10.
8
The rem aining a re a of the upper te rra c e not covered with forest and
not under cultivation is covered eith er with low fern growth, secondary woody
scrub growth, o r coconut tre e s . Some a re a s support only the low ferm s and
a re regarded by the Niueans a s d esert a r e a s . Land of this type covers about
5 p e r cent of the total surface of the island and is concentrated in the area
around V aiea. This a re a has been burned and cultivated until the soil is
unable to support anything b etter than scrub growth.
The vegetation on the low er te rra c e consists m ostly of fern and woody
scrub growth and coconuts. Because of the fact that there is little cultivation
on the low er te rra c e th ere has been relatively little clearing of vegetation
outside of the village a re a s, and the vegetation is therefore somewhat thicker
in this a r e a . The main reason for th ere being little cultivation on this
te rra c e , aside from papayas and bananas, is that the soil is generally too
thin and too rocky to support any of the standard food c ro p s .
T here is a definite difference between the vegetation on the w estern
side of the low er te rra c e and that on the eastern side. The eastern side of the
island, being the windward side, receives a far g re a te r amount of salt spray
than does the w estern s id e . This salt spray tends to lim it the vegetation on
the windward side to the types that can to lerate salt. The w estern side of the
island has a g re a te r variety of plants due to the fact that salt spray is not a
facto r with which the vegetation m ust contend.
All of the food plants on the island, such a s the coconut, banana, papaya,
mango, kum ara, taro , e tc ., a s well as m ost ornam ental plants and noxious
9
weeds a re of human introduction. Much of the dominant vegetation now p resent
on Niue, p articu la rly the coconut tre e s , did not exist on the island p rio r to
human contact with the island. In addition to the bleak physical appearance
of the island, Niue had little in the way of useful plants to offer the original
inhabitants.
The Settling of N iue.
L ittle is actually known about the history of Niue p rio r to European
contact with the island, however evidence gathered from tradition indicates
that the island has been inhabited continuously for about one thousand y e a rs.
According to Niuean tradition th ere have been several m igrations to the
island, the firs t coming from Samoa and subsequent m igrations coming from
Tonga, and possibly other islan ds. Apparently the original Samoans settled
in the north p a rt of Niue and the Tongans settled in the south. This would
account for the fact that th ere a re still slight physical and cultural differences
between the people from the northern p a rt of the island and those from the
southern p a rt. The people from the north w ere form erly called the Motu
while those from the south w ere called the T afiti. At the p resen t tim e
differences between the two groups a re so slight that they a re alm ost
indistinguishable. The te rm s Motu and Tafiti have also been discarded from
common usage, although p resen t inhabitants do know what they mean.
Most of the e arly contact between Niue and other islands took place
with the Tongan Isla n d s. Evidence of this is that the Niuean language has
10
many Tongan words and many sim ilaritie s to the Tongan language. In addition,
Niuean tradition has many accounts of contacts with Tonga. In one of the
traditional accounts is a story of the firs t g reat chief to gain any prominence on
Niue, a man named Mutalau who was bom in Tonga of a Niuean woman. He
came to Niue and settled on the north p a rt of the island; the present-day
village of Mutalau is named after h im .
7
Chiefly and p rie stly system s have never developed on Niue and it is
likely th at Niue was settled before these system s developed in the islands
from which the original inhabitants cam e. The fact that Niuean social structure
has developed along different lines than those of Tonga and Samoa is an
indication of an e arly date of settlem ent in N iue. The original se ttle rs
would have brought a set of social and political custom s with them, but a
different physical environment acting upon the natural p ro cess of cultural
evolution would have caused these custom s to evolve along different lines than
in th e ir place of o rig in .
T here w ere no h ered itary chiefs o r trib a l lead ers in ancient Niue,
but th ere was a s e rie s of men who w ere given the title of patuiki. The accepted
meaning of th is word today is ’’king ' but a lite ra l translation of this word is
"eid er-io rd " which might indicate that the man was something to a paramount
chief. However, th is office was not hered itary but was filled by election
^Loeb, Edwin M ., H istory and Traditions of Niue, Bishop Museum
Bulletin 32, (Honolulu, 1926), pp. 23-30.
from a council of the lea d ers of the various d istric ts. Except for the first
patuiki, Mutalau, who lived about the y ear 1700 A .D ., the kings apparently
had little actual pow er. T here w ere nine known kings following Mutalau.
8
In ancient tim es th ere was a state of alm ost continual w arfare between
the people of the Tafiti and the people of the M otu, a s well as occasional w ars
within each group.
These w ars, which w ere fought both for the possession
of land and fo r the sake of honor, w ere alm ost a way of life with the Niuean
people and continued until they w ere discouraged by the m issio n a rie s. Prior
to the coming of the m issio n aries th e re was no political unity o r village life
as it is found today.
Contact with Europeans.
The firs t European contact with the island was made by Captain James
Cook on June 20, 1774 while he was on his second voyage of discovery in the
South Pacific. He attem pted th ree landings on Niue, but h is reception was
ra th e r h o s tile . At one point a Niuean w a rrio r attem pted to kill Cook with a
spear, and he was forced to withdraw from the island.
Because of this
experience Cook called Niue "Savage Island", a name that has survived to
th is day on many m a p s--a slu r still resented by Niueans.
The next verified landing was made by the London M issionary Society
ship "M essenger of Peace" under the command of John W illiam s. In the y ear
8Ib id ., p. 51.
12
1830 he attem pted to land native teachers from Aitutaki on the island but
they w ere re p u lse d . W illiams was not too im pressed with the people of
Niue and considered them to be low and degraded. However, he did manage
to kidnap a couple of Niuean boys with the idea of teaching them C hristianity.
Both boys retu rn ed to Niue subsequently, but among die things they brought
back was veneral d is e a s e . L ater one of them was killed and the other fled
from the island.
9
Although rec o rd s a re lacking, other v essels m ust have called a t Niue
occasionally becai se th ere is re c o rd of two Niueans leaving the island on an
unnamed tim ber vessel.*® One of these men, who was given the C hristian
name of Peniamina, went to Samoa w here he was taught by L . M . S .
m is s io n a rie s . Having accepted C hristianity he was sent back to Niue in
1846 to "take the light" to the people of the isla n d . As a m issionary he was
not too successful as his behavior was, in the words of the L . M. S
m issio n aries, "not altogether consistent."** He did, however, lay the
foundation fo r m issio n ary work and in October, 1849 a Samoan L . M . S.
m issionary named Paulo landed with his wife in Niue and they proceeded to
set up a m ission station in M utalau. In 1852 two m ore Samoa teachers,
Paula and Samuela, w ere brought to Niue to aid in the w ork. By 1854 nearly
^Ibid., p . 33.
1QIbid.
**London M issionary Society, unpublished historical p ap ers, pp. 1-3.
13
the whole island had abandoned their form er heathen p ractices and were
under the influence of the m iss io n a rie s . Two m ore Samoan teachers»
Amosa and Sakaio, w ere brought to Niue in 1857, but no European m issionary
was yet inclined to sta y . In 1858 R evs. G. Stallworthy and G. Gill paid a
v isit to Niue and baptized 52 people, the f ir s t to be baptized on N iue. This
visit officially form ed the Church on N iue.
12
The work of the L . M. S . proceeded for several y ears under the
guidance of die Samoan teach ers, with occasional direction from European
m issio n aries in Sam oa. In 1861 D r . and M r s . George Lawes arriv e d in
Niue to take up resid en ce as the f ir s t full-tim e European m issio n aries to
be stationed th e r e . Their official residence was established in Alofi a t that
tim e . By the tim e they arriv e d there w ere five m ission stations around the
island and the population of Niue was about 4700 peopl e .
13
In 1865 th ere w ere six m ission stations and by this tim e the
governm ent of the island was in the hands of the representatives from these
six sta tio n s. In this year constables and judges w ere appointed for the
f ir s t tim e . D r . Lawes apparently left the governm ent in the hands of the
native officials and "m erely gave advice when re q u ire d ."
^ Ibid., p . 4 .
14Ib id ., p . 6 .
14
14
In 1866 the f ir s t two trading agents appeared on N iue. This gave
r is e to some fe a rs on the p a rt of the m issio n aries that the Niueans might
spend foolishly what little money they had on u seless trade item s .*** It
is also possible that R ev. Lawes was somewhat concerned that the Church
might have to compete with the tra d e rs fo r contributions; his fe a rs w ere not
unfounded.
In 1868 Rev. F
E . Lawes arriv ed in Niue to aid his brother in the
work of the L . M . S . George Lawes and his wife left Niue in 1872 and
w ere subsequently assigned to New Guinea where they served with g reat
distinction. Rev. F . E Lawes was to rem ain on the island until 1910,
becoming an expert in native custom s and tra d itio n s.
P rio r to the coming of the m issio n aries the governm ent of the island,
such as it w as, had been in the hands of die various chiefs of the island.
A fter die C hristianization of Niue the m issio n aries w ere in nearly complete
co n tro l. Although th ere was a council of representatives from each of the
six m ission stations which made certain decisions, the m ain guidance came
from die European m issio n a ry . The village constables and m ag istrates
w ere appointed by the council and adm inistered the laws which had been
w ritten out by the m issio n ary .
e c c le s ia stic a l.
These laws w ere, in some cases, distinctly
15
However, the m ission had neither the authority nor the power to
enforce the laws of the island on non-natives of Niue. In 1863 Peruvian
slav ers c a rrie d off about 150 Niueans and the m issionary was unable to
stop them , although he was opped to this action. Other young Niuean men
were taken away from tim e to tim e by blackbirders who did not seem to
have any trouble overcom ing the opposition of the m issionary. It m ust have
been apparent to the people of Niue that they lacked power, for a s early as
1859 the chiefs in council had asked for a British Protectorate to be
established over Niue. ^
In 1872 th ere was a movement started by the Alofi people to set up
a m onarchy. At that tim e the movement lacked the backing of the people
in general, and since both of the Lawes b ro th ers w ere opposed to it the
movement failed for the tim e being. However, in 1876 the people of Niue
decided to re -e sta b lish the office of king, and a man named Mataio Tuitoga
was chosen for the job. Rev. F . E . Lawes was asked to annoint the king,
but he refused. Instead he w rote up a document which the king signed, this
action taking the place of the coronation oath.
17
However, the "king” held
this title mai nly in name only as his position was m ostly cerem onial and he
had little actual pow er o r authority.
^ I b i d . , p. 4.
17Ib id ., ppi 10-13.
16
In 1879 S ir A rthur Gordon, who was then British High Com m issioner
for the W estern Pacific, arriv e d in Niue and appointed a local tra d e r, R. H.
Head, as Acting Deputy Com m issioner for Niue Island. Although this title
ca rried very little authority it did show that the British w ere beginning to take
an in tere st in Niue.
M ataio Tuitoga died in 1887 and in that sam e y ear the Niueans
appealed to Queen V ictoria to extend British Protection over Niue. However,
there was no action forthcom ing from the British at that tim e. One of the
factors which probably led to British reluctance at that tim e was the political
situation in the world. Germany had only recently begun to push for colonial
po ssessions throughout the w orld, and the Pacific Islands w ere quite prominent in
th e ir p la n s. At that tim e the British, G erm ans, and A m ericans w ere em broiled
in an extrem ely complex political riv a lry in Sam oa. In addition, the British
and G erm ans w ere involved in negotiations to establish who had g re a te r
claim s to te r rito r ie s in New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, and West A frica. In
the course of these negotiations Niue and Tonga w ere, in 1886, declared
neutral te r rito r y by both the British and Germ ans, but Germany was still
expressing some d esire to take over these two te r rito r ie s .
