1760 Tonga Niuafo’ou National capital Tafahi VAVA’U Internal administrative name 0 Niuatoputapu 160 16 Internal administrative capital Nggelelovu TONGATAPU (administered from Nuku’alofa) 0 50 100 Kilometers Wailagi Lala 0 50 100 Miles 0 Vanua Balavu 172 Mago Tuvuca Fonualei Nayau VAVA’U Toku Island reef SOUTH VAVA’UI GROUP Moco FIJI Vava’u Namuka-i-lau Neiafu YAGASA Late CLUSTER PACIFIC Island Fulanga Ogea Driki Island Ha’ano ISLANDS OCEAN Island Kao Foa Tofua Pangai Vatoa Island Lifuka 200 HA’APAI ‘Uiha Island 200 GROUP Fonuato’ou Nomuka HA’APAI Ono-i-lau Hunga Ha’apai Albert Meyer Tuvana-i-Ra Reef Nuku’alofa Tongatapu TONGATAPU ‘Ohonua GROUP ‘Eua TONGATAPU TONGA 1720 KIRIBATA ‘Ata PAPUA SOLOMON NEW GUINEA ISLANDS TUVALU Wallis and WESTERN Futuna (FR.) SAMOA American Coral FIJI Samoa Sea VANUATU (U.S.) Niuo TONGA (N.Z.) New Caledonia (FR.) SOUTH PACIFIC AUSTRALIA OCEAN Minerva Reefs (TONGA) 240 240 Tasman Sea NEW Longitude West of Greenwich 1760 ZEALAND Map of Tonga Persistence of the Gift Tongan Tradition in Transnational Context This page intentionally left blank Persistence of the Gift Tongan Tradition in Transnational Context Mike Evans Wilfrid Laurierw University Press This book has been published with the help of a grant from the Humanities and Social Sciences Federation of Canada, using funds provided by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. We acknowledge the financial sup- port of the Government of Canada through the Book Publishing Industry Devel- opment Program for our publishing activities. National Library of Canada Cataloguing in Publication Data Evans, Mike, 1961- Persistence of the gift : Tongan tradition in transnational context Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-88920-369-5 1. Ha’ano Island (Tonga) — Social life and customs. 2. Ha’ano Island (Tonga) — Economic conditions. 3. Ceremonial exchange — Tonga — Ha’ano Island. I. Title. DU880.E92 2001 306’.099612 C2001-930471-4 © 2001 Wilfrid Laurier University Press Waterloo, Ontario N2L 3C5 http://www.wlupress.wlu.ca Cover design by Leslie Macredie. All photographs, including the cover, courtesy of Mike Evans. ∞ Printed in Canada All rights reserved. No part of this work covered by the copyrights hereon may be re p ro d u c e d or used in any form or by any means — graphic, electronic or mechani- cal — without the prior written permission of the publisher. Any request for photo- copying, recording, taping or reproducing in information storage and retrieval systems of any part of this book shall be directed in writing to the Canadian Reprog- raphy Collective, 214 King Street West, Suite 312, Toronto, Ontario M5H 3S6. Contents List of Figures and Tables ............................................................... ix Acknowledgements ........................................................................ xi Chapters One Introduction — Recentring the Periphery .......................... 1 Two Economic Development in Polynesia ................................. 13 Three Social Structure and Organization during the Contact and Early Post-Contact Period ................................................. 27 Four European Contact and the Transformation of the Traditional Polity ............................................................... 45 Five Contemporary Social Organization among Village Commoners ...................................................................... 61 Six The Island Economy ......................................................... 75 Seven Gift Exchange and Ceremony ............................................ 127 Eight Conclusion — By Their Actions Ye Shall Know Them ....... 151 Appendices One A Comparison of the Population and Demography of Ha’ano Island and the Kingdom of Tonga As a Whole ...... 163 Two Glossary of Tongan Terms ................................................. 169 Three Configuration of Households — Pila and Leti ................... 173 Notes ............................................................................................. 175 References Cited ............................................................................ 189 Index .............................................................................................. 203 / vii This page intentionally left blank List of Figures and Tables Figures Fr ontispiece: Map of Tonga ............................................................ ii 6.1 Source of Land Held under Caretaking Arrangement ............ 84 6.2 Number of Tax Allotments Controlled by Household ............ 86 6.3 Garden Lands by Source (Excluding Anomalous Cases) ......... 90 6.4 Variation in Per Capita Agricultural Production between Households ........................................................................... 