Local traditions and culture in Tonga

The flag of the Kingdom of Tonga is red with a corner square of white bearing a red cross. The cross represents Tonga’s faith in God and Christianity, the white represents purity and the red background represents the blood shed by Jesus on the cross and reminds Tongans that he died to save them. There is a clause in the 1875 constitution of Tonga stating that ‘The flag of Tonga shall never be altered and shall always be the flag of the Kingdom.

Mata Maka Beer is the closest thing you’ll come to a local brew on Tonga. While you can only buy Mata Maka in Tonga, the beer is actually brewed and bottled in Auckland, New Zealand! There was a brewery on Tongatapu in the past but this went broke and closed down. Now Tongans have to ship their beer from New Zealand, over 2000km away!
The beer itself is fine but not hugely flavoursome.

Whilst English is widely spoken in Tonga, the country does have its own Polynesian language which is closely related to Samoan, Hawaiian, Tahitian and Maori. The official name for the Tongan language is lea fakatonga. In the Tongan alphabet there are only 16 letters as opposed to the 26 used in English. Below are some common Tongan words. Using a few of these will go down well with the Tongan locals. Even learning the words for ‘hello’ and ‘thank you’ will be appreciated.

Hello – Malo e leilei
Thank you – Malo
You’re welcome – ‘lo Malo
Please – Faka molemole
Excuse me – Kataki
Goodbye (to someone staying) – Nofo a
Goodbye (to someone leaving) – ‘Alu a

If you are lucky enough to be granted an audience with the King don't try to use normal Tongan. Members of royal family speak a different dialect of Tongan which children in Tongan schools also have to learn in case they ever meet members of the Royal Family!!!!

Like the woven mats, tapa cloth is another traditional Tonga craft. When someone is married or gives birth to a child in Tonga, or indeed are involved in any important occasion, they are presented with metres of tapa cloth.
Tapa or ngatu is made by hand from the bark of the mulberry tree. After two years of care the tree is cut down and its bark stripped. The hard outer part of the bark is removed and the soft white inner lining removed, dried and then rehydrated by soaking in water overnight. Next the bark or ‘tutu’ is hammered repeatedly with a mallet called an ike until it reaches the right thickness and texture. The cloth can then be painted in a skilful process, Coconut leaves are sewn to the underside of the cloth in the desired pattern while a brown dye called koka is rubbed on front marking out the pattern from the leaves. This dye is made by squeezing the juice from the bark of the koka and tongo trees.

In Tonga fakaleiti are male children who decide, of their families decide, to behave and dress in a feminine manner. This is also pretty common in other pacific islands such as Samoa and Fiji. It is more common in larger families where the mother has had many sons and needs a ‘daughter’ figure to help around the house and so therefore brings up one of the boys as a girl. In Tonga, fakaleiti are an accepted part of society put can be subjected to intense mockery and contempt by mainstream males who consider themselves ‘real’ men as opposed to fakaleiti, who they see as weak. The term fakaleiti comes from the tongan word faka – meaning ‘to have the way of’ and the the tongan word for lady.

Tongan cemeteries are a unique sight in themselves. Usually set in a copse of frangipani trees, Tongan graves look like smaller version of the stepped royal tombs or langi in which kings were buried. These burial mounds are usually marked with flags and banners and surrounded with seashells, flowers, volcanic rocks and more strangely...inverted beer bottles.

Religion plays a huge part in Tongan life. On Sundays the island grinds to a halt and it can be difficult to find any shops or businesses open. Transport options are severely limited on Sundays and sport is forbidden. Sundays as a day of rest are so important in Tonga that contracts signed or business deals agreed on Sundays are void. Nearly all Tongans attend church on Sundays and even the smallest villages will have at least one and probably several churches. A huge number of denominations are represented on Tonga with the Free Wesleyan Church being the most popular, closely followed by Seventh-Day Adventists, Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints, Catholics, Anglicans, Mormons and many many other smaller religious groups. You can openly see Tongans devotion to church on Sundays and as you drive around the islands you can see churches everywhere. Tongan religious celebrations last a lot longer than they do in the ‘West’ and are joyous celebrations with music, song and clapping being an integral part. If you are interested in partaking, you will be warmly welcomed into most churches.

Mat weaving is a traditional art in Tonga usually carried out by groups of women who weave the mats by hand. These hand woven mats are used in homes and as coverings for tables and furniture but they are also worn by Tongan men around their waist. When used in this way, the mats are called ‘ta’ovala’ and are used as a sign of respect. This is especially evident on Sundays when men wear their finest ta’ovala to church. This custom supposedly comes from the tradition of returning seamen to cut the sails of their boats to wrap around their waist to cover their naked genitals so as not to appear before their king naked. Women can also wear a shorter mat known as a ‘kiekie’.