The Migration of Tokelau Islanders to New Zealand: a Study of Changing Value and Interaction Patterns

Abstract

The central problem of this study is that of social change. In this case it is concerned with the processes by which an immigrant group from the Tokelau Islands changes as it adapts to the urban environment of Wellington and its satellite towns and cities. As such, the study may be said to fall within the area of migration studies. In the case of the Tokelau Islanders we are concerned with a group of people who have migrated from a small-scale, Traditional society to a society which is part of the worldwide market network of Modern, urban-industrial society. The study may thus also be seen as a study of the process of urbanisation of a group of people from a Traditional society.