The German
government finally renounced all claim s to Niue in 1899, but only as p a rt of
a la rg e r settlem ent in which they obtained possession of W estern Samoa and
^ G ra tta n , C. H artley, The South-West Pacific to 1900, University of
Michigan P ress, (Ann A rbor, 1963), p . 498.
17
p a rts of West A fric a .
19
The people of Niue probably did not realize that
they w ere only a sm all p a rt of a very large diplomatic settlem ent.
In 1888 a man by the nam e of Fataaiki was appointed to the office of
kings, a s the people of Niue had not yet received a response to th eir request to
Queen V ictoria. Fataaiki died in 1896 and was succeeded by a man named
Togia.
The following y e a r the Niueans appealed again to Queen V ictoria to
extend British Protection to Niue, and this tim e th eir plea had positive re s u lts .
By this tim e, the political situation in the Pacific had been settled and Britain
was able to extend protection to Niue as p a rt of a program of consolidation in
the Pacific.
In 1900 Basil Thompson, an Envoy Plenipotentiary of the British Crown,
declared Niue a British P rotectorate, and la te r that y e a r he and Lord Ranfurly,
Governor of New Zealand, went to Niue, raised the British flag, and form ally
annexed Niue to the British E m pire. In 1901 S. Percy Smith was appointed as
the firs t Resident Agent. In that sam e y ear Niue cam e under the control of
New Zealand. At that tim e it was adm inistered from Rarotonga, but in 1903
an amendment to the above law gave Niue a separate adm inistration with its
own Resident C om m issioner. This arrangem ent is still in effect. At the
p resen t tim e Niue is considered an Island T e rrito ry of New Zealand and the
people of Niue a re New Zealand citizens.
^ I b i d . , p . 506.
18
Traditional Population P atterns.
Since contact with Europeans, p articu larly the m issionaries, nearly
all of the ancient custom s and p atterns have been changed considerably,
so it is not known definitely ju st how the people of Niue lived p rio r to the
coming of the fir s t Samoan m issio n aries, since the Samoans them selves did
not reco rd what they found. By the tim e the firs t European m issionary arriv ed
the en tire island under the influence of Paulo and the other Samoans, and many
of the traditional pattern s had already undergone a g reat deal of change.
However, according to the tradition that rem ains today the people of Niue were
apparently m ore dispersed throughout the island anciently than they a re today.
Since the p resen t nam es of several of the villages a re derived from the piece
of land upon which the church is located it is probably that the present villages
did not exist in th e ir p resen t state p rio r to the a rriv a l of the m issio n aries.
It is known that th ere w ere some settlem ents p rio r to the m issionaries,
but these settlem ents do not exist today. Some of these form er villages,
Havaka, Paluki, Fetuna, and Tafolomahina, a re m erely agricultural place
nam es today.
Even at the p resen t th ere is some tradition among the people of Niue
of living on the land which is being cultivated, and it is probably that
anciently the people lived in sm all settlem ents clo se r to th e ir cultivated
holdings. As th ere has been little attem pt to reconstruct the form er
19
settlem ents to determ ine th e ir pattern it is not known how extensive they
w ere.
The p rese n t p attern of population, that of living in nucleated
settlem ents, dates from the inception of C hristianity. The early Samoan
m issio n aries found it e a s ie r to work with the people, and e a s ie r to c a rry
out the functions of the Church, with the people gathered in settlem ents
ra th e r than spread through the bush. Only slight changes in the settlem ent
patterns have been made since that tim e.
20
FIOURB 2.
CHAPTER II.
POPULATION CHARACTERISTICS
In 1963 the population of Niue consisted of 4864 people, 4311 of whom
w ere Niueans. Most of the rem ainder w ere eith er of mixed ancestry or w ere
Europeans. T here is also a sprinkling of people from other Pacific Islands.
N early all of the people on Niue live in one of the thirteen nucleated
settlem ents on the island. These villages may be broken down into two
geographic categories; the "front" billages and the "back" villages. The
front villages a re Avatele, Tamakautoga, Alofi, Makefu, Tuapa, Namukulu,
and Hikutavake. The back villages a re Toi, Mutalau, Lakepa, Liku, Hakupu,
and V aiea.
The front villages a re all located on the low er te rra c e on the w estern
side of the island, right on the co ast. A total of 2490 people live in these
seven villages, including the en tire European population who live in Alofi.
Alofi is the m ain village on the island and the adm inistrative cen ter. It has
a population of 1107, including 211 Europeans.
The back villages a re all on the upper te rra c e of the island, about
one m ile inland. The low er te rra c e on the windward side of the island, the
side on which the back villages a re located, is too windy and subject to salt
22
spray to be suitable fo r location of village s ite s . The back villages have a
total population of 2163 people. They a r e connected to one another and to
the front villages by the p eripheral road around the island.
The distribution of population throughout the island is ra th e r unequal.
The average size of the front villages is 356 people, while the average size
of the back villages is 361. However, the villages range in size from a high of
1107 in Alofi to a low of 106 in Vaiea. Few of them actually come close to the
average fig u res.
TABLE I.
VILLAGE POPULATION 1962
Village
Male
Alofi
426
470
Makefu
Tuapa
Namukulu
Hikutavake
Tamakautoga
Avatele
114
189
59
102
137
195
102
189
60
107
123
217
Toi
Mutalau
Lakepa
Liku
Hakupu
Vaiea
77
259
203
251
238
44
85
294
206
207
237
62
162
553
409
458
475
106
TOTAL
2404
2460
4864
Fem ale
Total
1107 (includes
211 Europeans)
216
378
119
209
260
412
% of Total
22.7
4.4
7.7
2 .4 Front
4.2 Villages
5.3
8.4
3.3
11.3
8.4 Back
9 .4 Villages
9.7
2.1
23
The settlem ents of Niue, particu larly the front villages, tend to
strin g out along the p erip h eral road, with many houses adjacent to the road
and none m ore than a hundred yards from it. With the population thus strung out
along the road one can tra v el from Amanau in Alofi South to Hikutavake and
never be m ore than a few hundred y ard s from a dwelling place. This gives the
apparent effect of a dense population, although the actual population density of
the whole island is only about 49 persons p e r square m ile.
The age stru ctu re of Niue is heavily weighted toward youth. Nearly
70 p e r cent of the population of Niue is under th irty y ears of age, and another
15 p e r cent is between th irty and forty-five. The median age is ju st le ss than
sixteen y e a r s .
The crude b irth rate p e r 1000 population on Niue is 44.4 while the crude
death ra te is 5 .7 p e r 1000 population. This gives an annual rate of natural
in crease in Niue of 38.7 p ersons p e r 1000 population, assum ing vital registrations
a re com plete; but the high ra te of em igration reduces the actual increase to a
figure somewhat below the figure given for natural increase.
Em igration from Niue has been a problem that the island has had to
face since the beginning of the century because of the tendency of young men
to leave the island to work elsew here at a tim e in th e ir lives when they a re
needed m ost a t hom e. In the past few y e a rs this movement has accelerated
and young people a re leaving in significant num bers. During a nine-year
period from 1955 to 1963 a total of 2170 Niueans left the island. During this
sam e period 857 Niueans returned, leaving an accumulated deficit of 1313 people
which rep rese n ts m ore than 28 p e r cent of the resident Niuean population of
1961. On the average each y e a r's departures from the island by native Niueans
exceed a rriv a ls by 146 people, which m eans that about 61 p er cent of the people
who leave the island each y e a r do not retu rn . Nearly all of those who em igrate
go to New Zealand.
TABLE II.
POPULATION AGE AND SEX STRUCTURE (1961)
Age
Male
Female
0-4
5-9
10-14
15-19
20-24
25-29
30-34
35-39
40-44
45-49
50-54
55-59
60-64
65-69
70-74
75+
505
449
267
177
186
129
108
108
94
86
65
60
63
40
26
42
466
349
284
184
199
166
120
127
111
97
94
81
64
56
40
42
Total
970
798
551
361
385
295
228
235
205
183
159
141
127
96
66
84
% of Total
19.9
16.4
11.3
7.4
7.9
6 .0
4.6
4.8
4.2
3.7
3.2
2.8
2.6
1.9
1.3
1.7
25
During th is nine-year period the average num ber of people departing
annually from Niue has been 241, while the average num ber returning has
been 95. However, th e re has been no regular pattern of eith er departures
o r a rriv a ls over this perio d . During 1959 and 1960 when restrictio n s were
put on m ale d ep artu res for six-m onth periods, departures dropped to 170 in
1959 and 161 in 1960. The re stric tio n s on departures w ere placed in o rd er to
facilitate the rebiilding p ro g ram s which took place following the destructive
h u rrican es which took place in those y e a rs . During those same y ears a rriv a ls
dropped to 75 in 1959 and 73 in 1960, In 1961, after all re strictio n s had been
removed, d ep artu res soared to a high of 312, but the num ber of a rriv a ls
dropped to 69 people.
The high figure of 312 people in 1961 apparently represented a large
num ber of people that would have left in the previous two y ears had they been
able to do so because the num ber of departures for the next two y e ars, 234
people in 1962 and 229 people in 1963, actually fall below the average for the
nine-year p erio d . At the sam e tim e a rriv a ls for these two y ears a re
considerably above average; 110 people in 1962 and 142 people in 1963. There
has been no noticeable trend develop over the nine-year period, but the
re stric tio n s on em igration in 1959 and 1960 would elim inate the possibility of
any clea r trend developing.
26
TABLE III.
ANNUAL DEPARTURES AND ARRIVALS OF NIUEANS
Y ear
Male
1955
1956
1957
1958
1959
1960
1961
1962
1963
149
167
150
131
72
77
160
127
119
D epartures
Fem ale
Total
Male
112
111
123
118
98
84
152
107
110
261
278
273
249
170
161
312
234
229
64
65
45
45
35
36
39
55
71
A rrivals
Fem ale
Total
41
51
31
46
39
37
30
55
71
105
116
76
91
74
73
69
110
142
Significant in the population movement in and out of Niue is the fact
that these villages, Alofi, Mutalau, and Hakupu, stand out as being the m ost
prom inent contributors of em igrating p erso n s. In 1963,these three villages
had a total population of 1924 people, which rep resen ts about 41.3 p e r cent
of the total island population. Yet, over thenine-year period these same
three villages contributed 59.9 p e r cent of the total departures and received
65.6 p e r cent of the total a rriv a ls . These three villages have, over this
period, consistently been the m ost affected by population movement.
Although it is difficult to pinpoint the exact causes for the increased
activity on the p a rt of th re e p articu lar villages, whose village boundaries
a r e non-contiguous with one another for the m ost p art, it is obvious that these
th re e villages have certain advantages which a r e lacking in the re st of the
27
island. The m ost noticeable advantage that these th ree villages is a
relatively larg e hinterland of productive agricultural land. This would lead
naturally to higher income levels in these th ree villages which would make
em igration financially m ore feasible, if economically le ss necessary .
Another factor that m ay be observed in these villages is one of attitude.
These th re e villages a re definitely m ore p rogressive than a re the other
v illag es. This is a situation that feeds upon itself, with the progressive
villages becoming increasingly pro g ressiv e and outward-looking, and the
le ss p ro g ressiv e villages falling fa rth e r behind.
