Kingdoms of Hawaiʻi and Tonga

Hawaiian Archaeology ANTH 464

Kingdoms of Hawaiʻi and Tonga

Hawaiʻi and Tonga, societies with divergent traditions, present an intraregional case of convergent primary state emergence in archipelagoes that share a deep common cultural ancestry but exhibit no evidence of direct contact. — Robert J. Hommon

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Contact-era Polynesian Society

Island Group	Sahlins (1958)	Goldman (1970)	Hommon (2013)
Hawaiʻi	Group 1	Stratified	State
Tonga	Group 1	Stratified	State
Society Is.	Group 1	Stratified	Chiefdom
Samoa	Group 1	Open	Chiefdom
Easter Is.	Group 2a	Open	Chiefdom
Marquesas	Group 2b	Open	Chiefdom
New Zealand		Traditional	Chiefdom
Tokelau	Group 3	Traditional	Chiefdom

Here you can see how three students of Polynesian social organization have classified several contact-era Polynesian societies. The classifications are based primarily on ethnographic and historical information. In the table the societies are ranked from the most egalitarian at the bottom to the most stratified on top.

The classifications of Sahlins, Goldman, and Hommon are similar, but they do differ from one another. In each case, Tonga and Hawaiʻi are recognized as among the most stratified societies in Polynesia. However, Sahlins saw Samoa as more like Hawaiʻi, Tonga, and the Society Islands, than Easter Island, whereas Goldman and Hommon both see Samoa as more like Easter Island. Similarly, Goldman classified the Society Islands with Hawaiʻi and Tonga, but Hommon does not.

Clearly, stratification means slightly different things to each of these authors. Despite this, the general pattern ranging from most egalitarian to most stratified does seem to hold. It is thus reasonable to conclude that the comparison of contact-era Hawaiʻi and Tonga is between similarly stratified societies.

An Isolated Island Group: Hawaiʻi

Tonga in Oceania

Settlement of Remote Oceania

Based on archaeological work, the histories of Tonga and Hawaiʻi differ considerably. This map of the Pacific shows the current archaeological understanding of human dispersal throughout the region. Tonga was settled by people making Lapita pottery about 1200 BC. The dispersal of Lapita people is shown in light gray and includes the labeled island groups of Vanuatu, Santa Cruz, and Fiji. Tonga is located just east of Fiji. Samoa is located at the northeast end of this light gray area.

About a thousand years later, around 200 BC, people from the area of the Lapita dispersal settled the islands of Central and Eastern Micronesia, including the atolls of the Marshall and Caroline Islands, along with the high islands of Pohnpei, Kosrae, and Chuuk. Mau Pialug, the Hokuleʻa navigator whose home was an atoll in the Caroline Islands, was descended from the people responsible for this dispersal more than 2,000 years ago.

The final dispersal of humans through the Pacific took place about 1,000 years ago. In a relatively brief period, sophisticated sea-faring people discovered and settled all of the islands in a region that covers about 1/4 of the globe. Hawaiʻi was discovered and settled during this great dispersal.

Thus, Tonga was likely the first Polynesian island to be discovered and settled about 3,000 years ago. People had been living in Tonga for more than 2,000 years when Hawaiʻi was discovered and settled by Polynesian seafarers.

Kinship and Descent

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Kinship Status Ranking: Sibling Seniority

This slide shows kinship diagrams for Hawaiʻi on the left and Tonga on the right. A triangle indicates a male and a circle indicates a female. The = sign indicates mating, and the line that descends from it leads to the children produced by the mating. Older siblings are placed to the left of their younger siblings.

In the top two diagrams you see a father and mother with two daughters, and in the bottom two diagrams you see a father and mother with two sons.

Both Hawaiʻi and Tonga distinguish older from younger siblings. In Hawaiʻi, the older sibling is kaikuaʻana and the younger sibling is kaikaina. In Tonga, the older sibling is taʻokete and the younger sibling is tehina. Thus a male uses the same terms to indicate his older and younger brothers as a female uses to indicate her older and younger sisters.

Transmission of Authority: Primogeniture

Kinship: Cognatic and Bilineal

So far, this comparison of Hawaiʻi and Tonga has revealed similarities in the distinction of older from younger siblings and transmission of authority through primogeniture. Kinship terms provide a point of contrast.

This diagram, which shows Hawaiian kinship terms at the top and Tongan kinship terms at the bottom, contrasts the cognatic system of Hawaiʻi with the bilineal system of Tonga.

