In traditional Tongan art, different kinds of crafts were divided between the sexes. There were certain types of crafts that were done by men and ones that were done by women. Women were mainly the weavers. They created what is called koloa, a type of woven barkcloth or mat. But these weren’t just mats; they were used as a sign of wealth and typically exchanged during ceremonies like weddings. These koloa mats were used for a number of things, from just sleeping on them to wearing them.
Men’s arts are generally centered around woodworking. Carving tools like food bowls, spears, and war clubs are sometimes also inlaid with other materials like pearl shell and ivory, depending on the item. These war clubs were also pretty popular in Fiji. Canoe building was also a men’s skill, especially dugout canoes that were made out of one log.
One style of Tongan architecture is well known. A type of building style called the fale consists of a curved roof sitting on top of wooden pillars, using woven screens as walls. If there is a particularly bad storm bearing down on them that threatens the integrity of the walls, they’ll simply cut the wooden pillars down so that the roof is laying on the ground. The curvature of the roof allows the wind to flow over it easier. They've updated some of their building materials over the decades, though. There are also stone monuments and tombs that are found throughout the islands as well.
Like other South Pacific countries, tattooing is a common part of their culture. Some of these can be fairly elaborate and generally tell a story. It was often viewed as a symbol of strength. When the missionaries arrived in Tonga, they highly discouraged it (what a buzzkill), and the practice fell to the wayside somewhat. Today, it’s common for both men and women to have some tattoos. (One day I’ll finally figure out what I want a tattoo of.)
Tonga has not had a strong written literary history, which has mostly been in the form of oral tales and stories. However, during the 1960s and 1970s, there was a general push for developing Pacific Islander literature on a broader scale. Although there are newspapers and a few magazines that are produced in the Tongan language, there are few literature publications that are produced in Tongan. English is taught in school and serves as one of the main languages of instruction and business, so most authors end up publishing their works in English for a broader audience.
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| Epeli Hau'ofa |
And not to be left out, Tonga has had two writers who emerged during this period. Epeli Hau’ofa is known as a short story writer, especially for the collection called Tales of the Tikongs as well as a novel Kisses in the Nederends. He actually traveled around and lived between Tonga and Fiji. While he was living in Tonga, he also produced a literary magazine with his wife called Faikara.
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| Konai Helu Thaman |
Another author from Tonga is Konai Helu Thaman. Not only was she a teacher and poet, she’s also taken several positions with UNESCO. Many of her works have been used as part of the curriculum across the Pacific.
Up next: music and dance
I’m not typically a sports fan. Yeah, I’ll admit live games are more entertaining than watching them on television. But there is one sporting event that I am mildly interested in, and that’s the Olympics. But more specifically, the Opening Ceremonies. At the opening of the 2016 summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, there was one athlete who took us by surprise as he carried the flag. And that was Pita Taufatofua. It wasn’t that he was one of the only Tongans to compete or that he was there for taekwondo. It was because he got the attention of every woman (and probably a few men) as he waved the Tongan flag while wearing a ta’ovala (traditional mat worn in formal situations) bearing his oiled, chiseled shirtless torso. He basically stole the show. They could’ve just shut it down and went home from there.
Tonga means “southward” in the Tongan language as well as other Polynesian languages. It’s based on its location as one of the southernmost island groups in central Polynesia. However, after James Cook landed on the island, he called it the Friendly Islands after they invited him to a celebration that was already taking place.
This island country consists of 169 islands where only 36 of them have people living on them. (Actually a new island was just formed in 2014 after a volcanic eruption. And it only took four years for a significant number of plants, birds, and owls to make it their home.) They’re divided up into three groups, from north to south: Vava’u, Ha’apai, and Tongatapu. Fiji and the French islands of Wallis and Fortuna lie to the northwest while Samoa, American Samoa, and Niue lie to the northeast. The north island of New Zealand is to the southwest quite a ways. Most of the islands are either limestone on top of coral or limestone on top of a volcanic base. They have distinct warm and cooler seasons. But temperature and rainfall can vary somewhat depending on which island you’re on.
The first people who arrived to live on these islands were Austronesians making their way there between 1500-1000 BC. The 12th century Tongan chief Tu’i Tonga basically had a reputation that preceded him and pretty much everyone in the South Pacific knew of him. The Tongans didn’t encounter any Europeans until the 1600s when several Dutch trading and exploration ships made pit stops in the Tongan islands, including Abel Tasman. British and Spanish explorers also made their way through Tonga during the 1700s as well as the US during the 1800s. Not only were explorers stopping by unannounced but missionaries and whaling vessels were also coming by. In 1845, there was a young warrior-turned-chief known as Taufa’ahau who really changed things up. He united Tonga as a kingdom, and 30 years later, declared it as a constitutional monarchy based on western styles. They became a protected state of Britain as part of a treaty. Tonga was allowed to continue on with its sovereignty during this time, and they are one of the few Pacific countries that has had an uninterrupted monarchy. During 1918, a ship from New Zealand brought the Spanish flu to the islands and killed over nearly 1800 of them -- that’s about 8% of their population at the time! Their protectorate with Britain ended in 1970, when they joined the Commonwealth and the UN.
The capital city is Nuku’alofa, situated on the north side of the island of Tongatapu, which is in the southernmost group of islands. This city of only about 23,000 is the center of government, housing both where the Parliament meets and the Royal Palace. It’s also the central transportation hub for the islands. There is a central market and business district but a lot of it was destroyed during the riots that took place in November 2006.
Tonga largely depends on remittances sent home from people working abroad. One of the problems is that the royal family owns quite a few of the industries in Tonga, like telecommunications. Agriculture carries part of their economy, especially in crops like vanilla beans, squash, coconut, coffee beans, sweet potatoes, cassava, and taro. Tourism has never really been that strong, but it’s growing somewhat. Cruise ships stop in Vava’u for whale watching, surfing, fishing, and just plain ol’ hanging out on the beach. Tonga’s colorful stamps are also apparently a hot ticket item among stamp collectors around the world.
Officially, Tonga doesn't have an established religion. Practically though, Christianity is ingrained in all the aspects of their lives. Because Queen Salote Tupou III was a member of the Free Wesleyan Church of Tonga, she established that as the state religion of Tonga back in 1928. However, that was later revised out in 1998. But because of that, they do still have a majority of the people following that denomination. Other Christian that are found in Tonga include The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Roman Catholics, and The Free Church of Tonga.
The official language is Tongan, a Polynesian language that is closely related to Wallisian, Hawaiian, Samoan, Tahitian, Maori, and Niuean. English is also an official language. Known as lea fakatonga in Tongan, it’s interesting because it has a verb-subject-object sentence order (whereas English has a subject-verb-object order).
One thing I came across in reading about Tonga is the sacred flying fox bats. These small bats are protected, and no one in the general public can touch, harm, or kill them (only the royal family can harm or hunt them apparently). In fact, they’re practically tame at this point, or at least extremely docile. On some of the islands, there’s a growing ecotourism where people come to observe them (although they’re known in Tonga, these bats are also found in nearby islands of Niue and the Samoas). It seems odd that these bats are solely the property of the king, but in a way, maybe it’s not necessarily a bad thing that they’re protected from the majority of people. Humans are essentially it’s main predator.
Up next: art and literature
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