As these villages send out people a s em igrants to New Zealand they
will form increasingly m ore tie s in New Zealand and less in Niue, and those
villages with the g re atest num ber of expatriates living in New Zealand will
continue to send the g re a te st num ber of em igrants each y e a r. Concurrently,
these sam e villages will receive the g reatest num ber of retu rn ees from
New Zealand as people gain sufficient money to retu rn to Niue to visit o r to
r e t ir e .
The th re e villages of Mutalau, Hakupu, and Alofi, having gained the
initial advantage in em igration will probably now retain i t .
The main problem brought about by em igration from the island is
that th ere is a definite im balance in population becoming evident. The 1961
population figures show 1013 men between the ages of 15 and 60 com pared
28
to 1179 women. At the sam e tim e there a re 1221 m ale children and 1099
fem ale children under the age of 15. This would indicate that m ales,
p articularly the grotp m ost active both economically and reproductively, a re
em igrating in g re a te r num bers than a r e women.
TABLE IV.
ORIGIN OF DEPARTURES AND ARRIVAL
Year
1955
1956
1957
1958
1959
1960
1961
1962
1963
60
45
57.1
76
40
65.5
56
20
73.6
53
38
58.2
55
20
73.3
51
22
69.8
51
18
73.9
62
48
56.3
89
53
62.6
184
94
66.1
143
130
52.3
173
79
68.6
90
80
52.9
103
58
63.9
172
140
55.1
139
95
59.4
133
95
58.0
A rrivals:
A-M-H*
Other
% A-M-H
*1I
D epartures:
A-M-H
Other
% A-M-H
163
97
62.4
*Alofi - Mutalau - Hakupu
The age and sex stru c tu re of the island shows a sharp decline in the
10-14 age group, p artic u la rly in m ales. This decline continues in each older
age bracket to about age 40, when the depletion ceases to be discernible in the
age and sex s tru c tu re . The sharp decline at ages 10-14 seem s to be related to
em igration for the sake of superior education facilities overseas, but
th erea fte r em igration is obviously related to employment opportunities. The
effect on the Niuean population is to leave the m ost economically effective
groups depleted and with an increased burden of economically inactive
dependents among the old er and younger age g ro u p s. The effects of em igration a re
not yet felt as a burden to m ost Niueans on the island, who derive indirect
benefits from the m ovem ent. The prospect of a decline in the island population,
and a depletion below the w orkforce required on the island, is increasing as the
rate of em igration r i s e s .
30
FIGURJB 3 .
30
FIGURE 3 .
NIUE ISLAND P O P U L A T IO N
0 . 9%
0. 5%
AGE AND SEX S T R U C T U R E
0 . 8%
(1961)
1. 2%
1. 2 %
1. 3%
1. 8%
1. 9%
.
4 2 42
0 . 9%
26
0 . 8%
40
4 0 56
03 64
60 81
65 9 4
86 97
9 4 111
75 +
70-74
1.1%
65-69
1. 3%
60-64
1. 7%
55-59
1. 9%
2 . 0%
108 L27
I 2 . 6%
2 . 2%
108 120
2 . 5%
3. 8%
45-49
2 . 3%
2 . 2%
2 6%
50-54
129 166
40-44
35-39
30-34
3 .4 %
25-29
4 . 1%
186 199
20-24
3. 8%
177 1 8 4
3 . 6%
267
284
9 .1%
449
349
| l 0 . 3%
505
466
5. 4%
5 . 8%
FIGURE 4.
10-14
5 -9
7.1 %
9 . 5%
FEMALE
MALE
15-19
0 -4
CHAPTER m .
THE LAND TBNURE SYSTEM
The custom ary system of land tenure in Niue, as in nearly all of
Polynesia, differs m arkedly from the various European system s in that
th ere is no concept of p riv ate ownership of la n d . The basic unit of land
ownership in Niue is not the individual but the family, or m agafaoa. This
unit generally consists of th ree o r four generations, descended from a single
individual, who may be eith er m ale o r fem ale. The magafaoa also includes
ail adopted children, a common feature of m ost Niuean fam ilies.
Anciently the en tire island was taken over by its inhabitants who
divided ip the land into blocks known as fonua. Each fonua has definite
boundaries and nam es and each magafaoa h as a certain num ber of fonua to
be used and occupied by its m em bers. T here is no land on the island which has
not been placed under the fonua system , nor is there any which is not held by
some m agafaoa.
The recognized head of each magafaoa was generally the oldest m ale
descendant of the original an cestor, and he was known as the pule m agafaoa.
This position was not a h ered itary position, nor was it necessarily held by a
m a le . Upon the death o r rem oval of a pule magafaoa the m em bers of the
33
fam ily would choose a new person to fill the position, and the choice of a
fem ale was not unknown. * The m ain function of the pule magafaoa was to
distribute the land held by the magafaoa to its various m em bers.
2
The magafaoa was generally made up of several sm aller family units,
each one headed by a patu. The title of patu was generally given to every
m arried man o r m ature single m an. It was to these men that the land was
distributed to be used and occupied by th e ir imm ediate fam ilies. The land
was always distributed to each fam ily, o r individual on some occasions, on the
b asis of the fonua, which w ere never divided but always alloted in th eir
e n tire ty .
It was also the function of the pule magafaoa to consent to the adoption of
children into a p a rtic u la r fam ily unit. This was necessary because each
adopted child would inherit the rights to the land held by the family which
adopted him , although not n ecessarily the rights to all of the land held by the
m agafaoa.
The final function of the pule magafaoa would be to divide the land held
by the m agafaoa among its various branches in o rd er to create new m agafaoa. 4
'
I
1McEwen, J. M ., unpublished draft of rep o rt on land tenure in Niue,
D epartm ent of Island T e rrito rie s , (Wellington, 1956).
2Ibid.
3Ibid.
^Ibid.
34
This was generally done when the magafaoa became quite large, and it
explains the fact that each magafaoa generally consisted of only four o r five
g enerations.
All of the functions of the piie magafaoa had to be c a rrie d out with
the consent of the m em bers of the magafaoa, and although the pule had the
final say a s to distribution of land and other problem s of the magafaoa, if the
m em bers did not want to accept h is decisions they had the right to depose him and
put somebody else in h is place.®
Once a m em ber of a fam ily received a definite allocation of land it would
be his perm anently, and h is descendants would have perpetual rights to that
portion of land. H ie only rights which would be retained by the magafaoa a s a
whole to any p a rtic u la r fonua which had been allotted is that a fonua might
re v ert to the magafaoa should the person to which it was allotted die without
leaving h e i r s .
Abandonment of the land was a situation which was dealt with by each
family, and it was another cause by which land which had been previously
allotted might re v e rt to the m agafaoa. The two factors which affected the
fam ily's decision w ere the length of tim e which a person absented him self and
h is family from the land, and the amount of land which the magafaoa held for
distribution. It is obvious that if a magafaoa held very little land then a m em ber
of the magafaoa might lose his rights to the land by abandonment sooner than
5Ibid.
35
if the family held m ore land.
Fem ales within the fam ily had full rights to the land and w ere generally
given a portion of the land which could be used by th ier husbands, should they
m arry , and which could be inherited by th e ir children. Although a person
could occupy and use a portion of land inherited by his o r h e r spouse, they
would not retain any rights to that land should the spouse die. Only the children
would have rig h ts to the land, and they would have rights to the land of both
parents. However, children did not necessarily have equal rights to every
piece of land owned by both p a re n ts. The parents generally decided which
block of land, o r fonua, would be given each ch ild .6 In any case a fonua
would never be split between two children. This system avoided
fractionalization of the lan d .
An adopted child would have the sam e rights to the land of h is adopted
parents a s woiid a child bom into the family, but he would not have any rights
to the land held jointly by the magafaoa unless he was a blood relation to the
m agafaoa. Upon adoption a child would lose all of his rights to the land of his
natural p aren ts unless the natural parents decided to allot a portion of th eir
lands to h im . If such w ere the case then he might not gain any rights to the
land of his adopted p a re n ts .
6Ibid.
Under the traditional system it was possible that not all of the land was
allocated but that some of it was held jointly by the magafaoa to be allocated
as needed o r used jointly by m em bers of the f a m ily . ^
This traditional system seem s to have been very well suited to Niue in
several asp ects; it divided the land into definite units with known boundaries,
it provided for a single fam ily head who had the authority to distribute the
land and settle fam ily disputes, and it gave the individual land-holders
undisturbed rig h ts of occupation. Under this system all of the land would
belong to somebody, yet none of it would be divided up between so many owners
that nobody could effectively occupy it. At the sam e tim e the system provided
that rights to the land might be lost through failure to occupy and use the land
because of abandonment.
Over the y e a rs the Niuean custom ary system of land tenure has rem ained
relatively stable, changing only slightly to m eet the sociological changes
which come with technical and economic change. The family has rem ained as
the m ost im portant unit of Niuean society, but it has tended to lose some of its
cohesiveness because of the increased rate of em igration, and also because of
a higher level of education on the p a rt of the younger people. W hereas the old
magafaoa would include all the descendants of a common ancestor over four
37
o r five generations, the m odern magafaoa ra re ly consists of m ore than three
generations. The te rm pule magafaoa is ra re ly used at the present, although
the m ale head of each fam ily is still known a s patu . However, this term no
longer connotes the sam e meaning of respect and dignity that it form erly did.
N early all of the land presently held by Niueans resident on Niue is
land that they obtained from the generation im m ediately preceding th em .
Most people inherit land from th e ir parents, fo ster parents, o r from uncles
and au n ts.
The custom ary system is still effective in that the land is still divided
into the sam e system of fonua a s it was traditionally and these fonua a re still
passed on intact from generation to generation.
One of the specific changes which has taken place is that at the present
tim e when a landholder leaves Niue for an extended period of tim e he leaves his
land in the hands of a specific person, who is nearly always a m em ber of the
same m agafaoa. G enerally the person will be an im m ediate relative such as
a son, daughter, b ro th er, o r s is te r, but it is not uncommon for a person without
issue to leave h is land in the hands of a nephew o r niece, o r possibly even some
other m ore distant relativ e . This person with whom the land is left has full
rights of usage to the land unless it is specifically stated by the original owner
th at such rights do not e x ist. However, it is r a re for rights of usage to be
w ithheld.
38
One of the m ain reaso n s for a person leaving his lands in the hands of
another person is so that he m ay retain his rights to the land should he retu rn
to the island. By doing this the person h as in effect elim inated any claim that
the magafaoa a s a whole might have on his lands. As the magafaoa no longer
has any claim to the lands should the person fail to retu rn to the island the
rights to the lands would accru e to the person with whom the lands w ere left.
The person who thus obtained new lands that had once been held by another
m em ber of the magafaoa could then p ass these lands on to his h e ir s .
In recen t y e a rs th is innovation to custom ary system has been necessary
a s the number of Niueans living outside of Niue is roughly one-quarter of the
resident population of the island. The problem of abandoned lands has largely
been avoided by placing the lands of non-resident Niueans under the responsibil­
ity of resident m em bers of the m agafaoa. This has tended to elim inate the need
of a pule magafaoa to distribute the lands which might have been abandoned by
em igrants from Niue, but it has kept the land available for use, and in some
cases the land has p assed on to the h e irs of the person caring for the land
upon the failure of the original owners to retu rn to Niue.
However, th ere a re still land disputes on Niue, and every y ear there
a re several cases of m ultiple claim s to a p a rtic u la r fonua, however, these
disputes usually a r is e upon the death of a person who has left no issue or
other immediate fam ily. In th is case the Native Land Court m ust investigate
39
the various claim s and make a decision according to the best evidence
available a s to who has the best claim .