In each diagram, the kinship terms are relative to the unlabeled male at the middle of the diagram, immediately below the marriage relationship. Let’s call this unlabeled male ego.

In Hawaiʻi, ego refers to his father’s sister by the same term he uses to refer to his mother, and he refers to his mother’s brother by the same term he uses for his father. Similarly, he refers to all his nieces by the term kaikamahine and all his nephews by the term keiki.

In Tonga, ego distinguishes his father’s sister from his mother and his mother’s brother from his father. He refers to his mother’s brother as mehekitanga and his mother as faʻ\emacron{}. He refers to his mother’s brother as tuʻasina and his father as tamai. Similarly, he distinguishes the children of his sisters from the children of his brothers. His nieces and nephews through a sister he calls ʻilamutu, but his nieces through a brother he calls ʻofefine and his nephews through a brother he calls foha.

Photographs of Tonga in 1976

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Setiveni Halapua in Hihifo Village

Siasi Tonga Tauʻataina

As I mentioned earlier, Tongans are devout church-goers. This photograph was taken during a ceremony at the Free Church of Tonga. You can see some of the ways that social stratification is manifest in Tongan society.

In the foreground are the worshipers seated respectfully on the floor. Sitting respectfully requires that one’s knees be close to the floor and one’s gaze be on the floor directly ahead.

The two man in black suits standing in front of the worshipers are the object of the ceremony. Both of them are advancing lay preachers who are gaining a new status in the church.

Above them is the minister in a raised pulpit. The relative height of the minister is a clear indication of his high status.

On the left hand side, sitting in the chair, is a member of a noble family. He sits apart from the common worshipers, separated by a cloth-covered railing. When Tongans speak to him, or about him, they use a special language of respect, which is used for the nobility, the king, and Jesus Christ.

Loholoho and His Family

Loholoho’s Katoanga

Tin House in Modern Style

Tin House in Traditional Style

Plywood House in Modern Style

Fale Tonga on Tafahi

Cookhouse on Tafahi

Men After Church on Sunday

Women Making Lei

Men Watching Cricket

Kingdom of Tonga

Ko e ʻotua mo Tonga ko hoku tofiʻa (God and Tonga are my inheritance)

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Exchange: Tongan Fahu Relationship

These distinctions in the Tongan kinship system are put to practical use through an institution known as fahu. This diagram distinguishes ego’s line from his mother’s brother’s line and from his father’s sister’s line.

Ego is fahu to people in his mother’s brother’s line and can make claims against them for koloa, or valuables, and ng\amacron{}ue, or work. When I was in Tonga I frequently saw the fahu relationship in action. When we were working in the bush and were thirsty, one of the Tongan workers would inevitably be fahu to someone with a garden nearby. He would run off to the garden and collect coconuts for the crew to drink. This kind of small-scale exercise of the fahu relationship was so common that it wasn’t necessary to ask permission first. There was simply no question that a fahu claim such as this would be honored.

Conversely, the people in ego’s father’s sister’s line are fahu to ego and can make claims against ego’s koloa and ng\amacron{}ue.

In effect, the kinship system provides the structure for a directional movement of koloa and ng\amacron{}ue through Tongan society.

The Fahu Relationship and Empire

Tongans use the fahu institution for quite a bit more than supplying thirsty archaeologists with drinking coconuts. This diagram shows how the fahu relationship works at the pinnacle of Tongan society, where it provides a basic structure of the Tongan empire.

For many generations, according to tradition, the kingship in Tonga has been divided between a sacred king, the Tuʻi Tonga, and a secular king, a position filled in the past by the Tuʻi Haʻatakalaua and more recently by the Tuʻi Kanokupolu.

Here the structure is generated by two different customary marriages. The first marriage is that of the Tongan queen who is customarily the sister of the secular king. In the past, this was the sister of the Tuʻi Haʻatakalaua, but more recently, it was the sister of the Tuʻi Kanokupolu. This marriage made the Tuʻi Tonga fahu to the Tuʻi Kanokupolu. Thus, the secular king was expected to deliver valuables and work to the sacred king.

Where did the secular king get the valuables and labor to deliver to the sacred king? This is the function of the other marriage, between a junior brother of the secular king and a woman from the outer islands, typically the sister of the outer island’s highest ranking chief. In this way, the secular king became fahu to the chief of the outer island and could call on him for valuables and labor, which could then be passed on to the Tuʻi Tonga. The Tuʻi Kanokupolu was lucky if he had many brothers, so he could potentially be fahu to many outer islands and draw on large pools of koloa and ng\amacron{}ue when fulfilling obligations to his fahu relation, the Tuʻi Tonga.

