Indivision - Countries of The World

General Information - Wallis and Futuna

History Emergence of the Nation. Wallis and Futuna are treated as a single overseas territory of France. Wallis emerged from the Early Tongan Maritime Empire in the l500s. Before that time it was part of Tonga and shared its language and customs. Those ties were weakened in the mid-nineteenth century when the French banned overseas voyaging. Futuna has close cultural ties with Samoa and Rotuma. With the arrival of the Catholic mission in the l830s, a long history of warfare ended. In l844, France was invited to protect the people of Wallis and Futuna under the rule of the Catholic Church. France took over political management in l888 at the insistence of Lavelua (Queen) Amelia, who wanted a French doctor to become the administrator. The French navy provided a series of administrators. The result was a tripartite administration of Wallis and Futuna. The Lavelua along with the Tui Sigave and Tuiagaifo of Alo for Futuna, all chiefly families, represented the traditional leadership; the French naval doctors, were the colonial administrators; and the bishop of the Catholic Church also exercised administrative powers. National Identity. Wallis is the dominant partner because of its larger population and the French colonial administration in Mata'utu. Despite intermarriages, Wallisians and Futunans refer to themselves as separate cultural entities. Ethnic Relations. There is a small French community in Wallis that consists mainly of administrators and secondary teachers. There are few English speakers and no Chinese community.