Presently being considered is legislation which would largely form alize
and define the custom ary sy stem . The projected legislation would make it
necessary to survey and settle the boundaries of each individual fonua. Once
the fonua was definitely established it would be assigned to a p artic u la r magafaoa
according to the an cesto r from which the m em bers w ere descended. It would
then be n ecessary fo r the m em bers of the magafaoa to select a pule magafaoa,
if one had not been chosen already. However, the title which he would be
given under the new law would be leveki magafaoa, which can be translated
as "guardian of the fa m ily ." The law would set down certain requirem ents
for the leveki, the m ost im portant being that he o r she m ust be domiciled in
g
N iue.'
Following the appointment of a leveki a title would be issued for each
fonua in the name of the leveki and he would have full power to control the use
and occupation of any fonua for which he held title . It would also be understood
that any dispute with the leveki over disposition of lands could be brought before
the Native Land C ourt.
9
Under the proposed law once the leveki had assigned a fonua to a
person a certificate of occupation would then have to be issued by the Native
g
Department of Island T e rrito rie s , Proposed New System of Land
T itles, (1964), Sec. A, paragraph (iv).
Q
Ibid., paragraph (v).
40
Land Court upon a joint application of both the leveki and the person to whom
the land had been assig n ed . Upon the issuance of a certificate of occupation
all conditions pertinent to the holding of that p articu lar fonua would be entered
upon the c e rtific a te . This would include whether o r not the certificate itself
would be inheritable.
Like the custom ary system from which the proposed legislation is
taken the rig h ts of the people of Niue to the land would be guaranteed and it
would be im possible to alienate a Niuean from his land. The only exception to
this would be in the case of em igrant Niueans. Under the proposed legislation
a tim e lim it would be set a fte r which a person who absented him self from the
island would autom atically lose h is o r h e r rights to the land. The length of this
tim e lim it is the m ain factor which is delaying passage of this legislation as
of the tim e of this w riting.
The proposed legislation is designed to ensure that in the future th ere
will be land available to all Niueans resident on the island and that th e ir rights
to the land will be guaranteed. At the sam e tim e the proposed legislation should
provide fo r an o rd erly reg istratio n of all plots of land.
At the p resen t tim e only about 1 p e r cent of the total land a re a on Niue
has been surveyed, and th is is m ostly in the v illag es. The new legislation,
10
Ibid., Sec. B, paragraph (iv).
41
when it is implemented, will provide for a survey of all land and a definition
of boundaries. This, along with certificates of occupation, should reduce
future land d isp u tes.
Ideally the new legislation seem s w ell-suited to the Niuean custom ary
system , and it seem s to take into p ro p er account the problem of the em igrant
Niuean. However, if th is legislation is passed it will take a g reat deal of
effort to im plem ent. The p resen t staff of the Native Land Court in Niue is
incapable of handling the p resen t amount of paper work with which it m ust
deal. The new legislation will not only in crease the paper work many tim es
over but will also n ecessitate a g reat deal of work in surveying the entire island.
If this new legislation is to go into effect the Niue Island Adm inistration m ust
be prepared to sustain a g reat deal of initial expense in o rd er to see that the
legislation is in fact effective and not m erely a few words on paper.
The new legislation can be very effective in guaranteeing that no
Niuean be alienated from the land needlessly if he is in a position to use it,
and at the sam e tim e it should ensure that no land which is usable rem ain
idle because of absented landholders. If Niue is to achieve any economic
security it m ust depend upon the land, and the productivity of the land m ust
be ensured.
CHAPTER IV.
THE AREAL VARIATION IN LAND QUALITY AND
POTENTIAL FOR SPECIFIC USES
As the people of Niue m ust depend to a g reat degree upon the products
of the soil for th e ir livelihood, the soil itself, despite its relatively poor
quality, becom es the p rim ary natural reso u rce of the island. However, this
resource is a sev ere lim iting factor in that its rocky nature is such that
agricu ltu ral production is lim ited in both the type and the amount of crops
which m ay be grow n.
As Niue is an ancient atoll its soil has some of the qualities of typical
atoll s o ils . However, som etim e a fte r the ancient atoll was uplifted it
received additional m ateria l from which the soils have been form ed.
Volcanic ash from some distant source descended
on the coral but alm ost im m ediately the mantle
becam e threadbare, a s the ash moved into holes,
fissu re s, e tc . Soil depth and continuity can thus be
closely co rrelated with the nature of the underlying
coral, although the chief soil parent m aterial is,
without question, volcanic ash .*
1Wright, A. C. S ., Soil Reconnaisance of Niue Island, Unpublished
New Zealand Soil Bureau Bulletin, pp. 1-2.
43
Four soil s e rie s have been described on Niue, and these s e rie s have
been classified on the b a sis of the amount of weathering which has taken place.
Three of the soil s e rie s , the Hakupu, Fonuakula, and Palai se rie s, a re found
on the upper te rra c e of the island. These th ree s e rie s exhibit a weathering
gradient toward the cen ter of the island, with the Hakupu se rie s, the least
weathered, on the o ite r periphery of the upper te rra c e , and the Palai series,
the m ost w eathered, found in the cen tral p a rt of the island. The boundaries
between these different s e rie s a re difficult to determ ine exactly and in
actuality they re p re se n t tran sitio n boundaries.
2
The fourth s e rie s , the Hikutavake, is used to describe the soils on the
outer periphery of the island on the low er te rra c e , where th ere is over 90
per cent co ral outcrop. Despite the rocky nature of this te rra c e th ere is a
farily heavy cover of vegetation and th e re a re num erous banana plantations.
Each of the four s e rie s may be broken down into types, according to
the degree of rockiness within each type. T here a re four types in the Palai
series, five in the Fonuakula s e rie s , and th re e in theHakupu and Hikutavake
s e rie s .^
The Hikutavake s e rie s , which occupies the a rea between sea level
and the ipper plateau has an area of about 2000 a c r e s . Although the surface
2Ibid.
^Ib id ., pp. 4 -5 .
44
of the area where the Hikutavake s e rie s may be found is m ore than 90 p e r cent
rock, the soil itself, confined m ostly to crevices, is quite fe rtile . Bananas,
mango tre e s, and b readfruit grow very well in this s e rie s . In crevices where
a norm al profile m ay be found th ere will be from twenty to th irty inches of soil
developed.^
The Hakupu s e rie s covers about 12,200 a c re s of land around the outer
edge of the upper te rra c e , not extending m ore than about two m iles inland. The
Hakupu s e rie s m ay be broken down into th ree types. The soil, which is m ostly
reddish brown in color, was form erly covered by fo rest but is now largely in
coconuts, which do very well on this soil type. The depth of the soil ranges from
six to twenty inches, and the degree of rockiness is up to 90 p e r cent n ear the
rim of the tpper te r ra c e .^
The Fonakula se rie s, which has five types, covers an a rea of about
21,900 a c re s . It is found inland from the Hakupu se rie s nearly all around
the island, but its widest extent is in the southern p a rt of the island. The
original cover of this soil was probably once forest, but it is now covered
mainly with fern s and other secondary scrub grow th.
I
4
Ib id., pp. 5-6.
^Ibid., pp. 6-8.
^Ibid., pp. 8-12.
45
The Palai s e rie s in the middle of the island is the m ost weathered of
the four s e r ie s . It covers about 20, 000 a c re s and has four ty p es.
7
This
s e rie s still has much of its original fo rest cover.
TABLE V.
RELATIVE PROPORTION OF SOIL TO ROCK IN EACH SOIL TYPE 8
Soil Type
Total Area (acres)
Hikutavake rocky silt loam
Hikutavake complex
Hikutavake hill soils
Hakupu silt loam
Hakupu rocky silt loam
Hakupu very rocky silt loam
Fonuakula silty clay loam
Fonuakula rocky silty clay loam
Fonuakula very rocky silty clay
loam
Fonuakula heavy silt loam
Palai clay loam
Palai rocky clay loam
Palay very rocky clay loam
Palai loam
TOTAL
Soil
Rock
% Rock
1045
842
4900
4220
7628
4562
8480
7314
104
742
245
3600
3700
510
8000
3714
941
100
4655
620
3928
4052
480
3600
90.0
11.8
95.0
14.6
51.4
88.8
5.6
49.2
4717
1270
2088
9708
7856
270
1180
1200
1671
5825
2750
250
3537
70
417
3883
5106
20
74.9
5.5
19.9
39.9
64.9
7 .4
64,900
33, 491
31,409
48.3
The main soil facto rs which affect crop production in Niue a re the degree
of rockiness in the soil, the depth of the soil, and the fertility of the soil. As
is shown in Table V th ere is a high percentage of the total land a re a of Niue
^Ibid., pp. 12-14.
8Ib id ., Table V.
46
which is m ostly rock and th erefo re unsuitable for crop production. Another
factor, which the table is not able to show, is that th ere a re not large
contiguous a re a s of ro ck -fre e so il. The a re a s with a relatively le s s e r
amount of rock a r e generally in tersp ersed with the rocky a r e a s . Many of the
areas used for cultivation of ta ro a re actually m ostly rock at the surface w ith
the taro planted between the o u tcro p s.
Depth a s a regulating factor is very noticeable on Niue where the soils
a re extrem ely shallow. Only ra re ly a re the soils m ore than about eighteen
inches in depth, and in nearly all a re a s they a re underlain by compacted coral
sand o r p artia lly decomposed lim estone, known in Niue as m akasea. This
shallow depth is a definite lim iting factor not only on the type of crops which
may be grown but also upon the method of ag ricu ltu re. In recent y e a rs the
A griculture D epartm ent of the Niue Island Adm inistration has instituted a
program whereby kum ara grow ers might have th e ir land disc-plowed for them
by the A dm inistration, however the shallowness of the soil has been a m ajor
factor which h as lim ited the a re a s which a re suitable for discing.
The other m ajo r facto r is that of fe rtility . Despite the thick growth
of vegetation over the island the so ils of Niue a re not very fe rtile . As is the
case with many tropical soils the so ils of Niue a re leached and have a very
low humus content. The fertility is lessened somewhat by cultivation, which
greatly reduces the n utrients in the soil within one o r two y e ars, necessitating
a seven to ten y e ar fallow period before the a re a can be used again. In
47
addition to that, the Niuean custom of burning the brush to c le a r the land
destroys what little humus th ere may be in the soil.
Because of th ese facto rs the types of crops which may be grown on
Niue a re lim ited to certain a re a s which a r e m ost suitable for production of
specific cro p s.
Most of the soil which is within the a re a assigned to the Hikutavake
soil se rie s is incapable of supporting any type of crop other than bananas. The
main reason for th is is not so much the fertility of the soil as it is the high
degree of ro c k in e ss. T aro is grown in extrem ely lim ited quantities in the
vicinity of Tamakautoga, and other food crops such a s breadfruit, coconuts,
papaya, c itru s fru its, and mango a re grown in lim ited num bers, but bananas
remain a s the only crop of any significance in this s e rie s . Even the production
of bananas is lim ited to sm all groves in the im m ediate vicinity of villages.
The Hakupu s e rie s presently produces m ost of the copra on the island,
and will probably continue to do so a s this is where the bulk of the coconut
tre e s a re planted and w here they grow the b e s t. The shallowness and high
degree of rockiness of the Hakupu s e rie s ren d ers it incapable of producing
com m ercial qtantities of any type of crop other than copra in m ost a re a s .
Taro and ktm aras a re grown on this se rie s, but not in any g reat com m ercial
quantities. Five of the villages of Niue a r e located in the a re a covered by the
Hakupu se rie s, another factor which favors the production of copra over
other c ro p s.
