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Story: Tokelauans

Arriving at Te Puke

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Arriving at Te Puke

Judging by their heavy winter coats, these Tokelauan migrants are feeling the cold. In the late 1960s Taupō and Rotorua were destinations for some Tokelauan families assisted to migrate by the New Zealand government. Men found work in the forestry industry. The damp, cold winters of the central North Island came as a shock to people used to a tropical climate.

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Archives New Zealand – Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga

Reference: AAQT 6539/A81, 277

Permission of Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga must be obtained before any re-use of this material.

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How to cite this page

Carl Walrond, Tokelauans – Immigration, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/2257/arriving-at-te-puke (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Carl Walrond, published 4 March 2009, updated 1 March 2015.