5.5 Private archives

As well as the online sharing of cultural heritage, there is evidence of the ongoing practice of maintaining material culture and archival records within Tongan family homes.^[1] During many visits to the homes of kainga in the diaspora as well as in Tonga, I have observed how several families have proudly stored and then shared their collections of images, documents and materials that have been passed on through the generations as keepsakes, heirlooms and family treasures.^[2]

One might find it odd that Tongan women store their fine mats and ngatu under the mattresses of the beds in their homes.^[3] From personal experience, when I moved to Australia – thinking I might save my children from the lumpy mattress practice – I put my ngatu in a large plastic box with a lid and, thinking it was safe, left it in my cupboard. To my dismay, after a year and a half of not taking the ngatu out to air in the sun and to shake out any insects that could be living in the material, I discovered that layers had been eaten into by a bark-eating insect that found its way into the box! I have learned from that consequence that the aerated layering of fine mats and ngatu under a spare-bedroom mattress is the best storage place. Also, I realised that the annual practice of bathing these natural materials in the sun was not just a chore that we carried out in Aotearoa NZ for school holiday fun; I fondly remember that my mother would get my siblings and me to spread her koloa-wealth out on the front lawn, and yards of ngatu stretched across her very long driveway during summer. We would help to use Tongan lolo-oil and black ink to revive the cultural motifs and distinct fragrance of the ngatu. These memories of our famili effort to preserve koloa from Tonga in Aotearoa NZ helps me to appreciate the kie Tonga-fine mats and ngatu-tapa cloth that was passed onto me by my mother. Several pieces had been gifted to her through the cultural practices of ceremonial giving at various events she had attended in Tonga and Aotearoa NZ. In Australia, I continue to teach my children the value of koloa and how this gifting through generations connects us back to Tonga.^[4]

The larger-than-normal kie Tonga (see Figure 8), are especially made for occasions like weddings, often collected by a Tongan mother over a number of years in preparation for her children. The mother of the bride for the wedding shown in Figure 8 had been able to add to her collection from fine mats purchased or made in Tonga and brought over to Aotearoa NZ during the 1990s. Some other pieces used in the front of the church were gifted to her during the exchange that occurs at other family events (e.g. birthdays and funerals). Reciprocal gift giving at Tongan events helps to circulate these valuable items of material culture, which are effectively passed on with special meaning through one’s connections to the Pacific homelands and throughout their diaspora collectives.

Figure 9 depicts a baby shower display table in Brisbane decorated by the female cousins and mother of the expectant mother, who had brought her koloa from Auckland as extra luggage. Often the objects of material culture used by Tongan families in Australia have travelled with family members via Aotearoa NZ. This is largely due to the ease of transfer and migration between Australia and Aotearoa NZ for Tongans who have either been born as Aotearoa NZ citizens or become permanent residents in Aotearoa NZ. The Trans-Tasman Travel Arrangement between Australia and Aotearoa NZ further encourages the circulatory migration of Tongans between these two diaspora contexts and Tonga.^[5]

Educational milestones are a sign of fakalakalaka-progress for families who have migrated from Tonga^[6] to diaspora contexts like Australia. Figure 10 demonstrates the significance placed on academic achievement, particularly higher education qualifications like a doctoral degree. The display of material culture in this instance was not only to honour a Tongan daughter but also to pay homage to the Pacific cultures that were represented at the event held in Logan, an area that is highly populated by Pasifika. Their attendance at this special graduation, adorned in traditional cultural attire, cheering on the many Pasifika graduates in song and dance, is what happens in Tongan island and village settings. In Australia and in other diaspora contexts, university and school communities alongside church groups and sports clubs have for many Tongans become the diaspora village-like setting – a place where material culture is promoted and meaningful, and where the red and white flag of the Kingdom of Tonga is often raised in celebration or remembrance. Such events and ways of being in Australia carry songs and narratives of migration, urging fellow Tongans to excel and live good lives in their extension of home in diaspora.