History
Tongans invaded Rotuma during the 17th century and the Tongan influence is evident in the language and dance. In 1791, Europeans on the HMS Pandora stopped here to search for mutineers from the Bounty. Rotuma became an important port, and the local people were exposed to traders, runaway sailors and convicts. During the mid-19th century, Tongan Wesleyan and Marist Roman Catholic missionaries introduced their versions of Christianity here. By the 1870s the religious groups were warring and, in response to the unrest, the Rotuman chiefs decided to cede their home to Britain. Rotuma became joined politically to the Fijian colony in 1881.
