Kingdom of Uvea

Origins

Wallis Island, called ʻUvea by its people, was settled by Polynesians around 1000 BCE. In the 15th century warriors from the Tuʻi Tonga Empire conquered the island, building forts such as Talietumu and Tonga Toto, and a Tongan-derived chiefly order took root. The paramount title of Lavelua emerged from these struggles as the island's kingship.

Rule and society

The Lavelua rules with a council of ministers chosen from noble families, and the island is divided into three districts under chiefs. Society rested on yam and taro gardens, pigs and the lagoon fisheries, and on ceremonial exchanges of mats and kava. Marist missionaries led by Pierre Bataillon arrived in 1837, and within a few years the entire island had become Catholic, with the church closely tied to the monarchy.

To the present

A French protectorate first requested in 1842 was formalised by Queen Amelia Tokagahahau in 1887. Since 1961 Uvea has been one of three customary kingdoms in the French overseas collectivity of Wallis and Futuna; Tomasi Kulimoetoke II reigned from 1959 to 2007, and a Lavelua still sits on the territorial council.