48
The Fonuakula s e rie s is the m ost im portant to Niue in that this is the
s e rie s in which m ost of the food crops of Niue a re grown. This se rie s is
very good for the potential production of kum aras as the soil is suited for
this type of crop and the degree of rockiness is sm all enough in many a re a s
to allow discing and extensive cultivation. Most of the taro grown in Niue is
presently grown in th is s e rie s , but much of the a re a is presently considered as
a d esert because over-cultivation has produced conditions which have made the
soil extrem ely in fe rtile . However, improved agricultural techniques,
including topdressing, m ay be able to bring much of this land back into
production. T here is also the possibility that much of this a re a , which has been
alm ost en tire ly cleared of fo rest growth, will be suitable for use as grazing
land.
Although some of the a re a covered by the Palai s e rie s has been cleared,
m ost of it rem ains covered by the original fo re st. One reason fo r this is the
rugged nature of the are a , which has not always made it feasible to c le a r the
original growth away. As the fo rest itself is an economic a sse t it is likely
that this a re a will rem ain m ostly a s fo rest for some tim e to com e. However,
the a re a is presen tly the g rea test producing a rea for bananas, which do not
require larg e cleared a re a s o r a low degree of rockiness. If m ore roads can
be built in the a re a covered by the Palai s e rie s banana production can probably
be increased in a re a s which a re not econom ically feasible for any other type
of crop.
49
The total p ictu re fo r potential crop production on Niue shows that
the so ils a re capable of producing much m ore than they a re producing at
the p resen t. However, increased production depends on several human
factors. Better soil management is one key to the problem , but it m eans
abandoning many traditional ag ricu ltu ral p ractices, including that of shifting
agriculture: these changes a re v ery difficult to bring about. Many a re a s a re
presently devoted en tire ly to food production for dom estic use, and it is these
areas which m ust be given p rio rity . If food production can be settled in
several definite and appropriate a re a s whcih can be farm ed continuously under
proper m anagem ent, ra th e r than being abandoned periodically, than other a re a s
can be developed for com m ercial production of crops such a s kum aras and
citrus fru its. The so ils of Niue m ay be lacking in several resp ects, but they
a re capable of becoming a significant a s s e t given the proper management.
50
^ so'w
ìó
NIU E
ISLAND
H3KUTATAKE SERIES
SOILS (AFTER A .C .S . WRIGHT)
EàKUPU SERIES
FONUAXULA SERIES
Scale 1:134,696
PALAI SERIES
FIGURE 5.
CHAPTER V.
THE PATTERN OF LAND UTILIZATION
The m ost noticeable feature about land utilization in Niue is that
very little of the land is being used fo r the cultivation of specific crops.
As has been previously seen the rocky nature of much of the land renders
it incapable of producing crops in many a re a s, and the relativ e infertility
of the soil in the crop producing a re a s has resulted in sm all shifting
agricultural p lo ts . The re su lt of shifting agriculture is that many a re a s which
a re capable of crop cultivation a re left fallow for periods of several y e a rs in
order to regain sufficient fe rtility to re-estab lish crop cultivation.
At the p resen t tim e the only m ajor crop which is not a p a rt of the
pattern of shifting ag ricu ltu re is the coconut. Although coconut tre e s may
be found throughout the island m ost of them a re to be found in a belt parallel
to the m ain road which en circles the island. Within this belt the m ain copra
producing a re a falls alm ost entirely within the a re a between Toi and a point
about a m ile w est of Hakupu. This a rea produces m ore than 90 p e r cent
of the copra produced on N iue.
Like the native plantations of many Pacific islands the copra
plantations of Niue exhibit a very random pattern . In m ost a re a s the
52
coconut tre e s a re not planted in any p artic u la r o rd er but ra th e r seem to
grow from the spot on which a nut happened to fa ll. Most of the copra
plantations a re poorly m aintained in that th ere is heavy weed and scrub
growth around the b ases of the coconut palm s, with a resultant lo ss in
coconut growth. Most of the tre e s in the copra-producing a re a s a re older,
w ell-established tre e s with very few new plantings evident.
Copra is the dominant crop produced within the m ain copra-producing
area, other crops being insignificant. Between Mutalau and Hakupu coconuts
are the only crop grown e a st of the road in any significant num bers. The
number of coconut palm s inland from the road becomes increasingly
sm aller, until a t the cen tral p a rt of the island the coconut tre e is practically
non-existent for purposes of copra production. (The road is not a causal
factor in the distribution of coconut tre e s but m erely a point from which the
distribution can be lo cated .)
Another of the m ost im portant crops in term s of cash value is
bananas. However, despite th e ir im portance as a cash crop bananas
occupy very little of the total acreag e devoted to cro p s. Only about 275
a cres a re devoted to the cultivation of bananas. The traditional method
of banana cultivation has been to ra ise them in sm all clumps adjacent eith er
to dwelling a re a s o r to the ag ricu ltu ral a re a in which other food crops are
grown. In recent y e a rs the A griculture Department has encouraged
banana grow ers to enlarge th e ir banana plantations by establishing a scheme
53
whereby a grow er m ight receive assistan ce in establishing a plantation and
also receive certain bonuses fo r improved production. Despite the incentives
offered this schem e has so fa r m et with only lukewarm response and it will
probably be a few m ore y e a rs before it gains any sizable acceptance.
Under this schem e a planter would plant several hundred banana tre e s
spaced at p ro p er in terv als and the tre e s would be mulched, sprayed, and
fertilized frequently, a s well a s the patch being kept c le a r of w eeds. It
is hoped th at under th is system improved yields would be gained over the
traditional m ethods. The traditional method is one of somewhat haphazard
and irre g u la r planting of tre e s in groups of ten to th irty . As reg u lar mulching
and fertilizing a r e not generally done under the traditional method yields
generally fall off a fte r the firs t th ree y e a rs, and then the banana patch is
often abandoned to secondary growth. As a resu lt of this method of banana
growing th ere a re num erous abandoned o r non-productive banana patches
around the island.
Although all villages have banana growing in them , particu larly n ear
dwelling places, m ost of these bananas a r e for home consumption.
Com m ercial production of bananas is lim ited m ostly to the forest a re a of
the cen tral p a rt of the island. This is generally the a re a covered by soils
of the Palai s e rie s . The villages of Liku and Lakepa, which a re located
m ost conveniently to the fo rest a re a s , produce m ore than 65 p e r cent of
the bananas which a re sold for export. The cultivation of bananas has been
54
aided in these villages in recen t y ears by the building of banana roads into
the m ore inaccessible p a rts of the fo rest. In the opinion of many Niueans
the h ard est p a rt about raisin g bananas has been getting them to the road
where they might be crated and picked up by a truck to be taken to m arket.
The building of new roads through the forest a re a s would probably serve to
make much m ore land available for cultivation of bananas. However, much
of the land that is presen tly available and suitable for banana cultivation is
not being used. The p resen t acreage of about 275 a c re s is only a sm all
fraction of the land that could be brought into production. However, the
b a r rie r of traditional methods of agricu ltu re will not be overcom e in a few
short y e a r s .
Although relatively insiginificant twenty y e a rs ago, in recent y ears
one of the m ost im portant cash crops has been the sweet potato, kum ara.
The amount of land devoted to th is p artic u la r crop probably v aries m ore from
y e a r to y e a r than that of any o ther. The reason fo r this is that kum aras a re
alm o st en tire ly grown a s a cash crop; the amount used for local consumption
being relatively m in o r. New Zealand is the m arket for all Niue kum aras, and
the p ric e received fo r them in New Zealand may fluctuate considerably from one
y e a r to the next. F o r this reason the acreage devoted to kum aras will be much
la rg e r in som e y e a rs than in o th e rs . Another factor which has affected kumara
production in recen t y e a rs h as been the appearance of a plant disease known as
black ro t. This d isease affects the kum aras while they a re in tra n sit to New
55
Zealand, bit it is very h ard to detect before shipping. Th s disease, which
the A griculture D epartm ent is taking steps to control, has severely lim ited
the amount of kum aras exported in some y e a rs.
In o rd e r to in crease the amount of kum aras cultivated on Niue the
A griculture Departm ent has in recent y ears established a program whereby
it will aid kum ara grow ers by disc-plowing and fertilizing suitable one-half
ac re plots for them , and will take payment for this service a fte r the crop
has been sold. As of July, 1964 th ere w ere 380 of these one-half a c re plots
which had been disced and fertilized . Although m ost of the acreage thus
prepared was subsequently used for taro cultivation approxim ately 125 acres
w ere used fo r the cultivation of k u m aras.
Kumara cultivation has been confined entirely to the a re a s covered by
the Hakupu and FonuakdLa soil s e rie s , with the Fonuakula s e rie s being the
m ost im portant of the two. Kum aras a re grown com m ercially by grow ers from
every village on the island, but the bulk of the kum aras a re produced in the
extensive a re a in the southern p a rt of the island which is free from prim ary
fo rest co v er, Hakupu is the m ost active village in the cultivation of kum aras
with 84 re g istered kum ara grow ers and a s many disced and fertilized plots.
Although kum ara cultivation has been p art of the traditional system
of shifting ag ricu ltu re in the past, under the new scheme, utilizing such
methods a s discing and fertilization, kum ara cultivation can probably be
stabilized in perm anent p lo ts. The new methods have not only produced
56
higher yields but they have also produced kum aras which a re free from black
ro t. This is larg ely due to dipping the cuttings before planting and planting
in fungus-free so il. With these advantages many of the disced a re a s can be
used perm anently fo r the cultivation of kum aras and taro , alternating
occasionally with some type of nitrogen fixing plant such a s C ro talaria.
The staple food crop of the island is ta ro which is grown throughout
the cultivated a r e a . As it is a food crop it has not been grown in large plots
in the p ast. However, w th the introduction of the discing scheme ta ro is
now being grown on considerably la rg e r plots than it was under the traditional
system . Outside of the plots which have been disced and planted to ta ro and
kum aras, ta ro is grown m ostly in sm all plots with not m ore than 500-1000
taro p la n ts. These plots a re scattered throughout the upper te rra c e of the
island, but the heaviest ta ro plantings a re to be found in the a re a s covered
by the Fonuakula soil s e rie s .
Rockiness is le ss of a lim iting factor with taro
than with any oth er food crop, and taro , planted in the sm all pockets of soil
which lie between outcrops of coral rock, may be found in extrem ely rocky
a re a s . As ta ro is the staple of the Niuean diet it is found in the agricultural
a re a s of each village no m a tte r what the condition of the soils might be. The
larg est ta ro patches growing the best v arieties of taro a re found in the
southern p a rt of the island.
Other food crops grown include cassava, yam s, pineapples, cabbage,
lettuce, onions, tom atoes, i and other garden vegetables, but all a re grown
57
in sm all quantities and a re alm ost entirely intended for home consumption.
These crops a re grown in conjunction with the sm all taro plots generally, with
the highest incidence being in the southern p a rt of the island in the a re a of the
Fonuakula soil s e rie s .
Excepting coconut palm s, which cover about 5000 a c re s, the cultivated
crops of Niue cover only about 800 a c r e s . This is about 1 p e r cent of the
total a rea of the island, and only slightly m ore than 1.5 p e r cent of the total
land which is suitable for ag ricu ltu re. This is a consequence of the pattern
of land use which is one of sm all widely scattered p lo ts . T here a re few plots
which exceed one-half a c re in size, and the vast m ajority would average
about 250-300 square feet. Much of the land, including nearly all of the land
covered by the Fonuakula soil s e rie s , has been cleared and cultivated in the
past, but a t the p resen t m ost of this land is lying fallow and unused. This is
apparently due to soil exhaustion in many a re a s, but much of this land could be
brought back into production given the pro p er agricultural m ethods.
