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The Question of Olohega

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 March 2025

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Abstract

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This paper will present a timeline of how a remote island in the South Pacific became a U.S. appurtenance (1860); then a U.S. territory (1925); and, finally, through a so-called “friendship treaty,” bargained away by New Zealand in order to maximize American Sāmoa's maritime boundaries (1980). The original claim to the island is fraudulent, as many government officials and scholars have long suspected but have been unable to prove. This paper will examine the fraud in detail and present conclusive evidence for the first time. The island's name is Olohega [olo'hɛŋa] and it belongs geographically, historically, and culturally to the nation of Tokelau.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © The Authors 2021

References

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