Tongan castaways

The Tongan castaways were a group of six boys between 13 and 16, who, in 1965, ran away from a school on the island of Tonga, stole a boat, and became shipwrecked on the deserted remote island of ʻAta. Their names are Luke Veikoso, Fatai Latu, Sione Fataua, Tevita Siola'a, Kolo Fekitoa, and Mano Totau.

ʻAta island.

The Tongan castaway boys formed a strong bond and, despite deprivations and injuries, kept themselves fit and healthy for 15 months. The boys survived primarily through consumption of local birds, fish, wild taro, and chickens and bananas that had been raised and cultivated on the island 100 years prior. They captured rainwater using hollowed out logs, though it was sparse during the initial months of their survival. They drank blood from seabirds when they didn't have enough water.[1]

They were discovered in 1966 by Australian fisherman Peter Warner and returned with him to Tonga, where they were immediately imprisoned for the theft of the boat. The boys were released from prison after Warner compensated the owner of the stolen boat the boys had sailed on, and arranged for them to participate in a film for Australian media.[2]

In 2015 Spanish explorer Alvaro Cerezo spent 10 days on ʻAta island with Kolo Fekitoa, one of the six teenage castaways. They both lived there all alone and survived from coconuts, fish and seabirds, exactly as the boys did back in 1965. In summer 2020, Cerezo is launching a documentary of his experience with Kolo and a book describing in detail the 15 month ordeal of the Tongan castaways.[3] A trailer for the documentary was published on Youtube.[4]

In 2020, historian Rutger Bregman wrote about the Tongan castaways' experiences in his book Humankind: A Hopeful History.[5]