Exchange: The Fahu Relationship in Space

This map shows the internal geographic structure of the Tongan empire as it existed in the eighteenth century. This is a synchronic view and it would be wrong to assume that it was always this way in the past. Tongan tradition clearly indicates that the empire was once much larger than this, stretching beyond the Niuas to include among others, the islands of Futuna and ʻUvea.

The seats of the Tongan kings were on Tongatapu (sacred Tonga). The secular king maintained direct fahu relations with islands in the Haʻapai Group, immediately north, and the Vavaʻu Group, midway along the chain. From there, the high chief of Vavaʻu maintained a fahu relationship with the high chief of Niuatoputapu, who was fahu to the high chief of Niuafoʻou, the farthest island in the chain.

Moving out from the fahu to the outer islands were husbands, the younger brothers of the secular king, and prestigious marriage goods, which we’ll discuss in a moment. The fahu relationships established by these high status marriages secured a flow of koloa and ng\amacron{}ue to Tongatapu from as far away as Niuafoʻou.

Prestige Goods System

This map shows the external relations of the Tongan empire in the eighteenth century. Once again, this is a synchronic representation and you should avoid the temptation of thinking that it was always this way.

The map shows Tonga at the middle of an exchange system linking Fiji in the west to Samoa in the northeast. Tongan sailors took whales’ teeth, tambua, to Fiji where they exchanged them for red feathers. Some of the red feathers accumulated by exchange with Fiji were taken to Samoa, where they were exchanged for named fine mats, kie hingoa.

The red feathers and fine mats were components of the marriage goods used in the weddings of the secular chief’s younger brothers to the daughters of high chiefs on the outer islands of Tonga.

Interestingly, although Tongans served as the middlemen in this exchange network, the canoes they used to carry out voyages to and from Fiji and Samoa were made in Fiji. Good timber for canoe making was found on an island of the Lakeba Group, where a colony of Tongan canoe builders was established. Here, they built the canoes used to carry out exchange through the region.

Tongan Langi at Muʻa

This lithograph shows a scene recorded by members of Captain Cook’s voyage to Tonga in the 1770’s. It shows the scene at Mua on Tongatapu when koloa from throughout the empire is presented to the king during a ceremony called ʻinasi.

The king is under the awning at the left. The long line of subjects carrying offerings that runs through the drawing stops a respectful distance in front of the king. From there, subjects crawl to where they make their presentation to the king.

To the right of the awning, near the middle of the drawing, is a circle of men who are almost certainly drinking kava.

The mound in the background is a langi in which ancestors of the king are buried. The open space around it, in which the ceremony is taking place, is a sacred space called a malaʻe. The location of the ʻinasi ceremony and the way it is organized in relation to the langi indicate the important legitmating role played by genealogy and descent in Tongan social structure.

Marriage Problem: The King’s Sister

Now, before we turn our attention to the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi, let’s look at a pan-Polynesian structural problem, namely, who marries the king’s sister?

Anthropologists have described three “solutions” to this problem, which differ according to circumstances in a particular island group. Let’s look at the Tongan solution first. Here, the male at the top right is the sacred king of Tonga, the Tuʻi Tonga. His sister, the Tuʻi Tonga Fefine was regarded as the most sacred person in the kingdom. However, the practical problem posed by the king’s sister in Tonga is that her husband’s family is potentially fahu to the king, able to make claims against the koloa and ng\amacron{}ue collected by the king as tribute. The solution is a good example of Tongan ingenuity. Customarily, the Tuʻi Tonga Fefine married a foreigner from Fiji, who moved to Tonga and joined the noble House of Fiji, the Fale Fisi. Because the Fale Fisi was not Tongan, it did not follow the Tongan fahu custom, which served to protect the Tuʻi Tonga’s stores of koloa and ng\amacron{}ue and preserved his position at the pinnacle of Tongan society.

Interestingly, the first-born daughter of the Tuʻi Tonga Fefine, known as the Tamah\amacron{}, was considered more sacred than her mother. Customarily, she married the secular king, a marriage that enhanced his position in Tonga and made relatives of the Fijians who could provide access to canoe building timber and red feathers.