Although it is generally thought that the original cover of the upper
te rra c e of the island was fo rest so much of th s original cover has been
removed that the only virgin forest left is confined to the central p a rt of the
island, alm ost en tirely within the Palai soil s e rie s . One reason why the
forest is still intact in th is a re a is that clearing for cultivation started close
to the villages and proceeded inland, and since the p resent fo rest is generally
removed from m ost of the villages by some distance the necessity to c le a r
58
it away never a r o s e . Another explanation is that the soil in the fo re st a re a s
is extrem ely rocky and somewhat unsuitable for cultivation of food crops,
therefore the people have never troubled to clear the land because the
benefits would be so s m a ll.
It is estim ated by the A griculture Departm ent
that th ere a re about 8000 a c re s of fo re st le ft.
Many of the tre e s within the
fo rest a re a a re of good tim ber quality and thus Niue is able to supply much of
its own lum ber n e e d s,
Of the unused land on Niue it is estim ated that only about 1700 a c re s
a re totally unsuitable fo r any type of cultivation of crops o r f o r e s t. This
land is confined alm o st en tire ly to the low er te rra c e of the island on the
eastern s id e . The n atural vegetation on this side is confined m ostly to
coastal scru b as the wind and sa lt spray make conditions unfavorable for
other types of plant grow th.
Roads and village a re a s occupy only about 400 a c re s of land, and
much of this land would be unproductive otherw ise as it is largely on the lower
t e r r a c e . Within the villages on the upper te rra c e there is a certain amount of
land being used for cultivation of bananas, so in actuality little cultivable land
is being used perm anently for non-cultivation p u rp o ses.
The feature that stands out m ost prominently in the Niuean pattern of
land utilization is that so much of the land is not being put to any obvious u s e .
While it is tru e that much of rh t land is lying fallow and m ight be la te r put
into cultivation, the fact rem ains that any one tim e there is only about
59
1 p er cent of He land being put to any u s e . In the 1000 years that Niue has
been settled the inhabitants have failed to establish any perm anent
utilization of the land, aside from coconut tre e s , outside of the v illa g e s.
Until re c e n t y ears the people of Niue have not had sufficient knowledge
of agricultural techniques to allow them to abandon th eir traditional methods
of shifting a g ric u ltu re . However, they now have the knowledge and the
expertise available to them to enable them to establish some s o rt of perm anent
occupancy of the lands on an ag ricu ltu ral b a s is . However, because of the
fact that there a re not enough people left on Niue in the w ork-force age group
it is doubtful that th ere w ill ev er be a very larg e percentage of the land
brought into perm anent occupancy.
Em igration is not the chief factor in lim iting the extent to which
the land is used in that it is lim iting the number of people which a r e available
to work die la n d . In addition, em igration has affected the pattern of land
distribution so that in some instances people have accum ulated from those
who have departed, m ore land than they a re able to u s e . This condition was
noted in a t le a s t th ree of the villages on Niue, and in every case one person
had accum ulated a g re a t deal m o re than the average land holding. In each
instance the land had been acquired by the person taking over land left
when a relativ e had em igrated to New Zealand, and in each case the land
held by the person rem aining was too extensive to be effectively utilized by
the person who was holding it. In two observed instances die person holding
60
the land was without issue, which m eans that in all probability the lgr>H will
be passed on intact to som e other person should the p resen t land holder die
or e m ig ra te. This w ill tend to perpetuate the problem of usable land lying
unused because of uneven d istrib u tio n .
It is obvious that em igration affects land utilization in two ways:
it depletes the w ork-force to the point that there a re not enough people
left to exploit the land to its full potential, and it brings about an uneven
distribution so that som e people have m ore land than they and their
im m ediate fam ilies can effectively u tiliz e . These conditions will probably
continue if the p resen t em igration trend continues,
7,61
55'
¡69° 50' W
2000 a cres
i n u n its o f 250 a cre s
NiUE
0
ISLAND
Copra
AREAS BEST SUITED FOR CULTIVATION
OF SPECIFIC CROPS
1
2
^
4
5
Bananas
Kumaras & Taro ' -
MILES
Mixed C u ltiv a tio n
Sca!e 1:134,696
U n su ita b le
FIGURE 6 .
¿ml
CHAPTER VI.
THE STRUCTURE OF THE ECONOMY
The economy of Niue is dependent upon two sources of income:
agricultural produce (tropical crops and plaited w are) and expenditures of
the Niue Island A dm inistration, including subsidies from the New Zealand
Government. CM these two sources the m ore im portant to the population of
Niue is the export of local p ro d u c ts. Export figures a r e available for Niue
for nearly every y ear since 1902 and they show that only three types of
produce have consistently been m ajo r sources of income; copra, bananas,
and k u m a ra s.
In addition to these products plaited w are has been a
continuing, but varying, source of export incom e.
As an export producer Niue is severely lim ited in the type of
commodity and the quantities that it can produce. A gricultural products, or
by-products as in the case of plaited w are, a re the only things which have
so far been successful a s income p roducers and a larg e segment of the
population is wholly dependent on ag riculture fo r a living. In addition,
that segment of the population which is employed by either the adm inistration
or by private tra d e rs also m ust be dependent upon agriculture to some
d e g re e . These people depend on ag ricu ltu re for m ost of th eir food needs,
and also supplement th eir income by growing exportable produce.
63
Although in theory a native Niuean could get along without m onetary
income, living in the tradition of his ancient ancestors on what he could produce
from the land, in fact money is now very im portant to Niueans and it is die
basis for die Niuean econom y. All Niueans now live in homes m anufactured
mainly from m a te ria ls which m ust be purchased, w ear clothes of com m ercially
manufactured cloth, and eat many foods which a re processed or preserved
and which m u st be purchased at the local s to r e . Other things such as soap,
kerosene, and tobacco a r e also im portant a rtic le s which m ust be purchased.
In addition, no Niuean fam ily is without a t le a s t one bicycle, o r m otorcycle,
and in recen t y ears autom obiles have been purchased in increasing num bers
by the people of N iue. All of these things can be classified as n ecessities under
the present economic and social stru c tu re of Niue, and as Niueans a re
increasingly exposed to other item s which a re m anufactured outside of the
island their d e sire for accum ulation of worldly goods will increase, as in
any other p la c e , This d e sire fo r money, which is a forem ost d esire in the
minds of m ost Niueans, for the accum ulation of goods has been the chief
factor in persuading Niueans to leave the island, and a t the same tim e it has
been the chief factor in getting some people to increase th eir agricultural
production.
To an ordinarily intelligent Niuean there a re several things which a re
apparent: money is n ecessary if one is to acquire the com forts of life;
relativ ely little money is available on Niue; it takes money to leave Niue and
64
go to New Zealand; the only ways to get enough money to leave Niue is to
work for wages, o r to sell ag ricu ltu ral produce for export. F or this reason
a larg e segment of the population is engaged in raisin g copra, bananas, and
kum aras for ex p o rt.
In addition th ere a re some Niueans who approach agriculture in a
com m ercial ra th e r than a custom ary m anner and devote virtually their entire
effort to producing exportable c ro p s . However, these people a re generally
those who have alread y been fairly successful a t making money in paid
employment and in using land on a sm all sc a le . Several of these people
now have a sizable economic stake on N iue. However, there a re few of the
younger Niueans who can see even this s o rt of economic future for them selves
on the isla n d .
The occupational stru ctu re of Niue is such that there a re probably
never m ore than about 200 full-tim e Niuean employees of the adm inistration,
in addition to about 300 casual and p art-tim e public works and wharf
la b o r e rs . The various tra d e rs on the island employ about thirty full-tim e
people. Although the num ber in paid employment may increase over the
years the employment available is unlikely to ever absorb m ore than about
half of the potential work fo rc e . In actuality even those who a re employed
cannot m eet all of th eir needs from the wages which a re paid by the
adm inistration and the tra d e rs , and they m ust be dependent to some degree
on a g ric u ltu re . Wages s ta r t a t 12 shillings 10 pence a day fo r unskilled
65
labor, 1 shilling 9 pence an hour for w harf la b o r. When a Niuean realizes
that he can make 4, 20 a week at unskilled labor in New Zealand (although
he might not anticipate the additional expenses required there) he is not
likely to be com pletely satisfied with the wages available on N iue.
Another facto r which leads to dissatisfaction on the p a rt of the Niueans,
and contributes to th e ir d e s ire to em igrate, is that there is an obvious gap of
income between the level of even the best-paid Niuean and the lo w est-salaried
European on the islan d . It is obvious that Europeans enjoy a much higher
standard of living and receiv e a much higher m onetary income than do the
Niueans. It is unfortunate that it is possible for an expatriate European to be
paid at a ra te considerably higher than his Niuean counterpart with equal
training and s k ills . This is p a rtic u la rly tru e in the case of school teachers
and construction o v e r s e e r s .
Although it w ill probably always be necessary to bring Europeans to
Niue to fill positions that cannot be filled locally, and these people will need
to be paid a t the ra te s applying in New Zealand plus allowances for leaving
their homes and living in a land that is foreign to them, it would still seem
fair that Niueans be paid a wage m o re com m ensurate with sim ilar skills
they may have developed. At the p rese n t tim e there is little incentive for a
Niuean to develop sk ills which m ight be used on the island, and le ss incentive
for those who have such sk ills to rem ain in jobs which the adm inistration
may have had them trained a t public expense.
66
However, until such a tim e as wages ris e to a reasonabl e level,
o r all Niueans em ig rate from the island, the sale of produce for export
will continue to be the m ain souce of income for m ost Niueans. It is alm ost
certain that the four main sources of income from export will continue to be
copra, bananas, kum aras, and plaited w are.
Copra has been the leading commodity produced for export in m ost
of the y e a rs that it has been produced. In the last ten y e a rs copra has accounted
for about 65 p e r cent of the total value of all the exports from Niue. The only
years in which it was not the leading export w ere the y ears from 1959 to 1962
when the copra crop was suffering from the effects of the h u rrican es in 1959
and 1960. No copra was produced in 1960 and 1961. Though the production of
copra had not by 1963 reached the levels it had achieved p rio r to the hurricane
of 1959 the production of 353 tons of copra worth A, 18, 652 in that y e a r made
copra the leading commodity once m ore.
In recent y e a rs the second m ost im portant crop had been kum aras.
Although a sm all amount of kum aras had been exported as early as 1915 the
first significant shipment of kum aras came in 1931 when 15 tons worth A 278
w ere shipped. Since that date kum aras have been shipped in every year
except 1944 and 1947-1949. The m ost successful y ear for kum aras was in
1953 when the kum ara crop was worth A 17,740. However, the value and
amount of the kum ara crop has varied considerably since that tim e, dropping
a s low a s 16 bags worth A 8 in 1955. The two main factors affecting the
67
p rice received for Niuean kum aras have been the success of the New
Zealand potato crop, and the incidence of black-rot in kum aras shipped
to New Zealand. Although Niuean grow ers now realize the dangers inherent
in black-rot, and take the n ecessary steps to prevent its re-o ccu rren ce,
they som etim es fail to understand how the p ric e of New Zealand potatoes
can affect the p ric e of Niuean kum aras, and as a resu lt have som etim es
become discouraged by low p ric e s when they may have produced a bumper
crop.
