HISTORY
Archeological excavations in Wallis
have uncovered sites dating back to 1400 BC. The Tongians arrived
in the 15th century and took possession of the island after battles
which have become legendary.
On
16th August 1767 the English navigator, Samuel Wallis, discovered
the island of Uvea which was christened Wallis. In the 19th century
many ships called at Wallis to take on fresh supplies. The first
Marist missionaries, among whom was Father Bataillon (Wallis island)
and Father Chanel (Futuna island), arrived in 1837. On 5th April
1842, the authorities in Wallis requested French protection. During
the Second World War a regiment of American soldiers arrived in
the archipelago in May 1942, followed by the Free French forces
some months later. The Allies thus disposed of a strategic air
base in the South Pacific.
Since the archipelago measures only 270 sq Km, many inhabitants
of Wallis and Futuna were, in the 1950s, and for economic and
demographic reasons, attracted to the plantations and mines of
New Caledonia and the New Hebriddes (rebaptised Vanuatu). There
is therefore acommunity of Wallisians in Noumea and over all the
Caledonian territory, made up of approximately 17,000 people.