Let’s turn now to the Pukapuka solution. Here in the relatively isolated Cook Islands there were no foreigners nearby who might marry the king’s sister. Status rivalry was relatively subdued in Pukapuka, so the king had no real worries that a Pukapukan suitor would try to leverage his sister’s sacredness for self advancement. As a result, the Pukapukan king’s sister simply did not marry.

The final solution, on the left, was worked out in Hawaiʻi. Here, status rivalry was intense and the king worried that his sister’s status would be used by a would-be king to advance his fortunes. To forestall this possibility, the king married his sister. Their off-spring were guaranteed to outrank any other children the sister might have with other men.

Kingdom of Hawaiʻi

Ua mau ke ea o ka ʻaina i ka pono (The life of the land is perpetuated in righteousness)

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Traditional Hawaiian Kingdoms

Hawaiʻi Island Ahupuaʻa

Simplified Hawaiian Political Hierarchy

This slide shows a simplified version of the traditional Hawaiian political hierarchy.

At the top of the diagram is the king, who is identified by one of his titles, aliʻi ʻai moku. Immediately beneath him is the kalaimoku. The dictionary defines kalaimoku as “counselor, prime minister, or high official.” The kalaimoku acted on behalf of the king in many secular matters. His position in Hawaiian political society was analogous to the position held by the secular king of Tonga. Beneath the kalaimoku were several appointed aliʻi ʻai ahupuaʻa, or ahupuaʻa chiefs, each of whom oversaw a land manager, the konohiki, who was responsible for directing the makaʻainana in communal activities designed to support the king. These communal activities might include building projects, such as when the king remodeled and re-consecrated the local heiau, or gardening projects designed to provide the king with delicious foods.

Interactions Between Kingdoms

Hawaiian tradition records sustained contact between the various kingdoms, especially the alliances forged through marriages between royal families and the various wars that broke out from time to time.

This graph is based on research carried out by Kehau Cachola-Abad. It shows the frequency of marriage alliances between the kingdoms of Maui and Hawaiʻi for more than 20 generations. The dots show the actual number of marriage alliances per generation and the line shows the trend over time. For reference, the generations of ʻUmi a Liloa and Kalaniʻopuʻu, who was king when Cook arrived at Hawaiʻi Island, are shown in red.

This graph clearly shows that marriage alliances between the two kingdoms recorded by tradition increase over time. Before the time of ʻUmi a Liloa, marriage alliances between the kingdoms were fairly rare. By the time of Kalaniʻopuʻu, some seven generations later, there were typically four or five marriage alliances each generation.

Island Kings, 1783–1794

This slide shows a kinship diagram that includes the island kings near the end of the 18th century. On the right is a line centered on Maui Island and the powerful king, Kekaulike. Kekaulike’s sons were kings of Maui, Oʻahu, and Kauaʻi, and his grandson succeeded as king of Oʻahu. A daughter married the Hawaiʻi Island king Kalaniʻopuʻu and bore his successor, Kiwalaʻo. During this period of Hawaiian history, the line of Kekaulike was tremendously influential throughout Hawaiʻi, from Kauaʻi in the north to Hawaiʻi in the south.

The left side of the diagram leads to Kamehameha the great, the cousin of Kiwalaʻo. Note that Kamehameha and Kiwalaʻo had a common grandmother, but different grandfathers, and shared a common great-grandfather but had different great-grandmothers. This structure shows the inward focus of Hawaiian royal descent and highlights the contrast with the outward-looking descent structures that we saw in Tonga.

The diagram shows Kamehameha’s position outside the descent line of authority. His career, which saw him unify the kingdom through warfare fueled by the introduction to Hawaiʻi of western firearms, and through marriage alliances, can be seen as a sustained effort to usurp the authority that had been gathered by the Kekaulike line.

Hawaiian Hale o Lono

Agricultural Intensification

How does all of this talk about kinship, descent, and alliance relate to archaeology? I think part of the answer to this question is found in places like this one, the leeward Kohala field system, whose agricultural walls which show as horizontal lines in the aerial photograph once covered 60 km2 of Hawaiʻi Island.

Unlike their counterparts in Tonga, who maintained their kingly status by controlling the flow of high status marriage goods obtained in trade with Fiji and Samoa, Hawaiian kings depended on highly-developed, ingeniously engineered agriculture systems to supply them with the foods needed to sponsor feasts and the pigs given away as high status gifts to friends and allies.

One way to think about the magnificent agricultural system shown on this slide is as a sophisticated pig farm, capable of supporting the largest herds of pigs encountered by Cook and his crew in their years of travel throughout the Pacific.