Tokelau Church Records

For information about records for non-Christian religions in Tokelau, go to the Religious Records page.

Historical Background
Tokelau has fewer than 1,500 Polynesian inhabitants in three villages. Their isolation and lack of resources greatly limits economic development and confines agriculture to the subsistence level. The very limited natural resources and overcrowding are contributing to emigration to New Zealand and Samoa. Depletion of tuna has made fishing for food more difficult. A significant proportion (44.9% in 2016) of the population were born overseas, mostly in Samoa (15.3% of total population) and New Zealand (11.5%).

On the island of Atafu almost all inhabitants are members of the Congregational Christian Church of Samoa. On Nukunonu almost all are Roman Catholic. On Fakaofo both denominations are present with the Congregational Christian Church predominant. The total proportions are: Congregational Christian Church 62%, Roman Catholic 34%, other 5%.

Information Recorded in the Records
Different denominations, different time periods, and practices of different record keepers will effect how much information can be found in the records. This outline will show the types of details which might be found (best case scenario):

Baptisms
In Catholic and Anglican records, children were usually baptized a few days after birth, and therefore, the baptism record proves date of birth. Other religions, such as Baptists, baptized at other points in the member's life. Baptism registers might give:

Marriages
Marriage registers can give:

Burials
Burial registers may give:

Digital Copies of Church Records in the FamilySearch Catalog
Watch for digitized copies of church records to be added to the collection of the FamilySearch Library. Some records might have viewing restrictions, and can only be viewed at a Family History Center near you, and/or by members of supporting organizations. To find records:
 * a. Click on the records of Tokelau.
 * b. Click on Places within Tokelau and a list of towns will appear.
 * c. Click on your town if it appears, or the location which you believe was the parish which served your town or village.
 * d. Click on the "Church records" topic. Click on the blue links to specific record titles.
 * e. Some combination of these icons will appear at the far right of the listing for the record. FHL icons.png. The magnifying glass indicates that the record is indexed. Clicking on the magnifying glass will take you to the index. Clicking on the camera will take you to an online digital copy of the records.

Writing for Records
You will probably need to write to or email the national archives, the diocese, or local parish priests to find records. See Letter Writing Guide for Genealogy for help with composing letters.

Writing to a Local Parish

 * Tokelau: Nukunonu Church

Historical Background
The Roman Catholic Mission Sui Iuris of Tokelau in Tokelau is a suffragan mission of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Samoa-Apia. It was formed in 1992 when the Archdiocese of Samoa-Apia and Tokelau was split into the Archdiocese of Samoa-Apia and the Mission Sui Iuris of Tokelau.

From the discovery of the island by Europeans in 1841, several attempts were made by Catholic missionaries to reach Tokelau from Wallis Island between 1845 and 1863. Father Didier lived in the country from 1883 to 1890, the year he died at sea. Two elders who were educated in Samoa acted as catechists starting in 1904, and others continued their role over time.

In 1945 Father Jepson came to Tokelau and proposed having a priest permanently stationed there, a church be constructed, and the Order of Mary provide sisters to the island. Father Patrick O'Connor was the only foreigner residing in the country as of 2011. He was assigned to the island country by the Archbishop of Samoa in 1977 to take care of the Catholic parish on the atoll of Nukunonu and has resided there since then. The church services are conducted in Tokelau. The atoll of Nukunonu is mostly Catholic, while Fakaofo and Atafu atolls have both Congregational and Catholic churches.

Writing for Records

 * Tokelau Congregational Christian Church

Historical Background
The Congregational Christian Church of Tuvalu traces its origins back to 1861. The London Missionary Society began working in the island in 1864. Tuvalu was also a mission field of the Samoa Congregational Christian Church. The church became autonomous in 1968. Its doctrinal bases are the Apostolic and Nicene Creeds. About 96 percent of the population of Tuvalu belongs to the church, which plays an important role in the cultural, socio-political and religious development of the society. The primary schools and one of the two secondary schools established by the LMS have been taken over by the government. The church has kept and revived the other secondary school, and celebrated its centenary in 2005.