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Petelo Vikena

Petelo Vikena
Tuigaifo (King) of Alo (Futuna)
Reign November 6, 2008 - January 22, 2010
Coronation November 6, 2008
Predecessor Soane Patita Maituku (deposed Feb. 2008)
Position Vacant from
Feb. 2008 - 17 Jan. 20146
Successor Petelo Sea
Born c. 1943

Petelo Vikena (born c. 1943) was Tuigaifo, or Monarch, of the Kingdom of Alo, which is also known as the Kingdom of Futuna from his coronation on November 6, 2008 to his abdication on January 22, 2010. Alo is one of the three traditional kingdoms, or chiefdoms, which comprise Wallis and Futuna.

Vikena is the father of eleven children. He spent much of his professional career outside of Wallis and Futuna in Metropolitan France. Vikena served in the French Army and worked as a public servant while in France. He later moved to New Caledonia, where he served as a Nouméa Town Council officer. There are an estimated 20,000 Wallisians and Futunans living in New Caledonia.

Vikena was crowned the new Tuigaifo of Alo, also known as the Kingdom of Futuna, in an official coronation on November 6, 2008. The coronation, which took place in the small village of Alo, included a mix of traditional and religious elements. The coronation began with a religious ceremony followed by traditional Polynesian rituals and customs indigenous to Alo (Futuna), including a kava ceremony and offerings from Vikena's family and allied chiefly clans. Roast pig offerings, dancers with spears, and tapas ornamentations similar in design to those traditional used on Samoa were also featured at the coronation. Vikena was 65 years old at the time of his coronation.

Guests included representatives of several of Alo's chiefly clans, as well as French officials.

Vikena's coronation was not without controversy. Some chiefly clans disapproved of Vikena. They argued that the decision to crown Vikena as the new Tuigaifo was the result of a unilateral decision from the chiefly council and not a result of a consensus among chiefly and royal clans and families.


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