Ethnobotany of Tokelau: The Plants, Their Tokelau Names, and Their Uses

Abstract

The following paper can by no means by considered to be the definitive word on all the ethnobotany of Tokelau. It is merely the first few steps--the recording and identifying of Tokelau plant names and describing the more salient uses of the plants. It is one of three completed studies in a program of ethnobotanical research (see Whistler 1984, for Samoa, and Whistler n.d., for the Cook Islands). It is hoped that these studies can lay a groundwork for ethnobotanists and anthropologists to continue with more detailed studies of plant uses before it is too late.