Tā, Marking, the Vā between Hawaiians and Tongans in Place Names, Petroglyphs, Alliances, and 'Awa/Kava
Tongan tala e fonua, deep history of the fonua, recounts that ancient Hawaiians voyaged to Tonga annually to participate in sporting competitions, such as javelin throwing, canoe-racing, and wrestling. Hawaiians in Tonga resided in islands known as ʻEueiki and ʻEua (Helu 1999; Secondary Teacher Education Program. 1986). ʻEueiki, known as Havaiki to the Hawaiians, is a culturally significant island because it is where kava and tō (sugarcane) “originated” in Tongan tradition (Helu 1999; Moala 1994). The inhabitants of ʻEueiki/Havaiki are protected by the famous ʻotua, shark god, Taufatahi - a possible link to Hawaiian shark ʻaumakua, ancestral guardian (Malo 1898; Moala 1994) – and they are actively participated in fānifo, surfing. In ʻEua, Hawaiians named one of the water springs Kahana after Kahana in Hawaiʻi. Even a tract of land in ʻEua was given the Hawaiian name Haunui (Lafitani 2011; Secondary Teacher Education Program. 1986). Besides ʻEueiki/Havaiki and ʻEua, there is also evidence of Tongan-Hawaiian contact in the Tongan island of Foa, in the Haʻapai group. Several Hawaiian-style petroglyphs are found in Foa (Egan & Burley 2009).
This paper will examine the tā, marking, of the vā between Hawaiians and Tongans, in the past and present, through the naming of places in Tonga after Hawaiian names, the inscribing of Hawaiian-style petroglyphs in Tonga, and the contemporary rekindling of the vā between Tongans and Hawaiians in Kahana, Kahuku, and Mauna Kea (Kaʻili 2005; 2017). Specifically, this paper will utilize multiple forms of creating and strengthening of vā through the sharing of moʻolelo (stories, history), the composition of oli (chants), reciprocal service, forming alliances, and utilizing other multimedia forms of recording and preserving moʻolelo. Furthermore, this paper will also address the current use and influence of ʻawa/kava in marking the vā between Tongans and Hawaiians (Funaki 2020). The Indigenous Moana Nui tā-vā (time-space) philosophy of reality, or tāvāism (Māhina 2010; 2017), will frame this paper in understanding the vā of Hawaiians and Tongans as well as the deployment of this vā to counter settler colonialism in Hawaiʻi and coloniality in Tonga (Kauanui 2016; Quijano 200; Trask 2000; Wolfe 2006).
References
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