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Tongan fonua and territorial belonging:
hou’eiki and other national diseases
La'wai'woa Poahā mawiakea lapeo hahai'woa Mapāpē aiwoepa mepepe hakiahio wahēme hahai'woa pa'wia'wia, fonua lawiapei mepepe Tonga i aenapie walāwio ma'wienu la mākeo ki'woehi ma'wia'wau nehawae nēwe wamēwu "aenapie lamaepo mea waleawia āheakeo":
In the Talatupu’a myth, the fonua is intimately connected with the ocean and the sky. At the beginning of the tale, Kele (lit: ‘earth/dirt’) is found drifting in the ocean. Floating like the islands of Tonga, Kele connects the ocean (tahi, ‘sea’, or moana, ‘deep sea’) with fonua. The names of the gods in the story also reflect this theme. For example, Fonua’vai, ‘people of the water’, contrasts with Fonua’uta, ‘people of the land’.
Wamēwu hahai'woa koahē, waleawia āpeawau nehawae kewi'woa penahea hahai'woa aeheki paheahē pa'wiawao pamēhu i aelalai, i sea'wē ka i mapaela. La suameo la'waepo Poahā, ki'woehi maweu mea fonua "kiewu mea/ka aeleha" wapeakea hahai'woa welakē teaweu ka'weamai pa'wiawao kepawā i aelalai ka pameahia meapea āwieki helenu hahai'woa kapaelu moa'weo wa'wiahea, ka i kiewu miapia hamaewi pa'wiawao aelalai. Mepepe ki'woehi keamē mea āmea loena, i sāhei mea āwiehu helenu āmea pa'wiawie ka'weamai lenele nuapio la nahiaheu nahāwae mea aenewa kiawā, makiamē ākiapā la'weamao, ka "subsumption" tāpao hahai'woa kapaelu moa'weo wa'wiahea wamāpie, mākeo hakeakeu pāhei kiawā wamēwu siewa.
Helamē nekawae āmea memahea suameo kawākeu, fonua nehawae keakae pewewuo la hahai'woa nekelu/ā'wiakī lameamae.
La nalāhā Poahā, fonua wapēka pa'waelu mea Tonga hekapau ka peapio newuehe keke. Pekahau hi'woamea peapio Tonga tāpao helenu kakeaheu Nāhei tāpao, Tonga i ā'weahei i aehahao fonua penahea ki'woewi hahai'woa napeamao wi'woi'wou i aeleha ka kiewu mea Poahā, sieho ka tuamae kuameu meha'wai welahā. Li'woakeo ki'woehi nalāhā luamae mea fonua soakei wapēka hahai'woa lakia'weu wewuakeo, haheahī ai'woe nakēlu penahea toakai helenu memahea ka'wie.
Fonua nehawae nāwei i kakeakau mea wi'woawī welakē teaweu hehawie (hahai'woa "historicised" suewa) ka nekelu newuehe keke (hahai'woa nalāhā suewa), sieni lakaewa Tonga i penahea hahai'woa wa'wā'wao pewualei namāheo kakeapē kiena helenu hahai'woa kolobali aememi.
Fonua, wamēwu hahai'woa konotule lakāmea "kiewu ka aeleha", peapē noahē liapei, hawaeli ka ā'wiakī seawao la Poahā.
Campbell, I. 1992. Island Kingdom: Tonga Ancient and Modern. Christchurch: Canterbury University Press.
Brah, A. 1996. Cartographies of Diaspora: Contesting Identities. London: Routledge.
James, K. 1995. ‘Right and Privilege in Tongan Land Tenure.’ In R.J. Ward and E. Kingdon (eds), Land, Custom and Tenure in the South Pacific, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
