POST3: Religious Belief of the Tongans

                                                                                       TONGANS 


                The kingdom of Tonga is located in the south pacific ocean. The word Tonga means south in many Polynesian countries. The average temperature in Tonga in June-July is 16-21 and it is 27 in December-January. The Tonga language is derived from a proto Fijian Polynesia language originally spoken by Fiji islanders 1500BC. Tongans in the island are extremely dependent on relatives living oversees who send money back to family members. Tonga from relatives living abroad amounted to 10 times the amount of the income the kingdom generated from export of agricultural product such as copra, vanilla, and bananas. Tongans were essentially self-sufficient  horticulturalist and fishers who traded for foodstuffs material goods among themselves.

              The Tongans, in common with the Polynesians have a fairly elaborate theogony, narrating the birth of great gods of sky, earth, sea and underworld. In the beginning there seems to have existed sea and the spirit world, Bulotu. In the primordial ocean, sea-weed and soil came together and  floated away to Bulotu but later separated. Between them appeared a rock called Touia-a-Futuna, of which were born four pairs of twins Biki( sticky and adhesive) and Kele( soil), Atungaki( thrown by the hand) and Maimoa-a-Longona  ( Plathing of Longona), Fonu-uta( Land of turtle) and Fonu-vai( sea turtle) and Hemoana(sea wonderer) and Lube (dove).
 
               Traditional Tongans belief in a multi-deity world including Tangaloas, who pulled up certain islands from the sea. There were traditional gods of various trades  and gods of various HA'A. In observance of the strictures of fundamentalist of Christianity. It is written into the Tongan constitution that the Sabbath day is a legal day for rest in the Kingdom of Tonga, and no commercial activities or entertainment are officially allowed.

                 

 

Sources


Collocott, E. E. V. “NOTES ON TONGAN RELIGION. PART I.” The Journal of the Polynesian Society 30, no. 3(119) (1921): 152–63. http://www.jstor.org/stable/20701834.

Urbanowitz, Charles Francis. 2006. “Culture Summary: Tongans.” New Haven, Conn.: HRAF. https://ehrafworldcultures.yale.edu/document?id=ou09-000.
















   
                                                                

Comments

  1. Kyle MorganNovember 4, 2021 at 4:34 PM

    I really like how you set up your blog and included some translations! I find it interesting how a lot of their money comes from relatives sending it home. I've seen a couple other countries that also have a lot of remittance, I believe India has the highest. Why do you think they have to rely on family abroad?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Ashton DaveyNovember 4, 2021 at 6:32 PM

    I enjoy your description of their religious stories, Fawwaaz. Their intricate system of mythology is quite interesting. What is the impact of Christianity on modern day Tonga?

    ReplyDelete
  3. HiboNovember 4, 2021 at 6:47 PM

    great post Fawwaaz, I my self did a culture which also belief mutliple gods. what do you think is the reason their economy is mostly depend on money send from abroad? and how old are they, like how many years they existed because if they that old enough they should have stable economy that doesn't depend on the money send from abroad.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment