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Cook Islands, Niue, Tokelau, Tuvalu and Wallis and Futuna

Island

⚠ SMALL STATES ARE NOT FOOTNOTES, and several of these are the most food-insecure places on earth for reasons entirely not of their making. THE COOK ISLANDS — fifteen islands, self-governing in free association with New Zealand: rukau (taro leaves), ika mata (raw fish in coconut), the umukai feast, and more Cook Islanders living in New Zealand than at home. NIUE — one raised coral island, one of the world’s smallest self-governing states, with taro, uga (coconut crab) and a population a fraction of its diaspora’s. TOKELAU — three atolls, no airstrip, a New Zealand territory: coconut, pulaka, fish, and the INATI, a documented system of communal catch-sharing that distributes by household need. TUVALU — nine atolls, a maximum elevation of about four metres, PULAKA (swamp taro) grown in dug pits, and ⚠ THE MOST DIRECTLY EXISTENTIAL CASE: saltwater intrusion is already killing the pulaka pits, which is sea-level rise destroying a staple crop now rather than in prospect. WALLIS AND FUTUNA — French, with three customary kingdoms still functioning, taro, yam, kava and the umu. ⚠ ALL OF THEM DEPEND ON IMPORTED FOOD AND SHIPPING, and a missed boat is a food event.

Atlas — where and when

Where in the world

Communities and languages

  • Cook Islanders community documented
  • Niueans community documented
  • Tokelauans community documented
  • Tuvaluans community documented
  • Wallisians community documented

Languages: Niuean, Tokelauan, Tuvalu, East Uvean, Māori, English, French

What is recorded

  • Tokelau’s inati is documented as a communal catch-sharing system distributing by household need. Tuvalu’s pulaka pits are documented as suffering saltwater intrusion, recorded as sea-level rise destroying a staple crop in the present rather than in prospect. Several of these states have larger diaspora populations than resident ones and depend on shipping for imported food. documented

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