In recen t y e a rs bananas have become le ss im portant as an export
commodity and have slipped to only about 8.6 p e r cent of the total exports.
Although th e re is little work to be done in raisin g bananas, a s com pared to
kum aras, the combination of relatively low p ric e s, inaccessibility of
plantations, and the g rea t amount of work n ecessary to pack bananas in
crates ju st p rio r to boat-day, has tended to discourage many grow ers.
Niuean bananas have been of good quality being free of diseases which have
often affected the bananas of F iji and Samoa, and as a resu lt have enjoyed
a good reputation in New Zealand. They also enjoy preferential treatm ent
as the products of a New Zealand Island T e rrito ry . In the la st ten y ears
the price received for bananas has also improved somewhat, however, this
has not been enough of an incentive to grow ers to encourage them to grow
bananas of the large scale which is n ecessary in o rd er to receive good
p ro fits. Of all the crops th is is probably the least developed one, despite
its g reat potential.
68
Plaited w are has been one of the steadiest of all products exported
from Niue over the y e a rs . It has been exported in every y ear since 1923,
and was a main source of income at least as early as 1902. Although the
a r t of weaving various a rtic le s from the leaves of the pandanus was apparently
imported into Niue in m odem tim es from the other Pacific islands, it has
caught on v ery well with the fem ale populace of the island who have developed
it to a v ery high d egree. Niuean woven hats and baskets a re among the
finest in the Pacific and enjoy a very good reputation in other co u n tries. The
Niue W eavers A ssociation, which is only about five y ears old, has done much to
encourage weaving among the women of the island as well a s to develop new
m arkets abroad. Recently Niuean plaited w are has found its way into sto res
in the United States, A ustralia, and England, as well as New Zealand. In
all probability th is product will continue to be a supplem entary a rtic le for
export, but it is unlikely to exceed about 10-15 p er cent of the total value of
Niue's ex p o rts. Over the la st ten y e a rs it has averaged 11 p e r cent of the
total v alue. Although it is a steady m oney-earner the nature of plaited w are
entails a g reat deal of tim e on the p art of many individuals in o rd er to
produce woven a rtic le s of high quality. Despite th e ir high quality these
artic le s bring only a sm all amount of money to the weaver h erself, and only
make up large sum s of money when taken in th e ir sum to tal. The a r t of
weaving for export and fo r sale to to u rists h as generally been, and will
probably continue to be a sp are-tim e activity fo r women of the island. The
gains possible in th is a rea a re m inim al.
69
The m ost noticeable feature about Niue’s tra d es is the adverse
balance it constantly exhibits. Over the ten -y ear period of 1954-1963
exports from Niue averaged about -L 43,140 ($122,949) annually, while in
this same period im ports cam e to about -L 171,292 ($486,469) annually . 1
The additional im ports a re paid fo r largely by the d irect expenditures of
the New Zealand auth o rities in Niue and some m onies privately rem itted
back by em igrant N iueans. Many of these im ports come in the form of
foodstuffs, although a s a re su lt of h urrican e destructions building m aterials
have taken firs t place in recent y e a rs. Vehicles, p a rts, tire s , and petrol
make up another larg e segment of the im ported m ateria ls, with piece goods
and drapery, and tobacco making up the rem ain d er . 2 The only a rea in
which Niue m ight conceivably cut down would be in foodstuffs, but a s even
the Niueans find a steady diet of fish and taro ra th e r dull it is ra th e r unlikely
that the value of foodstuffs a s im ports will decline appreciably.
The only recent developments in the economic program of Niue have
been made by the A griculture Departm ent, which was only established in
1954. This departm ent has trie d to upgrade all facets of the Niuean
ag riculture program in o rd e r to obtain the best crop yields p o ssib le. ft
has only been in the la st five y e ars that they have begun to make any p ro g ress
*New Zealand Departm ent of Island T e rrito rie s, Reports on the
Cook, Niue, and Tokelau Islands, (Wellington, 1963), p. 91.
2Ibid.
70
with th e ir land-discing and to p -d ressing schem e for the production of kum aras
and taro , and th e ir program to improve banana production has made some
gains recently. The departm ent has also been somewhat successful in
controlling the incidence of b lack -ro t. The departm ent also has a continual
program to try and im prove the quality and quantity of copra produced, but
no appreciable gains have been made h e re . Experim ental program s in
citrus farm ing, poultry, anim al husbandry, and bee-keeping, have been
established and might develop into m ore significant p a rts of the Niuean
economy in future y e a rs, as might fo restry which is also under the responsi­
bility of the A griculture D epartm ent.
The employment facet of the Niuean economy is largely dependent
upon the Public Works D epartm ent. This departm ent h ire s a large num ber of
men for such purposes a s road maintenance, construction, and other Public
Works p ro jects, but th is a re a can only be developed as fa r a s subsidies from
the New Zealand Government will allow, although the need exists for m ore
p ro jects than a re presen tly being c a rrie d out. There is the possibility in the
future of an a irs trip being constructed on Niue, and if this project is approved
and is c a rrie d out it will add a g re a t deal of employment to the island for a
lim ited period of tim e. One of the problem s is that there a re not enough
men available at the p rese n t tim e to c a rry out the p resent n ecessary projects
that have been approved fo r the Public Works Department, and it is possible that
a larg e project such as the construction of an a irs trip might not be able to find
its employment needs locally.
71
However, no m a tte r what p rojects a re c a rrie d out on Niue, or
what type of development takes place in the agricultural segment of the
economy, it will still rem ain a problem that satisfactory income levels will
be hard for the average Niuean to achieve. F o r this reason it is unlikely
that even d ra stic im provem ents in the p resen t economic stru ctu re of Niue
will have much effect on the flow of em igration to New Zealand.
CHAPTER VII.
THE EFFE C T OF THE OUTWARD FLOW OF PEOPLE ON THE
NIUEAN ECONOMY AND THE LAND TENURE SYSTEM
The magnitude of em igration from Niue can easily be m easured by
reference to the sta tistic s collected on m igrating people, however, the
significant effects of em igration such a s changes in the patterns of land
use and land tenure a r e m ore difficult to a s s e s s . Whether Niuean em igration
is beneficial o r detrim ental to the island population depends upon the effect
that the d ep artu res have upon the rem aining economy. One of the principal
effects is on the way in which the land is being re-d istrib u ted and land use
modified as a resu lt of the d ep artu res.
Over a period of nine y e a rs from 1955 through 1963 the num ber of
departures averaged 241 persons annually. During this same period Niueans
were returning to the island a t the rate of 95 persons p e r year, so the actual
annual ra te of attritio n from the population through em igration h as averaged
146 people, o r about 3 p e r cent of the p resen t population, over the past
nine y e a rs. This rate has been significant enough to lower the average
annual rate of growth in the population through natural increase from about
186 peropld, given the accuracy of the average annual increase of 38.72
persons p e r 1000 population, to an actual rate of about 40 people p er y e a r.
73
This m eans that the population of Niue is increasing by only about 0 .8
p e r cent annually. This is a v ery sm all rate of growth that could easily be
reversed should the rate of em igration increase o r the rate of return
d ecrease.
T here h as also tended to be a slight imbalance in population
become evident, with the population being heavily weighted toward youth.
The p resen t m edian age of the island is 16 y ears, which m eans that at
least half the p rese n t population has not yet reached the age where they
can make significant contributions to the economy.
Because of the fact that em igration is taking about 3 p e r cent of the
population of Niue each y e ar th ere is an ev er-in creasin g num ber of
expatriate Niueans living in New Zealand. This num ber now amounts to
about 20 p e r cent of all N iueans. N early all of these expatriates have some
rights to land in Niue, but the fact that they a re living away from the island
necessitates some changes in the method of land distribution.
Under the ancient system of land tenure should a person leave the
island and fail to retu rn h is lands would be returned to the magafaoa and then
red istrib u ted . Under the p resen t method of land tenure this p a rt of the
custom ary system has been modified somewhat in that m ost people leaving
the island assign th e ir rights, and the rights of th e ir im m ediate family to
land to some relativ e in o rd e r to protect them during th e ir absence. In
effect, they a re tying up the land to prevent its eventual redistribution to
74
other m em bers of the m agafaoa. The resu lt of this has been the cu rren t
ra th e r unequal distribution of the land among the people of Niue. Although
th ere a re appareitly no people on Niue without sufficient land for th eir food
needs th ere a r e some who have large land-holdings which they a re unable
to use to th e ir fullest capacity. In m ost cases this land has been acquired
largely through the effects of em igration, with a person taking over the land
of em igrant re la tiv e s. The very essence of the nature of the residual
economy of Niue is the fact that em igration has left insufficient active
persons to work the lands already developed.
Because of the fact that em igration is gradually bringing about
changes in the land tenure system th e re has been an attem pt to define and
legalize the land tenure system by legislation. However, the m ajor
obstacle in the path of th is legislation has been the clause dealing with the
length of tim e a fte r which a person absent from the island will lose his
rights to the land. So fa r th ere has been no agreem ent between the resident
population and Niueans in New Zealand on this m atter.
Em igration from the island is again reflected in the pattern of land
utilization on Niue. Because of the low fertility and rocky nature of the soil
on the island the traditional method of agriculture has always been one of sm all
shifting plots. However, in recent y ears the adm inistration has been able to
bring about a program of preparing some a re a s of ground so that they might
be used perm anently fo r the production of cash crops a s well a s for food
crops. Because th is system of agriculture has been shown to produce much
b e tte r resu lts it is hoped that the people of Niue will gradually change over
from shiftiig ag ricu ltu re to perm anent cultivation of prepared p lo ts. This
has been successful in some a re a s, p articu larly between Alofi and Hakupu,
because of the nature of the soil. However, th is p artic u la r method of
farming has not been used as widely as had been hoped. The general
pattern of land use on Niue shows that very little of the land is being used
at a ll. Only about 1 p e r cent of the land is being used at any one tim e for
cultivated crops of any type, other than coconuts.
Because of the physical nature of the island it has been extrem ely
difficult to get a suitable living from the soil, and for this reason m ost
Niueans a r e not v ery in terested in expending a g reat deal of labor in developing
the land. Most of them would ra th e r go to New Zealand where they will get
g reater m onetary rew ards with fa r le ss effort. F o r this reason, they only
put forth enough effort to get sufficient money to allow them to em igrate
from die island.
T here a re many a re a s on Niue that could be developed to produce
much m ore than at p resen t, but they a r e not being developed because there
a re not enough people on the island who a re interested in putting in the labor
to develop the lands. In some cases good land is not being developed because
the person who holds the land is not on the island. Although this is not a
large problem at the p re sen t tim e it is a problem that has the potential of
growing la rg e r unless legislative steps can be taken to prevent it.
76
But em igration is n ecessary to some degree because reso u rces and
available employment on the island a re not capable of supporting a large
population. Without em igration the labor supply in Niue would eventually
become excessive, decreasing the already m eager retu rn s p e r head.
One of the problem s of em igration on Niue is that it tends to remove
some of the m ore productive people. A reflection of th is is that between
1953 and 1962 the value of exports steadily dropped, despite the fact that
imports ro se sharply during those sam e y e a rs . It m ust be granted that
the hu rrican es of 1959 and 1960 accounted for a g reat deal of the decline,
but even taking that into consideration exports a re still considerably lower
than they w ere even a s long ago a s 1949. It would seem that the drop in
exports has some co rrelatio n with the rate of em igration, which would
indicate that many people who do export crops do so in o rd er to gain enough
money to enable them to leave the island.
