The coronation of the monarch, 65-year-old Petelo Vikena, a former public servant, who is traditionally known as the “Tuigaifo” took place in the small village of Alo and was marked by a religious ceremony followed by custom and traditional rituals, including kava ceremonies and offerings from allied families and chiefly clans.
French authorities, as well as several chiefly clans representatives, attended the coronation ceremony, where spear-wielding dancers, pigs offerings and much tapa ornament in a traditional style close to Samoa’s also featured.
But some chiefly clans earlier disapproved of Vikena’s choice which, they said, did not result from a consensus among chiefly and royal clans and families, but from a unilateral decision from the chiefly council.
King Vikena’s predecessor who was crowned in Nov. 2002 was deposed mid February this year as a result of a unanimous decision taken by the four chiefly clans on this French Pacific island.
The four chiefly clans were then understood to have made the decision following criticisms on the management style of the high chief.
There are two kings on the island of Futuna: the Tuisigave, for the kingdom of Sigave and the Tuigaifo, for the kingdom of Alo.
Petelo Vikena, a father of 11 children, spent most of his professional career in metropolitan where he served in the French army and later in New Caledonia as a Nouméa Town Council officer.
On Wallis Island, after the death of the king in May 2007, the throne on the neighboring island had also remained empty until late July this year.
The impasse was widely regarded as the result of a simmering conflict between traditional clans on Wallis, who each claim to be next in line for the throne.
Since last year, the muted, behind the scene confrontation has been a sensitive issue and has foiled any attempt to appoint a successor.
The former king of Wallis, Tomasi Kulimoetoke, died in May 2007 aged 87 years. He had been crowned in 1959 and had ruled uninterrupted for a record 48 years.
Two years after his coronation, in 1961, Kulimoetoke signed a pact with France that granted both Wallis and Futuna Islands the official status of “French Overseas Territory.”
