ABSTRACT
Tokelau is a traditional South Pacific atoll society, which is having to deal with the introduction of Western European ideas of law and government. Tokelau is not an unwilling recipient of these ideas, but many of them are alien to Tokelau, obviously or apparently contradictory of its culture, and expressed in a foreign language. The political and economic transformation of Tokelau has been particularly noticeable since 1970. It has been promoted externally as part of the achievement of the United Nations’ goals of decolonization and conditioned by external budgetary support.