Although the changes which a re being brought about in the land tenure
system of the island seem to be beneficial in the long run it is likely that
the total effect of em igration on the residual economy has been a negative
one. Too many productive people have left the island to allow a development
program to make such p ro g re s s . If Niue is to achieve economic stability
th ere w 11 have to be a larg e amount of development in the agricultural
p ro g ram s. However, considering the physical reso u rces of the island it is
unlikely that such a program could achieve a significant reduction in the rate
77
of em igration. T here a re not enough incentives on the island to encourage
the people to stay and apply the necessary labor that it takes to develop
the island.
In future y e a rs the population of Niue may continue to increase
slightly each y ear, but the level of economic activity i s unlikely to increase
significantly. It is possible that the A griculture Departm ent will be successful
in raising exports somewhat, but given the p resen t available reso u rces these
exports will probably not ra ise significantly above the previous maximum
levels which have been reached in the p ast.
However, the people who do rem ain on Niue will probably enjoy a
much b e tte r standard of living each y ear if they do take advantage of the
reso u rces available to them . It is doubtful though that even this will stem
the outward flow of people leaving the hard living which is all Niue provides.
APPENDIX I.
ARRIVALS AND DEPARTURES BY VILLAGE OF ORIGIN
ARRIVALS
Village
Alofi
Makefu
Tuapa
Namukulu
Hikutavake
Toi
Mutalau
Lakepa
Liku
Hakupu
Vaiea
Avatele
Tamakaitoga
TOTAL
m ale
15
—
10
2
2
1955
fem ale
total
13
1
6
1
1
28
1
16
3
3
—
17
35
5
7
12
—
—
—
—
—
4
1
3
4
2
------
8
3
3
—
—
—
1
1
2
___
—
---
5
11
2
4
33
4
6
'6
2
1
20
—
15
11
4
26
1
9
1
51
116
—
8
--105
65
—
14
------
4
total
5
11
5
4
12
1
5
1
—
41
18
—
—
------
64
1957
fem ale
------
10
6
8
22
2
m ale
—
2
2
1
12
6
total
m ale
—
8
4
7
10
. . .
1956
fem ale
3
13
5
—
------
—
3
2
1
1
4
3
45
31
76
—
APPENDIX I.
ARRIVALS AND DEPARTURES BY VILLAGE OF ORIGIN (continued)
ARRIVALS
Village
Alofi
Makefu
Tuapa
Namukulu
Hikutavake
Toi
Mutalau
Lakepa
Liku
Hakupu
Vaiea
Avatele
Tamakautoga
TOTAL
1958
fem ale
total
m ale
15
1
4
3
30
1
8
4
17
1
1
2
—
—
—
—
—
—
1
4
1
10
55
—
-------
m ale
15
—
4
1
4
6
2
8
-------
10
3
18-
2
3
3
4
5
7
45
46
91
1959
female
total
m ale
28
2
5
2
11
2
1
1
—
—
- - -
5
2
2
6
1
6
2
11
4
5
11
1
2
1
1
9
2
2
18
1
4
1
. . .
39
75
11
1
4
—
—
1
3
1
—
7
1
2
36
1960
fem ale
—
6
1
2
11
—
—
18
1
2
—
1
------—
total
29
3
3
1
1
-------
—
5
2
7
36
37
73
APPENDIX I.
ARRIVALS AND DEPARTURES BY VILLAGE OF ORIGIN (continued)
ARRIVALS
Village
Alofi
Makefu
Tuapa
Namukulu
Hikutavake
Toi
Mutalau
Lakepa
Liku
Hakupu
Vaiea
Avatele
Tamakautoga
TOTAL
m ale
10
1
1
—
1
1
11
2
1961
female
9
—
—
total
m ale
19
1
1
12
4
7
1
1962
fem ale
16
total
m ale
28
4
10
2
—
—
—
—
18
14
1
4
2
4
16
1
6
2
4
30
2
10
4
19
5
5
1
2
—
12
1
2
12
—
—
—
___
—
—
—
—
1
3
1
2
14
3
—
—
—
3
1
1963
fem ale
total
22
1
5
2
3
41
6
10
3
5
—
4
1
3
2
7
3
4
6
1
5
5
11
7
5
8
1
2
16
3
6
2
39
30
69
55
55
110
71
71
-------
7
—
11
—
20
2
4
28
3
13
7
142
Oc
O
APPENDIX I.
ARRIVALS AND DEPARTURES BY VILLAGE OF ORIGIN (continued)
DEPARTURES
Village
Alofi
Makefu
Tuapa
Namukulu
Hikutavake
Toi
Mutalau
Lakepa
Liku
Hakupu
Vaiea
Avatele
Tamakautoga
TOTAL
m ale
38
3
12
3
—
2
24
10
13
24
2
12
6
149
1955
female
1956
fem ale
total
m ale
33
4
21
1
2
5
14
7
7
37
7
2
75
4
22
2
2
2
44
14
21
65
1
17
9
111
278
150
total
m ale
38
3
15
1
2
2
28
8
17
35
1
10
7
37
1
7
1
7
2
74
6
21
4
1
2
39
17
18
50
2
19
8
112
261
167
36
3
9
1
1
—
15
7
5
26
—
—
Ill
16
6
4
30
—
- - -
12
7
1957
fem ale
18
4
22
1
3
15
8
9
26
—•
11
6
123
tot
51
8
43
2
2
8
29
15
16
63
23
12
273
APPENDIX I.
ARRIVALS AND DEPARTURES BY VILLAGE ORIGIN (continued)
DEPARTURES
_________1958_______________
Village______________m ale fem ale
total
m ale
Alofi
Makefu
Tuapa
Namukulu
Hikutavake
Toi
Mutalau
Lakepa
Liku
Hakupu
Vaiea
Avatele
Tamakautoga
TOTAL
31
26
6
2
—
1
28
6
10
37
14
2
3
2
25
6
7
134
2
10
26
5
3
118
57
—
20
4
3
3
53
8
20
63
—
11
10
17
1
6
2
2
2
10
3
4
8
—
8
9
252
72
fem ale
16
4
9
-—
1
—
15
3
7
24
3
8
8
98
1959_________
total
m ale
33
5
15
2
3
2
25
6
11
32
3
16
17
23
2
6
4
3
--15
2
3
10
1
1
7
170
77
female
29
2
5
3
4
1
13
3
4
13
—
5
2
84
1960___
total
52
4
11
7
7
l
28
5
7
23
1
6
9
161
b00O
APPENDIX I.
ARRIVALS AND DEPARTURES BY VILLAGE ORIGIN (continued)
total
m ale
1962
female
77
15
26
2
3
4
69
20
25
26
4
34
7
26
7
10
31
1
7
57
8
17
—
—
—
2
2
31
13
10
14
2
17
6
39
6
10
2
1
2
38
7
15
12
2
17
1
160
152
312
DEPARTURES
Village
1961
m ale fem ale
Alofi
Makefu
Tuapa
Namukulu
Hikutavake
Toi
Mutalau
Lakepa
Liku
Hakupu
Vaiea
Avatele
Tamakautoga
38
9
16
TOTAL
—
total
m ale
31
3
7
2
2
16
4
9
18
5
8
5
57
8
14
4
4
2
46
10
20
30
6
17
11
110
229
9
3
1
3
10
6
26
5
7
2
2
2
30
6
11
12
1
9
6
127
107
234
119
2
25
12
14
19
3
20
14
9
18
2
3
45
26
23
37
—
—
—
—
—
1963
female
. . .
total
0
bo0
84
APPENDIX II.
VALUE OF IMPORTS AND EXPORTS
1949-1962
Year
Exports________________________ Im ports
1949
1950
1951
1952
1953
1954
1955
1956
1957
1958
1960
1961
1962
■L 52,052
50,137
55,555
82,971
72,685
69,398
78,360
63,608
58,667
56,785
25,733
22,203
35,085
$148,348
142,890
158,332
236, 467
207,152
197,784
223,326
181,283
167,201
161,837
73,339
63,279
99,992
-t
76,761
69,937
83, 447
102,595
116,852
142,172
158,182
162,739
153,598
152,107
171,659
232,413
239,424
$218,769
199,320
237,824
292,396
333,028
405,190
450,534
463, 806
437,754
433,505
489,228
662,377
682,358
85
APPENDIX IH.
AMOUNT OF EXPORTS
Year
Copra (tons)
1949
1950
1951
1952
1953
1954
1955
1956
1957
1958
1959
1960
1961
1962
893
754
685
956
601
558
952
831
740
715
123
—
—
130
Bananas (cases)
3328
3276
5666
5267
3325
5794
4983
4070
6124
968
239
1299
5317
3122
Kum aras (bags)
—
147
15
819
19,192
23,537
16
190
1,377
6,528
8,919
7,953
14,176
3,947
86
PLATE 1. BOTH TERRACES AS SEEN FROM THE NORTH OF ALOFI BAY
87
PLATE 2. WAVE-CUT PLATFORM AND CLIFFS WHICH RING THE ISLAND
PLATE 3. MAKASEA PIT DUG INTO THE CORAL SAND WHICH
UNDERLIES THE SOIL THROUGHOUT THE CENTRAL
PORTION OF THE ISLAND
89
PLATE 4. SECONDARY WEED AND SCRUB GROWTH AT ABANDONED
VILLAGE SITE OF FATXAU
90
PLATE 5. TYPICAL AGRICULTURAL PLOT WHICH HAS BEEN
BURNED AND CLEARED FOR PLANTING
91
PLATE 6 . SMALL ROCKY PLOT PLANTED IN TARO
92
PLATE 7. NEW ROAD WHICH HAS BEEN CUT THROUGH THE FOREST
IN THE NORTH-CENTRAL PART OF THE ISLAND
93
PLATE 8 . TYPICAL ONE-HALF ACRE DISCED PLOT IN THE SOUTHERN
PART OF THE ISLAND WHICH HAS BEEN PLANTED TO TARO AND
KUMARAS
94
PLATE 9. DISCED PLOT IN THE NORTHERN PART OF
THE ISLAND
95
PLATE 10. TYPICAL COCONUT GROYE OF THE COPRA BELT
PLATE 11. CLEARED AND IMPROVED COCONUT PLANTATION
NEAR LIKU
PLATE 12. PERIPHERAL ROAD IN THE FOREST NORTH OF
HAKUPU
98
PLATE 13. PERIPHERAL COASTAL ROAD ON THE LOWER TERRACE
NEAR ALOFI
99
PLATE 14. COPRA-BUYING DAY AT TRADING STORE IN LIKU
100
PLATE 15. WOMEN SELLING PLAITED WARE ON ALOFI GREEN ON
THE MONTHLY BOAT-DAY
101
PLATE 16. VILLAGE OF VAIEA WITH NEW STYLE NATIVE
HOUSING
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Loeb, Edwin M ., H istory and Traditions of Niue. Bishop Museum Bulletin
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London M issionary Society. "Niue (Savage Island)", Unpublished h isto rical
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McEwan, J. M ., "D raft of rep o rt on Land Tenure in N iu e." (Unpublished).
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van W estendorp, F . J ., "A gricultural Development on N iue." South Pacific
Bulletin. Vol. 11, No. 2 ., A pril, 1961.
Wright, A. C. S ., "Soils and A griculture of Niue Islan d ." New Zealand
Soil Bureau Bulletin, (unpublished). Wellington.
Yuncker, T . G ., The F lora of Niue Island. Bishop Museum Bulletin No. 178.
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