98 6.5 Mean Household Income from Agriculture — Ha’ano 1992 .................................................................... 103 6.6 Levels of Weaving Activity among Adult Women on Ha’ano ............................................................................. 118 6.7 Mean Household Income by Source ...................................... 122 Tables 5.1 Persons Temporarily Absent from Ha’ano Island for Education-Related Reasons by Village ................................... 71 5.2 Mean Household Size on Ha’ano Island by Village ................ 73 6.1 Distribution of Registered Land on Ha’ano Island by Age Grade ............................................................................. 87 6.2 Area of Gardens by Control of Land (in hectares) .................. 89 6.3 Household Labour Supply by Land under Cultivation ........... 96 6.4 Distribution of Fishing Equipment ........................................ 108 /ix x / Persistence of the Gift 6.5 Major Fishing Assets .............................................................. 108 6.6 Fishing Activity on Ha’ano Island by Village ......................... 109 6.7 Secondary Distribution of Fish in Ha’ano Village .................. 112 7.1 Comparison of Remittances and Misinale Contributions ........ 147 A-1 Population Censuses, Kingdom of Tonga 1921-1986 ............ 164 A-2 Comparison of Census Data from Ha’ano Island by Village ... 164 A-3 Comparison of Age Grade Proportions (% of total) in Tonga and Ha’ano Island ....................................................... 166 Acknowledgements o the people of Ha’ano Island I wish to express my profound grati- T tude for their hospitality and generous contributions to this research. Without exception people patiently answered my questions and gave of their time to help in this project. Had it not been for this ‘ofa (love) and assistance I simply could not have completed this book. In particular I wish to thank Vili and Toa’ila Maeamalohi, Sione and Loutoa Talia’uli Fifita, ‘Ika and Viola Katoa and their families for taking such very good care of me and my family over the course of some challenging times. My thanks also to Fanguna Vaitohi and Siofilisi Hingano for help with translations. Thanks to the government of King Tupou IV for allowing this research, and in particular to the director and staff of the Ha’apai office of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forests for their unstinting support. The kind assistance of Mele Polutele of the Statistics Department, George Moengangongo of the Tonga campus of the University of the South Pacific, and Professor Futa Helu of the ‘Atenisi Institute, was also impor- tant and appreciated. The hospitality of David and Val May, Langilangi Vı¯, and the staff of the Beach House made my stays away from Ha’ano congenial and productive. I would also like to express my gratitude to the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada who generously supported this research, and the School of Graduate Studies of McMaster University who provided significant funds to finance my fieldwork. /xi xii / Persistence of the Gift My debt to the Department of Anthropology at McMaster University stretches much farther back than just this book. I am grateful for the col- legial atmosphere and attitudes of faculty, staff, and students, and wish to thank those who, over the course of the years, contributed to creating a space in which intellectual growth is enhanced by the sociability of every- day life. A number of people have supported and affected this work in other ways, some intellectually, some emotionally, and most both. My thanks to Carl Bertoia, David Burley, Matthew Cooper, David Counts, Jacques Critchley, Harvey Feit, Jennifer Gustar, Jasmin Habib, Henry Ivarature, Chris Justice, Martin Kendrick, Lucille Lanza, Jackie Low, Eudene Luther, Tom Miller, Chris Morgan, Jane Mulkewich, Janet Mayr, Paul Roberts, Mark Schuler, Matthew Sendbuehler, Pum Van Veldhoven, Wayne Warry, and Steve Worthington. To Heather Young Leslie, I am indebted in ways I cannot even describe. While I have written what follows, what is written is in many ways not mine alone. Not only were we together throughout the field- work period, but through the years of preparation as well. (She also sug- gested the title for this book.) So much of what I think and what I have written is tied up in our mutual experiences and our conversations that it is, at times, impossible to assign authorship. I can only recognize my debt, and offer my deepest thanks. Chapter One Introduction — Recentring the Periphery After their prayer they came up to another landing, and they used that landing to come up to the island, and George I used that landing to look down on the whole area of Ha’ano, and he recognized that it is a small island, and he said