Vava’u, Tonga
…cont from previous post
So yes church. Any discussion of Tonga would be incomplete without church. Did you notice the flag? Go back and take a look. We’ll wait
Now what is the one identifiable symbol on the Tonga flag?
Yes, Tonga is a Christian nation.
It all happened, not surprisingly for those of you who read about the social structure of this nation, when the King was converted by a Christian missionary. Well, for those of you who remember our exploration of Tahiti, the interesting facts do not come from Tongans being Christians, but rather how their perspective of Christianity differs from our own.
First off and most noticeably, these people take the whole “keep the Sabbath” thing a lot more serious than us. Yes their churches are full (we could actually hear them singing from where we were out in the anchorage the morning after we arrived) but they take “day of rest” to a whole other level. Case and point, a specific clause of their constitution states “Sunday is now and forever sacred.” You want to buy groceries on Sunday, or take a tour, get fuel to go on a dive or really do just about anything at all aside from go to church? Too bad, it’s closed on Sunday by imperial decree. Literally. Want to go swimming or fishing? They will fine you. Want to fly out of the country? Too bad, no planes on Sunday.
Also, the Tongans have kept their traditional burial rituals.
The things to point out here
1) The mounds that are surrounded by a protective fence of some kind which has something to do with the spirits of the deceased.
2) The decorations: Freshly woven & embroidered massive quilts, pictures, toys, mounds decorated with flowers and full beer bottles. Tongans invest a lot of time, energy and money into celebrating the dead.
3) The attention paid to the dead. Tongans post a watch over the recently interred and for up to a year have people visiting and spending prolonged time at the burial site.
The other interesting thing to note is a topic that isn’t unique to Tonga but that we haven’t completely understood ourselves: Many Polynesian cultures have a 3rd gender.
So you’re thinking transvestite right? While that is part of modern reality, (Tonga holds an annual beauty pageant that is attended from around the world) the origins in the cultures throughout the islands we have visited so far are that young boys are sometimes raised as women, assume women’s roles and date men. This is not so much a homosexual tendency, which would be easier to understand but would also be inaccurate because it would come with concepts and perceptions that are not accurate. The 3rd genders are not considered members of the “male” gender. Also 3rd gender members did not date each other as near as we can tell, they dated the other men. It also does not seem to be linked to a shortage of women as Greg initially suspected. It is seen in ancient Polynesian culture as literally a “3rd gender” apart from men and women. Interestingly, this 3rd gender is only for men raised to and assuming the role of women. There is no provision for women to assume the role of men. This tradition has been around a majority of Polynesian islands since long before any European set foot on a South Pacific Island shore.
For another take on how Polynesians adopted the Christian faith, click on “Sex & Jesus”
About the authors
Greg and Tiffany are traveling around the world on sailing yachts and keep a video blog of their (mis)adventures. If sailing to Tahiti on a 44 ft sailboat, getting pooped on by seagulls, opening coconuts with dull machetes, sailing past tornadoes and ukulele Christmas carols are for you, then check them out at www.CoastGuardCouple.com!
