Engaging with Tapa and Ngatu

Creating Space for Storying About Tongan Identity and Culture in Aotearoa New Zealand

Authors

  • Sonia M. Fonua University of Auckland
  • Fire U. F. A. T. M. I. Fonua
  • Lavinia T. Fonua
  • Sulieti Fieme’a Burrows
  • Tui Emma Gillies

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18432/ari29746

Keywords:

Tonga, koloa fakatonga, tapa, ngatu, Tongan identity

Abstract

The making and gifting of koloa faka-Tonga (women’s valuables, also known as koloa) has been an integral part of Tongan identity and culture for as long as anyone can remember. Working collaboratively on tapa and ngatu provides space for discussions and understanding, and reflections of Tongan identity and culture. The practice of gifting koloa has continued outside of the Kingdom of Tonga as Tongans migrate for new opportunities, including Aotearoa New Zealand (henceforth Aotearoa NZ). Using two different examples, this article will explore, through talatalanoa, how Tongan family partnerships working with tapa/ngatu in contemporary ways are sites of intergenerational knowledge sharing through art practices in Aotearoa NZ. Sulieti Burrows and Tui Emma Gillies are a mother-daughter partnership of tapa artists who work and reside in Aotearoa NZ and use their time together to share stories and make tapa works depicting what concerns them in contemporary society. Also residing in Aotearoa NZ, Lavinia and Fire Fonua are a mother-son partnership who turn koloa into contemporary personal adornment, alongside Fire’s wife, Sonia. In this article, the four Tongan authors’ reflections on inter-generational knowledge sharing and practices related to koloa making and gifting are described and illustrated using examples of their work. Their diverse stories also reflect on Tongan material culture, and Tongan identity, and demonstrate how working on practices that centre koloa provides opportunities to consider what it means to be Tongan in Aotearoa NZ, and how Tongan ways of being, knowing, and doing are valued as tu’atonga. 

Author Biographies

Sonia M. Fonua, University of Auckland

Sonia M. Fonua is married to Fire Fonua and is Pāpālangi (Tongan language for European ancestry), born and raised in Aotearoa New Zealand. She teaches at the University of Auckland and her research is focused on Tongan and Indigenous knowledges, values-based science education, and Pacific pedagogies. She also makes jewellery with Fire, using ngatu, tapa and other woven koloa.

Fire U. F. A. T. M. I. Fonua

Fire Fonua is the son of Reverend Pitasoni Taelata He Vaha Ilolahia Fonua and Lavinia Talakihesina Ulakai Fonua. He was born in Fasi, Tongatapu and migrated to Aotearoa New Zealand in the late 1970s as a small child. He makes jewellery using ngatu, tapa and other woven koloa.

Tui Emma Gillies

Tui Emma Gillies was born in New Zealand in 1980 to Sulieti Fieme'a Burrows from Falevai Vava'u, Tonga and Barry Milton Burrows. Tui grew up in a tapa womb: her bedroom walls were covered in her grandmother's ngatu and fine mats covered the ceiling. Tui began making and selling tapa art at six years old; Sulieti would sell Tui’s small tapa works at the Otara fleamarket. Tui preserves her family’s ancestral DNA through the sacred ritual of tapa making.

Downloads

Published

2024-01-31

How to Cite

Fonua, S. M., Fonua, F. U. F. A. T. M. I., Fonua, L. T., Burrows, S. F., & Gillies, T. E. (2024). Engaging with Tapa and Ngatu : Creating Space for Storying About Tongan Identity and Culture in Aotearoa New Zealand . Art/Research/International:/A/Transdisciplinary/Journal, 8(2), 415–443. https://doi.org/10.18432/ari29746

Issue

Vol. 8 No. 2 (2024): (Re)crafting Creative Criticality: Indigenous Intergenerational Rhythms and Post–COVID Desires

Section

Section One: Experiential and Creative Criticality

License

Copyright (c) 2024 Sonia M. Fonua, Fire U. F. A. T. M. I. Fonua, Lavinia T. Fonua, Sulieti Fieme’a Burrows, Tui Emma Gillies

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Authors who publish with Art/Research International agree to the following terms:

a. Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication and the right to sublicense the Contribution, in the form in which it is published by the journal, to others under the terms and conditions of the of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs (CC BY-NC-ND) that allows others to download the work and share the work with others with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal, but they cannot change the work in any way or use any part of the work commercially.

b. Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive public distribution and display of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.

c. Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).

d. Authors wishing to include items (such as images or other media, or any creative works of others whether previously published or not) must contact the original copyright holder to obtain explicit permission to publish these items in Art/Research International. Writing permission should include: the title(s) of any copyrighted work, original place of publication if applicable, and an acknowledgement of having read Art/Research International's copyright notice. Authors are responsible for obtaining this permission and keeping it in their own records for later verification.